Crackpot Bob: Still Claiming to Be God’s Prophet While Acting Like a Petty, Vindictive Church Mob Boss

In recent online comments, critic Terry Nelson has sharply accused Bob Thiel, leader of the Continuing Church of God (CCOG), of directing efforts to pressure a woman named Priscilla (the ex-wife of one of Bob's so-called evangelists, into returning to her adulterous husband while simultaneously attempting to lure members and leaders away from the Hope of Israel Church of God (HOI COG), and COG7 through financial incentives.

According to Nelson, Thiel informed his small group of followers in a members-only post that he had sent two of his associates to locate Priscilla and compel her to reconcile with her husband, identified as Radson. The same individuals were also tasked with meeting leaders and members of the Hope of Israel Church of God in an effort to persuade them to leave that organization and join the CCOG, allegedly offering money and material goods as inducements.

Nelson stated that Thiel harbors deep animosity toward the Hope of Israel Church of God. He claimed Thiel had publicly signaled, through associate Radson, an intent to destroy the rival group. Nelson further alleged that Thiel announced plans to showcase leaders from the Hope of Israel Church of God whom the CCOG had successfully bribed. He referenced the Mulanji district, though an associate named Evans reportedly misspelled the location.

Nelson reported that three leaders—two men and the wife of a third—attended a meeting arranged by Thiel’s group. The individuals later expressed regret, stating they attended only because they had been invited. Nelson claimed these leaders were subsequently removed from their positions after it was discovered they had accepted substantial payments from Evans and Radson. He asserted that a photograph circulated by Thiel’s organization did not show an actual congregation but rather a private house gathering to which neighbors had been invited. Nelson concluded that Thiel is being deceived by con artists in these matters.

Nelson also accused Thiel of repeatedly harassing Priscilla. He stated that Priscilla personally informed Thiel of the facts but was ignored in favor of statements from what Nelson called Thiel’s “fake ministers.” According to Nelson, Thiel consistently rejects information that does not align with his preferred narrative. Nelson questioned Thiel’s rationality and mental state, described him as lacking common sense and empathy, and asked whether CCOG members could continue supporting such leadership. Nelson expressed relief that Priscilla is no longer associated with Radson or the CCOG, calling her separation from them a blessing.

The Dangers of Bob Thiel and His Heresies

The pattern of behavior described in Terry Nelson’s comments exposes serious risks inherent in following a leader who claims prophetic authority while demonstrating a consistent disregard for truth, individual rights, and basic ethical conduct. When a religious figure directs associates to pressure a woman into returning to an allegedly adulterous marriage against her stated wishes, it reveals a willingness to subordinate personal well-being and justice to organizational control. Such actions do not reflect pastoral care; they reflect coercion dressed in spiritual language.

Equally troubling is the reported use of financial bribes to recruit members from another church combined with an expressed desire to destroy a rival organization. This approach transforms ministry into a competitive power struggle rather than a pursuit of truth or spiritual growth. Leaders who resort to inducements and smear tactics erode trust within the broader Christian community and teach followers that ends justify unethical means.

A further danger lies in Thiel’s apparent refusal to accept direct testimony from Priscilla while readily believing associates whom Nelson describes as liars and con men. A self-proclaimed prophet who filters reality through a self-serving narrative creates an environment in which truth is secondary to loyalty. Followers in such a system learn to suppress doubts, ignore evidence, and defend questionable conduct, leaving them vulnerable to repeated manipulation and moral compromise.

Over time, these patterns point to deeper heresies beyond any specific doctrinal disputes. They reflect a fundamental inversion of Christian principles: the elevation of institutional power over the protection of the vulnerable, the substitution of control for compassion, and the dismissal of inconvenient truth in favor of a curated narrative. History demonstrates that religious movements led by individuals exhibiting these traits often produce damaged followers, fractured families, and lasting spiritual harm rather than genuine faith and freedom.

Those associated with Bob Thiel would do well to examine whether continued support for such leadership aligns with the values of justice, honesty, and care for the individual that true Christianity demands. The evidence presented in these comments suggests that the greatest danger may not lie in any single doctrine but in the character and methods of the man promoting them.

Here are screen shots of Bob's latest gaslighting go Priscilla.

The Untouchables: Armstrongist Edition — Because Nothing Says “True Church” Like Decades of Zero Accountability

Nathan Albright’s White Paper 9 is a devastatingly precise diagnosis of how elites in religious (and other) institutions become effectively untouchable. The mechanisms he describes—prestige shielding, elite networks, status preservation, and the resulting social environment of moral insulation—are not abstract sociology. They are the daily operating system of splinter groups today. What Albright analyzes in general terms plays out in real time in the Churches of God under self-appointed “leaders” like Bob Thiel, David C. Pack, Gerald Flurry, Ron Weinland, and their lesser imitators.

Prestige Shielding in the Splinters

Albright explains how accumulated reputation creates a perceptual shield: past “accomplishments” (or claimed ones) cause current misconduct to be interpreted charitably, with critics facing high social costs for speaking up.

In Armstrongism, this is on steroids. Herbert W. Armstrong’s prestige still blankets the entire movement decades after his death. Splinter leaders position themselves as his legitimate heirs, “restoring” what was lost, or receiving special revelations that HWA supposedly lacked. Bob Thiel (“Bwana Bob,” the Crackpot Prophet) constantly waves his claimed double portion and endless “dreams” as proof of divine appointment. David Pack claims to be the Elijah who would restore all things and has set dozens of failed dates for Christ’s return to Wadsworth, Ohio. Gerald Flurry claims to be “That Prophet” and possesses physical items tied to HWA.

The prestige shield works beautifully: hundreds of failed prophecies, documented scandals, financial exploitation, and authoritarian abuse are waved away as “attacks by Satan” or “persecution.” Members who invested years (or lifetimes) in these groups have a massive spiritual sunk-cost fallacy. To admit the leader is wrong is to admit their own sacrifices, broken families, and emptied bank accounts were for nothing. So the shield holds. Critics (including this blog) are dismissed as “bitter ex-members” or “tools of the devil,” exactly as Albright predicts.

Elite Networks and Mutual Protection

Albright describes dense webs of relationships among prominent figures that produce reciprocal protection—suppression of damaging information, favorable narratives, and mobilization of resources in defense of a member under scrutiny.

While Armstrongist groups are famously fragmented and often at war with each other, a functional elite network still operates. Leaders rarely call out each other’s false prophecies or abuses publicly (unless it serves to recruit members). There is a gentleman’s agreement of sorts: you don’t blow up my prophetic credibility and I won’t blow up yours. Insiders and ex-insiders know the quiet circulation of stories—Kenyan scandals in CCOG (adultery, witchcraft accusations, arrests, cover-ups involving named ministers like Evans Ochieng), RCG’s documented mind-control tactics and family destruction, PCG’s no-contact policies and financial austerity on members while the elite live comfortably, etc. Yet these rarely break into the broader “Church of God” consciousness in a way that threatens the system.

When a leader faces serious heat, the network (or sub-network) activates: loyal ministers issue character references, members are told to “pray for the leader,” and critics are isolated or disfellowshipped. The reciprocal expectation is clear—today I defend you, tomorrow you (or your allies) defend me.

Status Preservation and the Inner Circle

This may be the most powerful dynamic in the splinters. Albright notes that not just the leader, but spouses, children, staff, donors, board members, and protégés all have status, financial, vocational, and identity interests tied to the elite’s reputation. The pressure to suppress inconvenient truths becomes overwhelming.

Look at any major splinter. The leader’s family often occupies key positions. Long-time ministers and administrators have built entire careers (and retirements) around the group. Donors who have given “firstfruits,” tithes, and special offerings for decades cannot easily admit they were deceived. Young people raised in the system have their social world, marriage prospects, and identity wrapped up in it. The result is a thick layer of protective insulation. Information that leaks is minimized, contextualized, or attacked. The broader membership only hears the sanitized version.

