What's a poor church leader to do? Bob Thiel leads a personalty cult that he formed to gather members to himself. He was never ordained in any capacity to the ministry. He is everything that Herbert Armstrong aggressively fought against.
Because he has no real legitimacy for his position, he has to continually throw around scriptures that he thinks elevates himself to lofty ecclesiastical positions.
He claims hands were laid on him that gave him a "double dose" of the holy spirit. That was his only claim to fame for a couple of years. Now, he is throwing around the world "prophet."
Is the naturopath ready to claim he is a prophet?
Thiel has to haul out an old Leroy Neff letter because there is nothing in his bible that legitimizes himself.
Thiel writes:
A true prophet would not need to be from a major theological
institution, have the most magnanimous personality, be a great speaker,
or have a large or impressive Church, but would be the type willing to
meet in members’ homes. He also does not have to have had a ministerial
background. God chooses who His prophets are. Notice something from the
Old Testament:
14 Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: “I was no
prophet, Nor was I a son of a prophet, But I was a sheepbreeder And a
tender of sycamore fruit. 15 Then the Lord took me as I followed the
flock, And the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
(Amos 7:14-15)
Theil has no theological education, is not a personable person to be around, is certainly NOT a great speaker, and does not have a church. He also does not have any ministerial background. According to his earlier writings, God personally "picked him" for the position he is in.
Thiel also has a secular job. Notice how his version of a "prophet" also has a secular job:
So, a prophet also does not need to come from a ministerial family, but
instead can be called if he has a secular work background.
Bob must know that he is like all the other COG prophets who have lied to members over the decades. They made many mighty prophecies and none of them have come to pass. Bob wants to make it known - through Leroy Neff - that it might take years or decades for a prophecy to come true. So when Bob makes a fool out of himself when he utters something stupid, he wants a free pass for the next few decades until something happens that fits his scenario.
Leroy Neff wrote not to disqualify a prophet if some predictions take a long time to happen:
Then there is the prophet or minister who says something
will come to pass and it apparently does not. Such a one would certainly
be labeled false by most observers. This is one reason, but not the
only reason, why almost all of God’s prophets throughout history have
been labeled by many as false!
Consider such men as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. They sometimes
prophesied for many years, and yet what they said would happen did not
come to pass immediately. Why didn’t these prophecies come to pass?
The answer was that it was not yet God’s time for their predictions
to come to pass. At the proper time, sometimes years or decades later,
the prophecies were fulfilled. And in some cases, what they prophesied
has not yet come to pass even in our day, but will be fulfilled in God’s
time. There is a time, after ample warning, when God will finally say,
“None of My words will be postponed any more” (Ezekiel 12:28).
There are other examples where God’s true servants expected certain
events to occur in their lifetimes. During his earlier ministry, the
apostle Paul apparently expected Christ to return during his life (I
Thessalonians 4:17, I Corinthians 15:51).
Later, he realized that it
would not occur until later (II Timothy 4:6-8) . Paul was criticized and
labeled “false” by accusers, but the members of God’s Church knew he
was a true servant of God. (Ibid, p. 11)
In other words, get your free pass ready to hand to Bob. He is incapable of making a mistake. It will all come true eventually.
Bob knows he will be ridiculed when he is a prophet, but that's OK. His Bible says it is so:
Truly, most people will not listen to a true prophet of God in this age.
And, even when God grants power to His two witnesses, most in the world
will not only not listen to them, they will be deceived enough to
support an army that will fight against the returning Jesus Christ
(Revelation 16:13