Family dynamics add extra power here, as Albright notes with the Eli example. Loyalty to “God’s government” and “the family” become indistinguishable, making honest confrontation feel like betrayal of both.

The Social Environment of Insulation in Practice

In these groups, ordinary members live under one set of rules while the elite operate under another. Failed prophecies that would destroy credibility elsewhere are reframed as “tests of faith” or “God giving more time.” Abuses that would end careers in healthier churches are “God’s way of doing things.” Critics are not engaged on the merits; they are marginalized through the very mechanisms Albright describes.

The feedback loop is vicious: the leader hears mostly praise and filtered information from sycophants and dependents. He becomes genuinely convinced of his own specialness. The audience around him—shaped by the same environment—reinforces it. Consequential exposure is minimized through control of media, finances, and social connections. This is precisely why the splinters can persist despite decades of prophetic failure and documented harm.

Breaking the Cycle of Moral Insulation in Armstrongism

Nathan Albright’s sociological analysis shines a harsh but necessary light on why Armstrongist splinter groups remain trapped in patterns of elite exemption, failed prophecies, financial exploitation, and spiritual abuse despite decades of evidence. The prestige shielding around self-appointed leaders like Bob Thiel, David C. Pack, Gerald Flurry, and others is not unbreakable divine protection — it is a thoroughly human sociological construct built on sunk-cost fallacies, selective memory, and communal self-interest. When combined with elite networks and status-preservation incentives, it creates environments where ordinary moral evaluation is short-circuited, allowing the same cycles of wackiness and harm to repeat. Recognizing this as a systemic sociological problem, rather than merely a collection of bad actors, is the first step toward meaningful change.

Breaking prestige shielding requires deliberate, sustained refusal to participate in the protective perceptual framework. Individuals and communities must reject the automatic presumption of competence and good faith that past (or claimed) accomplishments grant. This means evaluating leaders by their present fruit — doctrinal accuracy, financial transparency, treatment of the vulnerable, and fidelity to Scripture — rather than by inherited HWA prestige, dramatic self-titles (“That Prophet,” Elijah, etc.), or emotional appeals to “God’s government.” Critics and concerned members must be willing to bear the social costs Albright describes: being labeled bitter, divisive, or satanic. As the prophets demonstrated, this often requires indirect approaches at first (parables, questions, documented timelines of failed predictions) before direct confrontation becomes possible. Persistent, factual documentation — exactly as this blog has done for years — chips away at the shield by making misconduct visible and impossible to filter out entirely.

On a broader scale, disrupting these dynamics demands the cultivation of alternative social environments and feedback channels outside the insulated networks. Former members, independent researchers, and those still inside who retain intellectual honesty can form or support loose networks that prioritize truth over group loyalty. This includes amplifying insider testimonies (such as the Kenyan CCOG scandals), cross-referencing leaders’ claims against verifiable history, and encouraging personal Bible study focused on the New Covenant rather than proof-texted legalism. Families and inner circles must wrestle with the Eli-like conflict: genuine love and loyalty cannot mean complicity in harm. Status interests — careers, retirements, identities — will always pull toward preservation, but individuals can realign them by counting the cost of continued participation in a system that devours its own.

Ultimately, the most powerful antidote to moral insulation in these groups is a return to biblical Christianity unfiltered by Armstrongist traditions. The New Covenant frees believers from the heavy yoke of human mediators and institutional prestige. Christ Himself confronted the insulated religious elites of His day without deference to their status or networks. When enough people — inside and out — insist that leaders be held to the same standards as everyone else, the perceptual shield weakens. The social environment shifts from protection to accountability. This will not happen through polite internal reform alone; it requires the prophetic courage Albright highlights and the persistent external pressure of sunlight.

The Armstrongist splinters have thrived on insulation for generations, but sociological constructs are not eternal. They crumble under sustained truth-telling, courageous exposure, and the quiet exodus of those who choose freedom in Christ over fear of man. The work continues — documenting, satirizing, appealing, and calling people to evaluate leaders by present conduct rather than borrowed glory. In the end, prestige that cannot withstand honest scrutiny was never worth shielding in the first place. Truth, by contrast, needs no such defenses.

See: White Paper 9: The Sociology of Moral Insulation: Prestige Shielding, Elite Networks, and Status Preservation

If You Hitch a Ride on the Wild Bus of Anthropomorphism, It Can Take You Some Strange Places

 

Maybe the Ride Would be Like This

If You Hitch a Ride on the Wild Bus of Anthropomorphism, It Can Take You Some Strange Places 

Father, Son, Arianism and Armstrongism

By Scout

Now at the time spoken of here in John 1 and verse 1, the Word was not the Son of God. They were co-equals. There never was a time when the Word did not exist as a separate personage from God. And yet He, too, is God. Now later the one called God, here, became the Father and after Jesus was born as a human being He said, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." Well, I've said that a few times about my son, Garner Ted. But, nevertheless, at this time, the Word had always existed. There never was a time He did not exist, so He could not have been a Son of God — otherwise God would have had to have existed first. Herbert W. Armstrong, “Our Calling”, Sermon, 1976 (Available Online)               ­

I have said these things to you in figures of speech.”  ― Jesus (NRSV, John 16:25)

Many Armstrongists will be surprised at Herbert W. Armstrong’s (HWA) statement above.  They are fond of quoting “The Father is greater than I” without regard to Jesus’ kenotic state of incarnation.  Subordinationism is a quite common view among Armstrongists.  Yet HWA apostolically asserts that God and the Word are co-equal – both God in some sense.  His statement, insofar as it goes, has a distinctly Nicene Christian ring to it. 

Armstrongism, then, has an internal inconsistency.  It asserts that God and the Word are co-equal persons.  And are both God.  Yet, the paradox is that there is a widespread belief in Armstrongists circles that Jesus the Son is inferior to God the Father.  I believe this is rooted in the anthropomorphic view of God held by Armstrongists and likely inherited from Arianism.   I will now step gingerly into metaphysics.  

Ontology and Economy

In theology, two metaphysical properties of God are ontology and economy.  Ontology refers to who God is.  Economy refers to what God does.  This is important in establishing how the Father and the Son are co-equal.  They are equal in ontology but differ in economy. 

An example is the number 1.  It is useful in counting chickens.  If you have one chicken you can count him using the number 1.  In ontology, the number 1 is like all other numbers.  It has magnitude and order.  But the number 1 with the same ontology can be used in binary arithmetic in the implementation of digital electronics.  It makes computer logic efficient. But it differs somewhat from the chicken-counting number 1.  In binary arithmetic, it is used to signify if an electronic gate is open.  The number 1 has the same ontology in both cases but a different economy in each case.  Just as the Father and the Son are both God in essence but the application of their perfections is different – one is Father and the other is Son.  They are the same in their essential being but differ in how they apply themselves. 

It is important to understand this principle.  It is the background for being able to interpret what Jesus means when he says “I and the Father are one” which implies equality.  And elsewhere he says “the Father is greater than I.”  This is not a contradiction.   The Father and the Son are the same in ontology but differ in economy.  In Nicene Christianity, this co-equality and sharing of essence is called Homoousion.

The Subordination of Jesus in Armstrongism

God is absolute. He is not just the strongest kid on the block.  He created the block, the kids and the concept of strength.  He calls things into existence. He creates reality.  He is incomparable rather than relative.  Another way of stating this is to say that God is not limited in any sense that we can think of a limit. He has absolute free will and he is what he is. 

There cannot be more than one absolute being.  If God the Father is absolute then Jesus cannot be absolute if he is a separate being.  And the reverse is true. There are a number of arguments concerning this but the one I will examine here is the Argument from Unlimitedness.  If there were to be two beings that were absolute, they would limit each other and the definition of absolute would be violated.  If one being is all-inclusive then there cannot be another being that is excluded.  The only way there can be more than one being that is absolute is for the multiple beings to have a shared essence and the Nicene doctrine of Homoousion is supported.

A corollary is that if God consists of more than one being but one being is absolute, then the rest are not.  So, if God the Father is absolute, and Jesus is a separate, distinct being, then Jesus is not absolute.  But Jesus is also “ho Theos” so God the Father and God the Son must have a shared essence and any form of polytheism, including the bitheism of Armstrongism, collapses. 

So, how then are Father and Son differentiated?  I don’t know.  I have a conjecture. Perhaps a difference in economy is really a difference in emphasis for beings who encompass all things.  The Father and the Son are both absolute, both all in all.  But economy is created when God the Father emphasizes certain perfections and Jesus emphasizes others though all perfections are jointly held.  

The Arian Pitfall of Anthropomorphism

Arius extended the anthropomorphic metaphor of father and son further than it could go.  Nothing in the physical realm is an exact duplication of God’s attributes.  In the physical, human realm, the father gives rise to the son as a result of human reproductive capability.  Arius concluded that Jesus, then, was created by God the Father, that Jesus was not really God-as-God-is-God.  Because he did not recognize metaphor, Arius thought he was being true to scripture and others were not.  But what Arius did do was commit the heresy of Heteroousion which the Nicene brothers had to correct.  

Arianism is an odd philosophy that afflicted various branches of the Millerite Movement.  When HWA joined a church after being convicted of the necessity to keep the seventh day, he joined an Arian church.  He boarded up on the bus. Robert Coulter, past president of the General Conference of the Church of God Seventh Day (CG7), in an interview with Dixon Cartwright, stated that the early CG7 was Arian, that is, they did not believe that Jesus was God.  CG7 was Arian when Herbert W. Armstrong joined it.  But HWA did not retain this Arianism in its explicit form. 

The major difference between Arianism and Armstrongism has to do with the transmissibility of the nature of God.  Arius had a unitarian view and believed that God is unique and his nature cannot be transmitted to others - even Christ.  HWA believed that the nature of God was ultimately going to be transmitted to nearly everyone.  So, one cannot assert that Armstrongism is directly Arianist.  But there is a subtle point of Arianist influence. Armstrongists seem to believe that Jesus is subordinate to the God the Father (in spite of HWA’s assertion of their co-equality) not only in Kenotic state but in essence.  As we have seen, this means that Jesus is not absolute.  This also means that Jesus is not God.   And this is incontrovertibly an Arianist viewpoint. 

The Summary Argument

Using HWA’s terminology from the quote at the top, two “separate personages” cannot be “co-equal” if they are absolute. There can be only one absolute being.  If the beings are co-inherent and co-essential we get into different territory.  Arius made the mistake of not recognizing the human father-son relationship as applied to God is anthropomorphic, a metaphor.  It is not that humans have the true father-son relationship and the relationship between the Father and Son is an imitation.  It’s the other way around.  The divine relationship transcends the human relationship.  We have the weak imitation in flesh.   We are the poetry, the metaphor.  And Arius made the mistake in rhetoric of not recognizing anthropomorphism when he saw it. 

 

Bwana Bob Thiel’s Masterclass in Pastoral Idiocy: Earthquakes Prove You Need to Be a True Philadelphian (Or Else)

The other day a strong earthquake shook a region of the Philippines. Naturally, Bwana Bob, our most highy favored Crackpot Prophet couldn't let a little thing like human suffering pass without making it all about him and his one-man-band Continuing Church of God. He piously inquired of his handful of Filipino followers whether any of his precious members had suffered or been injured. The answer? No.

Relieved that his tithing base remained intact, Crackpot Bob then unleashed this pearl of pastoral wisdom (quote left intact, because it really is too stupid to improve upon):

He writes:

While that is good news, the death’s from this quake are a sober reminder that life is fleeting. Consider also the words of Jesus: 

 

1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)

Your situation can change. You can perish. Do not put off full repentance as YOU may not have as much time to become a true Philadelphian Christian as you might think.

Oh, brilliant, Bwana Bob. Jesus warns about the universal need for repentance in a broken world, and you turn it into a sleazy timeshare pitch for your irrelevant Armstrongist splinter. According to Saint Bwana, random earthquakes aren't just tragic reminders of mortality — they're divine billboards screaming "Hurry up and join Thiel's Philadelphian Elite or you're toast!"

This is peak theological idiocy, even by Crackpot Prophet standards. Jesus said "repent." Full stop. He didn't say "repent and become a true Philadelphian under that guy in California who keeps failing at prophecy, obsessing over calendars, and pretending British Israelism isn't debunked nonsense." Crackpot Bob has taken a clear, grace-centered warning about sudden death and twisted it into fear-mongering recruitment for his ego-driven mini-cult.

Life is fleeting, Bwana Bob — especially your credibility after decades of prophetic faceplants. But hey, keep using dead bodies as marketing material. Nothing says "loving shepherd" like leveraging earthquakes to scare people into sending you money so they can be counted among your "true Philadelphians." Classic Bobism: tone-deaf, self-promoting, and theologically bankrupt.

Crackpot Bob’s Holy Grail: Why Bwana Bob Still Worships Hislop’s Discredited Two Babylons Like It’s the Third Testament

Oh, what a gloriously sunny day here in California and in the annals of Crackpot Prophet theatrics! Bwana Bob Thiel popped his perpetually self-righteous cork like a cheap bottle of prophetic Mogen David wine the other day when the good people of Barcelona celebrated the installation of a monumental cross atop the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Família. Nothing — and I mean nothing — sends our modern-day Apostle of Crossophobia into a frothing tizzy quite like the sight of a simple Christian cross gleaming in the Spanish sun. 

 

And what divine, infallible source does this self-anointed genius rely on to fuel his unhinged hatred of crosses? Why, none other than Alexander Hislop’s The Two Babylons — the third most sacred tome in the Armstrongist pantheon, right behind Herbert W. Armstrong’s Mystery of the Ages and Bob’s ever-growing stack of self-serving “revelations.” Because apparently, in Crackpot Prophet world, a 19th-century anti-Catholic rant dripping with errors, fabrications, and wild speculation isn’t just a quirky old book… it’s practically on par with Scripture itself. How absurd!

Oh, brethren (and sistren), gather ’round for another thrilling episode of “How the One True Church Clings to Debunked Nonsense While Pretending to Have All Truth.” For decades, Alexander Hislop’s anti-Catholic polemic The Two Babylons has been the golden calf of Armstrongism. This 1853 pamphlet-turned-book claims Roman Catholicism is just repackaged Babylonian paganism — Nimrod and Semiramis pulling the strings behind Christmas trees, Easter eggs, clerical collars, and pretty much anything fun or traditional that “they” do. Hislop’s methodology? Cherry-picked myths, wild etymology, superficial statue resemblances, and enough speculation to fill a dozen failed prophecy date books.

Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God lapped it up like fine Rothschild wine. It perfectly “proved” that mainstream Christianity was drenched in paganism, justifying their rejection of holidays, their Old Covenant Holy Day obsession, and their endless sermons about how only they had restored the pure faith. Hislop wasn’t just a source — he was practically an extra-biblical prophet for the Armstrong empire.

Enter Ralph Woodrow: The WCG’s Perfect Proof-Texting Weapon

Not content with Hislop alone, the WCG also propped up evangelical author Ralph Woodrow as their go-to guy for slamming Catholics and Protestants. Woodrow’s Babylon Mystery Religion (1966) was basically Hislop lite — heavy on the Babylonian connections, light on rigorous scholarship. It checked every box for WCG leadership: anti-Catholic, “historical” sounding, and useful for proof-texting their narrative that everyone else was part of Mystery Babylon. They quoted it, recommended it, and used it to bolster the idea that true Christians must flee all those pagan-tainted customs and join the one true remnant.

Woodrow was hailed as a solid authority in Armstrongist circles — exactly the kind of outsider validation they loved when it confirmed their superior understanding. For years, his book helped keep the flock fearful of Easter baskets and Christmas lights, all while sending in those tithes to support the “work.”

The Great Repentance: Woodrow Grows a Conscience

Then came the plot twist that Armstrongists still pretend never happened. Ralph Woodrow, to his eternal credit, actually did the honest research he should have done earlier. He went back to the sources, examined Hislop’s claims, and realized the whole thing was built on sand — sloppy methodology, factual errors (Nimrod and Semiramis weren’t even contemporaries, folks!), fabrications, and agenda-driven nonsense.

In a remarkable act of integrity, Woodrow pulled Babylon Mystery Religion out of print, publicly retracted his support, and wrote The Babylon Connection? to set the record straight. He apologized, essentially, for helping spread poorly documented claims and urged people to rely on better evidence rather than chasing Babylonian ghosts under every Christian practice. Even the WCG reportedly began taking a second look during their transformation period.

What a concept — admitting you were wrong and correcting it! Too bad that spirit of repentance never caught on in most Armstrongist splinters.

Bwana Bob: The High Priest of Hislop Worship in the Modern Age

Fast-forward to today, and no one bows at the altar of Hislop quite like Crackpot Bwana Bob. Bwana Bob treats The Two Babylons as practically infallible — citing it left and right in his articles, booklets, and marathon sermons to “prove” pagan origins for just about everything. For Crackpot Prophet Thiel, Hislop’s word is gospel truth unless it conflicts with one of Bob’s own dreams or “double blessings.”

Never mind the mountain of scholarly discrediting. Never mind Woodrow’s public mea culpa. Bwana Bob keeps propping up this discredited screed because admitting it’s mostly bunk would unravel too many of his pet distinctives. It’s the same old Armstrongist game: cling to flawed extra-biblical sources that make you feel special and superior, while mocking everyone else as deceived.

Scholars — historians, archaeologists, biblical experts across the spectrum — have long dismissed Hislop as 19th-century propaganda full of errors and bias. But in Thiel-world, reality is whatever confirms the narrative that only CCOG has it all figured out.

A Sobering Warning: The Depths of Bob Thiel’s Delusions

This blind devotion to a thoroughly debunked book like The Two Babylons isn’t just a quirky footnote in Armstrongist history — it’s a glaring symptom of something far more dangerous. Crackpot Bob has built his entire prophetic persona on a foundation of sand: cherry-picked sources, self-proclaimed titles, and a refusal to let facts interfere with his narrative. When even Ralph Woodrow — a man who once championed these ideas — had the humility to repent and correct his errors, Thiel doubles down. That stubbornness reveals a leader more interested in maintaining control and feeding his own ego than pursuing actual truth.

If you’re still following Bwana Bob, take a hard look at what this pattern means. His “ministry” is littered with failed predictions, exaggerated claims about his own importance, and a track record of attacking anyone who dares question him — all while propping up discredited 19th-century propaganda as if it were on par with Scripture. This isn’t the work of a true apostle or prophet; it’s the hallmark of someone lost in layers of delusion, using fear of “paganism” to keep people isolated from the freedom Christ offers in the New Covenant.

The real tragedy is the spiritual harm this causes. Families divided, lives controlled by legalism, resources poured into a “work” that produces more division and disappointment than fruit. History shows Armstrongism’s long trail of shattered prophecies and broken people. Don’t let Thiel’s worship of Hislop drag you down the same path. Step back, examine the evidence with an open mind, and embrace the grace and rest found in Jesus Christ — not in the endless rules, failed dates, or dusty books of self-appointed prophets.

It’s time to walk away from the confusion. True faith doesn’t require propping up debunked sources or following men who refuse to repent of obvious errors. True faith is not afraid of crosses.

History of Governance in the Church of God

History of Governance in the Church of God

Stoned Stephen Society blog

While many churches of God consider WCG as the parent church, the WCG is actually a spin off from another parent church that was called the Church of Christ. Gilbert Cranmer is credited for starting our church in March of 1858. In 1831 at the age of 17, Gilbert was baptized in a Methodist church and started preaching. After 2 years, he quit over the trinity doctrine and joined the Christian Connexion or Christian Church which was made up of loosely affiliated Christians that had abandoned the colonial churches like the Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist.

In 1844, he joined the Adventist movement started by William Miller whose prediction of Christ’s return between 1843-1844, spread like wildfire. After the “great disappointment”, Gilbert moved from Michigan to Illinois to escape the ridicule and mocking from his neighbors when Christ did not return.

Sabbath-keeping started being preached by Joseph Bates in the 1840’s and 50’s among the Millerites/Adventists. Gilbert Cranmer began observing the Sabbath in 1852. James and Ellen G. White began raising up Sabbath keeping advent churches at this time and Gilbert Cranmer became associated with them. In 1858, the White’s refused to give Cranmer credentials to preach in the Advent churches because of his tobacco use. By 1860, Gilbert Cranmer raised up 12 congregations made up of mostly Adventists who wished to distance themselves from Ellen G. White’s prophecies and James White’s desire to create a top-down government structure for the church. It is interesting to note here that it was a government issue and prophecy that created the split from SDA and the creation of the Church of Christ. The first structure of our parent church was Congregationalist and strongly opposed Episcopal top-down governance. Over the next 24 years, congregations were raised up and by 1884, they came together under a General Conference. This is when they settled on the name, Church of God.

In Robert Coulter’s book, “The Journey: A History of the Church of God (Seventh Day)”, he says on p.109:

It is interesting to note that the Conference was organized as a membership movement that did not require negotiations, concessions, or preconditions among its varied membership in order to organize. The Conference came into existence as a spontaneous action of its membership rather than of its leadership, and it was to serve its membership rather than govern them. 

 

It was under the oppressive drive of James and Ellen G. White to define doctrine of the church for everyone else and concentrate power and authority unto themselves, that helped ensure a congregational culture and governance of the Church of God and led to publications that had an “open creed” where critical thinkers of the church could get Bible studies published. Any idea that truth could only be introduced into the church from the ministry was utter nonsense. This was the culture that enabled the Church of God to develop its core doctrines during its first 70 years in existence. This period was not plagued with politics, infighting, division and chaos. No, all of that happened under Andrew Duggers’ watch. He was the next “James White” to come along and try to concentrate power unto himself and dictate a new long list of official doctrines. Andrew Dugger managed to split the church in half by 1933. After 16 years, the church merged again but not after membership went from 40,000 all the way down to 10,000 thanks to Andrew Dugger’s “skills in governance.”

It was in the atmosphere of those divided and divisive years that HWA himself railed against Duggers’ oppression and believed as long as he received a paycheck from the Church of God, he would have to preach only what men ordered him to teach. HWA claimed he stopped receiving pay from the Church of God in 1933 and only loosely affiliated because he was not going to be told by men what to preach. But the truth is, and it is in the Church’s records, that he remained a credentialed and paid minister until 1938.

It is ironic but quite possible that some of those 30,000 members who left the Church of God during this time period because of the controls implemented into the church by Dugger, went with HWA because of his stance against top-down governance. HWA clearly railed against one man rule, top down government in his 1939 article, calling it the “image of the beast.”

HWA claimed later he did not know what church government should be and it wasn’t until the 1950’s that it started coming to him. In the GCG booklet on government by RCM in 1993, RCM says it was he and Herman Hoeh that essentially introduced top-down government into the church by a series of articles in the 1950’s. By 1978, HWA had taken on titles to himself like “Apostle” and later, “Elijah” and brought the church so in line with Roman Catholic Church governance that some began questioning this obvious heresy in the church. His delusional concentration of power, in my opinion, is the reason there was no smooth transition after his death and directly contributed to the collapse of ‘his’ church. Just like William Miller, James and Ellen G. White and Andrew Dugger before him, HWA came along to concentrate power, make false predictions in prophecy and the return of Christ (1975), enforce his version of truth, and ultimately cause mass confusion, politics, infighting and chaos.

The turbulent 1930’s in the Church of God produced 3 splinters from the church:

1. C. O. Dodd formed the sacred names movement.

2. Andrew Dugger established a headquarters in Jerusalem to convert Jews who he

    believed would be the 144,000 in Revelation.

3. Herbert Armstrong split over the Holy Days and British-Israelism.

Something important to realize is that while HWA claimed to restore 18 truths to the church by direct inspiration from Jesus Christ, the truth is, HWA came into contact with the Church of God in 1927 and began reading all the materials that church produced in its publications that had that “open creed.” He said when he came in contact with “Sardis”, they had very little truth. But the truth is, the focus and culture of the Church of God was to avoid “officiating” doctrines and beliefs held by the members. What that means is even though there was not a webpage with a laundry list of teachings one must agree to in order to fellowship or be initiated into a corporate body, almost every single one of HWA’s “divinely” restored truths were written about, published and discussed in the church; some of those ideas for many years. HWA did not leave because no one would believe his teachings on British-Israelism and the Holy Days. He left because the General Conference would not make them official doctrines as something everyone had to believe.

[John Keizs, who was a close friend and fellow minister of HWA from 1935-1945, says HWA had a persecution-complex and the church was glad to see him go as he was difficult to work with. Keizs also stated that HWA told him he planned to start a college where he could train men to teach only what HWA told them to teach.]

There were people in the church that believed those two doctrines and observed annual Holy Days. HWA learned it there! HWA continued sharing a feast site with John Keizs until 1945. And there are still people in the Church of God (Seventh Day) and the Seventh Day Adventist Church that believe and observe the annual Holy Days to this day.

As a prelude and summary statement about his research, Robert Coulter says this on p.18:

The history contained in The Journey, from the Church’s founding to the present, has not always been uplifting. Sometimes it reflects the triumph of the Christian spirit and faith. At other times it reflects the selfishness of human nature. But since the church, as a part of the body of Christ, is composed of frail human beings, the modern church, like the imperfect church of the first century, reflects both the goodness of God and the depravity of the human spirit and the need for Jesus Christ to recreate it after His image!

Herbert W. Armstrong died (40) years ago. The churches of God birthed from the Worldwide Church of God are but a shell of a former work and zeal. It’s time to look in that mirror and reflect on the truth of our roots and our history.

Something we have been hearing over and over for years now is, “If God has top-down government He plans to implement on earth during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, why would He NOT want us to practice that government in the church right now?” I have three reasons why NOT:

1. We are not God. We are men and incapable of ruling justly over others. The proof of this is human history and the record of abuse in all top-down structures including the ones implemented in churches.

2. Only the ministry gets to “practice” this government now. The only thing the rest of us get to practice is I Peter 2:18-21 and quite frankly, I get to practice that enough in the world.

3. The New Testament does not clearly endorse any form of government and that is why we see evidence of multiple structures utilized in church history. [I have come to believe through further study that the New Testament does endorse Congregational Polity]

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. When you compare the Church of God (Seventh Day) early days of congregational polity and open creed, encouraging all brethren to study to show themselves approved to the years they dealt with James White and Andrew Dugger trying to concentrate power unto themselves and dictating doctrine; which approach bore fruits of growth and peace and brotherly love and which bred politics, division and strife?

The so-called "Sardis era" of the Church (Church of God: Seventh Day) has 400,000 members with congregational governance. The WCG legacy is an aftermath of roughly 30,000 people divided by a divisive ministry drunk with top down power and dependency on tithe payers for their livelihoods.

Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

philosophy” is PHILOSOPHIA: “not philosophy in general but the teaching of a syncretistic religious group that claims special insight into God, Christ, astral powers, creation, that imposes a set of rules on its members and that bases the authority of its message on its age or esoteric (secret) nature. –p.1272, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

Philosophia is what destroyed families because of an ungodly understanding of divorce and remarriage in WCG. Philosophia is what ruined thousands of brethren’s financial lives as they believed Christ was returning in 1975 in WCG. Philosophia is what enabled a whoremonger to remain the spokesman (GTA) of the WCG through the 1970’s because when he was initially removed, the income dropped 30% so he was rushed back. Philosophia is why one-man-rule, top-down government was used in WCG to maintain control and keep people focused on HWA as their mediator to Christ. Philosophia is what produced the “true church” doctrine that tied people’s salvation to membership in WCG and put people to sleep.

In Robert Coulter’s concluding statements in his book, “The Journey: A History of the Church of God (Seventh Day)” he points out that, “all churches have skeletons in their proverbial closets if their historians choose to reveal them.”

As long as LCG and all other splinters from WCG refuse to shine the light of truth on church history, an unforgiving internet will continue to do so for them. Unacknowledged ecclesiastical sins will never be forgiven. You will go down as the church who had a name for being alive (The Living Church of God) but continued only as the walking dead, arms outstretched, falling forward from the white-washed sepulcher of the Worldwide Church of God.

HWA was a failed business man that turned his marketing skills to selling religion for gain. HWA taught many truths that he learned in COG7D and pawned them off as having received them directly from Christ. HWA was a gnostic who pushed his own “philosophia” without grace and without love; two things unconverted men can never understand.

In Philippians 1:15-18, Paul says that there are those who preach Christ out of envy, strife and selfish ambition, while others, out of love. Paul asks what we are to make of this. Should we give up? Discard everything what was learned as lies? No. Paul says, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is preached. And I want to make that clear. I did not write this to take away from what Jesus has done for me by bringing me into contact with the churches of God. Despite the messengers, I learned many truths of the Bible. I am not advocating that there is a “best place to be." There is only the best place for you where Christ wants to put you in your journey. The most important thing is to never turn off the most important aspect of your humanity that is created in the very image of God. John tells us that the name of our God is “Rational Thought.” Please, don’t ever trade that in for a quick fix into the Kingdom of heaven promised by teachers. Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling.

V.

Did Herbert W. Armstrong Really Have the Power to "Bind and Loose" on Earth and in Heaven?

 

Did Herbert W. Armstrong Really Have the Power to "Bind and Loose" 

on Earth and in Heaven?

Samuel Kitchen claims that Herbert Armstrong had the keys to bind and loose things on earth and in heaven, but did he really?

Herbert W. Armstrong loved to position himself as Christ's one and only end-time apostle, complete with the divine authority to "bind and loose" doctrines, practices, and even people's eternal destinies. He didn't just hint at it—he declared it with the full weight of his office. In a November 8, 1978, member letter, he made it "OFFICIAL" that this authority belonged exclusively to "Christ's present-day Apostle," not to lower-rank ministers or the church as a body. In August 1978, he warned that any "separated individual believer" trying to get salvation on his own or by following some man or denomination was "CUT OFF" from the true teaching that Christ reveals only through His apostle.

He doubled down: Disagree on doctrine? You're out of harmony with God's one Church. And that Church, of course, speaks only what Christ taught His apostle. Nice setup if you're the apostle.

This wasn't some minor administrative quirk. It was the theological engine that powered the entire WCG system of one-man rule, mandatory tithing, prophetic speculation, and disfellowshipping anyone who dared question the party line. But was HWA actually qualified to wield this authority? And more importantly, is the way he framed it biblical—or is it rank heresy that has left a trail of spiritual wreckage across decades of Armstrongism?

The phrase comes from Matthew 16:19 (to Peter) and Matthew 18:18 (in the context of church discipline). In first-century Jewish usage, "binding and loosing" referred to authoritative teaching: declaring what Scripture forbade or permitted, exercising discipline, and pronouncing forgiveness or retaining guilt. It was never a blank check for one man to invent new doctrines, override the Bible, or act as a spiritual dictator.

Peter had a unique foundational role, but even that was shared. The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (past tense—Ephesians 2:20), with Christ as the cornerstone. Acts 15 shows a council of apostles and elders making decisions together. Church discipline in 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 2 involved the congregation, not a lone apostle issuing decrees from headquarters. The New Testament knows nothing of an ongoing "chief apostle" office that funnels all truth through one self-appointed successor.

True apostolic authority was confirmed by eyewitness testimony of the risen Christ and miraculous signs (Acts 1:21-22; 2 Corinthians 12:12). HWA met none of those qualifications. His "new truths" were often recycled British Israelism, calendar theories, and prophetic guesses that failed spectacularly. Scripture is sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17); we don't need a latter-day apostle to keep updating it.

By claiming exclusive access to "TRUE TEACHING" that Christ reveals only through him, HWA turned the gospel into a franchise operation. Step outside his church? Cut off. Disagree with the apostle? Out of harmony with God Himself. This wasn't shepherding God's flock—it was building a personality cult where loyalty to HWA became the litmus test for salvation.

This doctrine enabled decades of control: dictating marriages, finances, medical decisions, and even what members could read or think. It elevated one flawed man above the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9) and the direct access to Christ promised in the New Covenant (Hebrews 4:14-16). The Holy Spirit leads God's people into truth collectively (John 16:13), not through a Pasadena bottleneck.

The splinters have carried this virus forward. Whether it's Dave Pack's "apostle" delusions in Wadsworth, Bob Thiel's crackpot pronouncements, or any of the other self-appointed Elijahs and Zerubbabels, the pattern remains: one man at the top, binding and loosing whatever serves the current narrative, while members are warned against "following men" (except, of course, the right one).

Let's call this what it is: a masterful theological con job that would make a used car salesman blush. Herbert Armstrong didn't just misunderstand "binding and loosing"—he weaponized it to crown himself the indispensable middleman between you and God. Forget the finished work of Christ, the sufficiency of Scripture, or the New Covenant reality of grace through faith. No, salvation required staying tuned to the apostle's latest epistle, checkbook open and critical thinking switched firmly to "off."

The sheer arrogance is almost comical. Here was a man who couldn't even keep his own prophecies straight, who changed doctrines more often than most people change socks, declaring himself the sole channel of divine truth while labeling everyone else "cut off." If that isn't the spirit of Antichrist—exalting himself above all that is called God (2 Thessalonians 2:4)—it's doing a damn fine imitation.

Thank God the New Covenant tears up this kind of spiritual extortion racket. No human organization or self-proclaimed apostle stands between you and the Savior. The Holy Spirit isn't on payroll at any headquarters. The priesthood of believers isn't a suggestion—it's reality. You don't need to "get your salvation all by yourself" in isolation, but neither do you need to submit to some modern-day pharisee with a mailing list and a God complex.

The wreckage is everywhere: ruined families, devastated finances, failed prophecies stacked like cordwood, and generations still trapped in fear because they were taught that leaving "the Church" meant leaving God. But the truth is the opposite. Real freedom in Christ begins when you stop following men who bind heavy burdens and start walking in the liberty purchased by the blood of the Lamb.

If you're still entangled in this mess—whether in a major splinter or some tiny "one true church" remnant—consider this your invitation to the exit ramp. Test everything against Scripture, not against the latest apostle's decree. The real Chief Apostle finished His work 2,000 years ago. He doesn't need a Pasadena successor or a self-appointed splinter apostle/prophet/chief overseer/pastor general.

Fiery Trials: Mandatory for Salvation or Just More COG Fear Porn? McNair & Thiel Edition

Crackpot Bob Thiel Touts Raymond “Buffy” McNair’s Tired “Fiery Trials” Sermon: More Proof Armstrongism Loves Suffering More Than Grace

Once again, the ever-reliable Crackpot Prophet Bob Thiel has dug up an old Raymond McNair article to “prove” that real Christians must endure constant “fiery trials,” severe persecutions, and endless pressure just to qualify for the Kingdom. Because nothing says “Good News” like being told your loving Father designed your life to be one long stress test.

McNair’s piece, titled something along the lines of “You Need To Know Why – Fiery Trials are Necessary,” is classic Worldwide Church of God boilerplate. It claims trials are mandatory blessings in disguise, compares spiritual birth to the pain of physical childbirth, trots out David, Paul, and Peter as examples of those who had to suffer mightily to “qualify,” and warns that without enough tribulation you’ll end up spiritually flabby—or worse, a “bastard” son whom God rejects. Comforting stuff.

Herbert Armstrong himself reportedly called Raymond McNair “Buffy McNair,” a jab that spoke volumes about how even HWA viewed his loyalty but limited brightness. McNair wasn’t exactly the sharpest lightbulb in the ministerial chandelier, and this article shows why. It’s a mishmash of proof-texting, stretched typology, and legalistic fear-mongering that turns the normal hardships of life in a fallen world into a mandatory qualification program for elite Kingdom positions.

What the Bible Actually Teaches

Yes, Scripture is clear that Christians will face tribulation. Jesus Himself said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). Paul told the disciples they would enter the Kingdom “through much tribulation” (Acts 14:22), warned that godliness brings persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), and Peter spoke of the “fiery trial” that tries faith like gold in the fire (1 Peter 4:12-13; 1 Peter 1:6-7).

Hebrews 12 discusses God’s fatherly chastening, and James 1 talks about the blessing of enduring temptation. Paul’s own catalogue of sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11 is sobering. No serious Christian denies that following Christ can bring opposition, refinement, and hardship. God does use trials to conform us to Christ’s image, build endurance, and draw us closer to Him.

But McNair (and Thiel parroting him) turns these realities into a crushing system. Not every believer is called to Paul-level shipwrecks and beatings. Not every trial is a special “fiery test” from God to prove your worthiness. And suffering is never the means by which we earn or qualify for salvation or high office in the Kingdom. That’s where Armstrongism goes off the rails into works-righteousness territory.

The New Covenant Difference

Under the New Covenant, our standing with God is based on Christ’s finished work, not on how many fiery trials we’ve racked up. We are accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6), complete in Him (Colossians 2:10), and perfected forever by His one sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10-14). Trials test and refine existing faith—they don’t create it or serve as a performance review for future rulership.

The childbirth analogy McNair leans on is strained typology at best. Being “born again” is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit through faith, not something we achieve by enduring enough pressure. God promises to limit our temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13), work all things for good (Romans 8:28), and deliver us from many afflictions (Psalm 34:19). He also gives peace that passes understanding and invites the weary to find rest in Him (Matthew 11:28-30; Philippians 4:6-7).

Armstrongist leaders loved weaponizing these passages to keep members anxious, tithing, and submissive. “God is testing you—don’t be lukewarm!” became code for “Stay in line or you’re out.” It fostered fear, guilt, and spiritual exhaustion rather than the freedom Christ promised.

Buffy McNair’s recycled ramblings, now promoted by Crackpot Bob, reveal the deep sickness at the heart of Armstrongism: a theology that magnifies suffering and human striving while minimizing the grace, rest, and finished victory we have in Jesus Christ.

True biblical Christianity does not demand that believers manufacture or seek out endless fiery trials to prove their worth. Life in this fallen world already supplies plenty of trouble. God sovereignly uses those difficulties for our growth and His glory, but He does not run a cosmic obstacle course where only the most bruised and battered contestants win the crown.

The New Covenant offers something far better: a loving Father who disciplines us as sons and daughters, yes, but who has already declared us righteous in Christ. Our endurance flows not from gritted-teeth determination to avoid being labeled spiritual bastards, but from abiding in the One who has already overcome the world.

This is the glorious freedom of the gospel. We do not have to live under perpetual pressure to qualify for something Christ has already secured for us. Trials will come, but they are not the proof of our sonship— the indwelling Holy Spirit and our faith in the finished work of Calvary are.

Reject the heavy yoke of Armstrongist fear-mongering. Rest in the grace of the New Covenant. The true Kingdom is entered not by those who suffer the most, but by those who trust the Savior who suffered once for all.

Thank God we are no longer under the bondage of “fiery trials” as a lifestyle requirement. In Christ, we have peace, purpose, and the sure hope of glory—without needing Buffy McNair or Bwana Bob’s distorted proof-texts to tell us otherwise.

Freedom in Christ beats endless tribulation theater every single time.

Perpetual Office Managers: The Rot That Afflicts Every Church of God Splinter

Perpetual Office Managers: The Rot That Afflicts Every Church of God Splinter

The United Church of God’s problems with entrenched, unaccountable Operations Managers aren’t a UCG-only bug. They’re a feature across the entire fractured landscape of Armstrongist “Churches of God.” Nathan Albright’s recent paper shines a much-needed light on the governance failure in UCG, but the same sickness—lifelong administrative fiefdoms, opaque decision-making, and resistance to real accountability—plagues virtually every major splinter. What began as a reaction against Herbert W. Armstrong’s and Joseph Tkach’s top-down authoritarianism has calcified into its own form of bureaucratic permanence. The result? Stagnation, groupthink, silenced dissent, and a leadership class more focused on preserving its own comfort than serving the flock.

As Albright rightly notes in his executive summary:

This paper examines a governance weakness within the United Church of God (UCG): the absence of term limits or genuine accountability for Operations Managers, particularly those overseeing Ministerial and Member Services and Media and Communications Services. While the UCG was formed in response to prior authoritarian abuses within the Worldwide Church of God, its own governing structure has permitted long-term consolidation of administrative power.

Replace “UCG” with LCG, PCG, CCOG, COGWA, RCG, or any of the smaller groups, and the paragraph still works perfectly. The names change, the letterhead rotates, but the pattern remains: a handful of men (almost always the same small circle) dig in for decades, shaping doctrine, ministry assignments, media narratives, and discipline with little meaningful oversight.

The Same Old Story Across the Splinters

UCG’s Council of Elders and General Conference of Elders were supposed to provide collegial balance. In practice, as Albright documents, Operations Managers over Ministerial and Member Services and Media become “semi-permanent and virtually immune to broad accountability.” They control pastoral assignments, credentialing, internal communications, public messaging, and responses to controversy. Dissenting ministers get reassigned, marginalized, or quietly sidelined. Media output stays tightly controlled to protect the approved narrative.

This isn’t unique to UCG. In the Living Church of God, long-serving administrators and headquarters loyalists have maintained tight control over ministerial culture and public image for years, even as membership and income trends tell their own story. In the Philadelphia Church of God, Gerald Flurry’s inner circle operates with even less pretense of accountability—after all, it’s “God’s government” in their telling. David C. Pack’s Restored Church of God takes it to cultish extremes, where questioning headquarters means questioning “God’s apostle.” Bob Thiel’s Continuing Church of God functions as a one-man (plus a few loyal lieutenants) operation where administrative power is simply whatever “Bwana Bob” decrees.

Across the board, the absence of term limits for these key operational roles creates the very centralization the splinters claimed to escape. Albright nails the structural problem in UCG:

The Constitution and Bylaws do not specify term limits for Operations Managers nor mandate periodic reviews or reappointment processes… Long-serving individuals in these roles often shape the institutional culture to their own vision, marginalizing dissent and consolidating influence through internal promotions and informal networks.

The same bylaws-level vacuum (or outright disregard for accountability) exists elsewhere. Presidents, Operations Managers, Media Directors, and “counsel of elders” equivalents become de facto lifelong positions. Fresh ideas dry up. Emerging leaders with different perspectives are either co-opted or pushed out. Innovation dies. The result is the slow-motion decline visible in shrinking congregations, aging memberships, and increasingly desperate fundraising across most groups.

Biblical Leadership: This Is Not

The New Testament knows nothing of perpetual office managers lording it over the saints. As Albright points out:
 

Scripture consistently presents leadership as a responsibility, not a personal possession. The New Testament pattern emphasizes rotation, plurality, and accountability. Paul and Peter both warn against lording it over the flock (1 Peter 5:1–3), and Christ commands His followers not to exercise authority as the Gentiles do (Matthew 20:25–28).

Instead of servant leadership and plurality, we get administrative permanence that breeds exactly the kind of institutional idolatry and abuse of power the splinters once condemned in the old WCG. Media control becomes narrative control. Ministerial oversight becomes the ability to shape (or silence) theology and discipline. When these powers rest in the same unchanging hands for decades, spiritual vitality suffers and the church drifts toward the very hierarchical model it fled.

Consequences We’ve All Seen

Stifled innovation and fresh voices: 

• Talented ministers and members with new ideas hit the same entrenched wall.
• Lack of transparency: Decisions about discipline, doctrine emphasis, and finances happen behind closed doors with minimal reporting to the brethren.
• Groupthink and cover-ups: Problems (doctrinal drift, moral failures, financial mismanagement) get minimized or buried to protect the institution and its long-serving managers.
• Declining health: Membership stagnates or shrinks while headquarters empires remain comfortable.

This isn’t servant leadership. It’s bureaucratic self-preservation dressed up in religious language.

Time for Real Reform Across the Board

Albright’s recommendations for UCG apply broadly: term limits (five-year renewable terms with mandatory sabbaticals after ten years), transparent annual reviews with input from field ministers and members, clearer separation of strategic council oversight from day-to-day administrative power, broader involvement in appointments, and a renewed culture of servant leadership.

Until the Churches of God adopt genuine accountability structures—real term limits, independent reviews, and actual plurality—the pattern of “perpetual office managers” will continue producing the same sad results: declining churches run by comfortable insiders who mistake institutional survival for faithfulness to the Gospel.

The original break from the WCG was driven by a desire to restore biblical governance and avoid the abuses of unchecked power. Thirty years later, most splinters have failed to live up to that vision. As Albright warns in his conclusion:

The United Church of God has noble origins in resisting ecclesiastical overreach. Yet without meaningful reform, it risks reproducing the very patterns it once rejected. Operations Managers must not become unaccountable power centers.

The same warning applies to every Church of God group. The brethren deserve better than lifelong bureaucratic overlords. Real New Covenant freedom includes freedom from the heavy hand of perpetual office managers who have confused their own positions with the work of God.

It’s long past time for genuine reform—before more generations are ground down by the same unaccountable system.

Nathan Albright's paper: White Paper: Unaccountable Stewardship — The Structural Problems of Perpetual Operations Managers in the United Church of God

The German Blitz That Crumbled Before It Started – Thanks, Demographics!

For decades, Armstrongism has clung desperately to the long-held delusion that Germany will once again rise as a military juggernaut, invade the United States, England, Australia, Canada, and other so-called “Israelitish” nations, slaughter a third of the inhabitants, haul off millions of prisoners (especially the young and fit), and ship them across the Atlantic to serve as slaves for their European overlords. It even reached peak absurdity at one point with the claim that when the Germans stormed ashore, they’d be so dazzled by the Ambassador Auditorium and surrounding properties in Pasadena that they’d declare it the invasion headquarters. Heaven forbid they tear it down—after all, why destroy such a fine example of God’s (or at least Herbert’s) handiwork when you could just occupy it instead?

Herbert Armstrong kicked off this paranoid fever dream by repeatedly insisting that Hitler was still alive and hiding out in South America, most likely Argentina, plotting his comeback tour. Then Rod Meredith had what can only be described as a particularly vivid wet dream about Americans being cooked in Nazi ovens, hung on meat hooks to die slow deaths, and—because nothing says “biblical prophecy” like extra cruelty—skin from those with tattoos being turned into lampshades, just like the Nazis actually did in some concentration camps.

Scores of breathless articles flooded the Plain Truth, Good News, and World Tomorrow magazines, warning of the imminent German blitz. And who could forget Gerald Waterhouse’s traveling road show of unhinged stupidity, where he not only regurgitated these delusions but happily invented fresh ones for the flock? Even today, the usual suspects—Bob Thiel (a.k.a. Bwana Bob, the Crackpot Prophet), Gerald Flurry, Ron Weinland, Alton Billingsley, Dave Pack, and a whole clown car full of other self-appointed know-it-alls—continue to peddle this nonsense as if it’s cutting-edge revelation instead of moldy 1930s-era geopolitical fan fiction. It should be painfully obvious by now that mental illness and grand delusions are occupational hazards for far too many Church of God leaders and evangelists.

These Church of God leaders need this German invasion to happen. It simply must occur! Only then can they finally declare victory and prove that every wild-eyed prediction they’ve ever made wasn’t the ravings of paranoid men living in perpetual fear of being exposed as frauds.

All of this stems from their stubborn refusal to leave the Old Covenant behind—those heavy chains of law-keeping, enforcement, and threats used to keep the sheep in line. Armstrongism’s allergic reaction to fully embracing the New Covenant is precisely why they keep recycling this apocalyptic garbage. Instead of finding rest in the One who accomplished it all, they prefer to wallow in fear and cower before imagined divine wrath.

They desperately need to see an invading army of jackbooted Germans marching down the streets of Charlotte or Grover Beach. But not once do they sit down and actually think this mythical scenario through. Germany currently fields around 1,000,000 active and reserve military personnel, while the United States has about 3,000,000. Oh wait, they always have an escape hatch: After Germany miraculously drops nuclear bombs on all the major military installations and cities, the number of defenders will be minimal. And of those who remain, many will conveniently perish from hunger and disease. Armstrongism has a convenient workaround for everything!

One thing these prophetic geniuses never had the intellectual honesty to consider is the current state of Germany’s military. This tidbit was on a German page on X:

“Germany can no longer raise an army, simply because of how many Muslims are now German citizens” 

 

“Now, allegedly, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz has privately admitted that he's worried about the country's ability to raise an army, simply because Germany doesn't want to put weapons in the hands of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Germans. And he'd be right in worrying, because a recent study of young Muslim Germans showed that nearly half expressed latent Islamist attitudes, which are, you know, the kind of attitudes that turn Muslims into terrorists, and more than half said that their religious commandments were more important to them than even German democracy. And if you ask me, these don't sound like the attitudes of Germans. These sound like the attitudes of Germany's enemies”

Let’s get into the facts. A 2025–2026 German government-backed study by MOTRA, Radicalization Monitoring System, involving the Federal Criminal Police Office, found that 45.1% of Muslims under 40 in Germany hold either “manifest” (11.5%) or “latent” (33.6%) Islamist attitudes. This includes preferences for Sharia over the constitution, antisemitic views, and Islamist leanings. When you have a significant population of Muslims who hold a pro-Sharia Law mindset, you can’t trust them in your military.

In the end, the entire edifice of Armstrongist prophecy about a German invasion crumbles under the slightest scrutiny, revealing itself as nothing more than a fear-based control mechanism dressed up in biblical language. While these leaders continue to hype imaginary jackbooted hordes, the real world moves on—Germany grapples with its own demographic and security challenges that make conquering the United States about as likely as Herbert Armstrong returning from Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena to lead the charge himself.

The tragedy is that generations of sincere people have lived in dread, sacrificing time, money, and peace of mind to support a fantasy that has failed spectacularly for decades. The New Covenant offers rest, freedom, and security in Christ, not endless paranoia about European superpowers or nuclear doomsday scenarios conveniently rigged in favor of the “one true church.” It’s long past time for those still trapped in this system to step away from the delusions, embrace the finished work of the Savior, and leave the failed prophets to their increasingly desperate echo chambers. True peace doesn’t come from watching for German tanks on the horizon—it comes from the One who has already overcome the world.

Persecution Coming Within Four Years… Or Eight… Or Twelve… But Definitely Real This Time, Brethren!

 

Why Bob Thiel Is Convinced His Tiny Sabbath-Keeping “Philadelphian Remnant” Will Be Persecuted Within the Next Four Years (And Why He’s Been Wrong About Every Single Deadline Since the Last Ice Age)
Oh look, brethren—er, I mean, the three dozen faithful who haven’t yet fled to another city—real persecution is coming. Again. This week’s recommended sermon from the Continuing Church of God’s very own Dr. Bob Thiel (PhD in made-up prophecy) is all about “prophecies related to Sabbath-keepers,” which is Thiel-speak for “please keep tithing while I recycle the same 1970s Armstrongist fear-porn and pretend it’s fresh revelation from God.”
The man who once claimed God gave him a dream that he was the prophesied Elijah-to-come (before quietly walking that one back when it got too embarrassing) is now dusting off Matthew 10:23 like it’s a brand-new text hot off the divine press: 

When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

 Jesus was talking to first-century apostles. Bob Thiel reads it and hears a personal four-year eviction notice aimed squarely at his living-room Zoom Bible study in Arroyo Grande. Because nothing says “humble servant of God” like turning a travel advisory for the Twelve into a personalized persecution countdown clock that somehow always lands on “within four years… or maybe eight… or twelve… but definitely soon, brethren, send more money.”
But the real comedy gold comes when Thiel drags out Daniel 11:28-35—the passage every failed end-times huckster has been misapplying since the ink dried. The king of the North gets mad, pollutes the sanctuary, persecutes the “wise,” etc. In Thiel’s special translation (the one with the invisible asterisk that says “*This means me and my 47 followers first”), this somehow proves the “bulk of a relatively soon coming persecution (perhaps within four years)” will hit the Philadelphian remnant Christians before anyone else. Why? Because Revelation 3:8 says they have “a little strength” and have kept His word. Translation: Bob’s group still meets on Saturday, avoids bacon, and tithes like it’s 1974, so obviously Satan has them circled in red Sharpie on the global hit list.
The logic is airtight if you’ve had a lobotomy:

1. Bob Thiel = the Philadelphian remnant (he checked the dream journal). 
2. Daniel 11 says the remnant gets hammered first. 
3. Jesus said flee, so pack the freeze-dried manna. 
4. Therefore, within four years the government, the Vatican, the UN, the Illuminati, and probably the local HOA will burst in demanding Sunday worship and Easter ham while forcing everyone to work Saturdays in matching “666” T-shirts. 
5. Don’t forget to buy Bob’s latest book on the subject. It’s only $29.99 and comes with a free “I told you so” sticker for when it doesn’t happen.

What’s especially hilarious is how Thiel’s four-year windows have the structural integrity of wet toilet paper. He’s been peddling this “persecution is right around the corner” schtick for over a decade now. Every failed prediction gets quietly memory-holed while a shiny new sermon series pops up: “Why the Great Tribulation Is Still Coming—Just a Little Later Than the Last 47 Times I Said It Would.” Some random European law, a papal handshake, a TikTok about Sunday laws, or the fact that Walmart sells hot dogs on Saturday—all of it is “proof” in Thiel’s fever-dream theology. He even wrote an entire article called “Persecutions by Church and State” that’s basically a greatest-hits album of out-of-context Ellen White quotes, Herbert Armstrong fever dreams, and Bob’s own self-referential footnotes.
And the lies? Oh, the lies are the real miracle here. Thiel has claimed divine dreams proving he’s a prophet more times than most people change their socks. He’s predicted specific wars, economic collapses, and end-time events with calendar precision—none of which have arrived on schedule. When they don’t, he simply moves the goalposts, reinterprets the dream, or blames the brethren for not praying hard enough. It’s the prophetic equivalent of that friend who keeps swearing “this time the check is in the mail” while his bank account is overdrawn into next year.
Meanwhile, the rest of Christianity—billions of people who also claim to follow Jesus—gets a free pass until Bob’s elite little flock has been sufficiently thinned out. Because nothing screams “the true church” like believing the entire planet’s apocalyptic drama revolves around whether your micro-group in California gets raided before the Baptists do. The arrogance is almost impressive. Almost.
So yes, real persecution is going to come. Any day now. Within four years. Or eight. Or twelve. Just keep fleeing to the next city, brethren. The Son of Man is right behind you—probably stuck in the same prophetic traffic jam Bob Thiel has been directing since he split off from the Living Church of God because they wouldn’t crown him Elijah 2.0 fast enough.
Pass the popcorn. And maybe some bacon. You know—for the non-remnant who aren’t living in Bob’s perpetual four-year countdown to nowhere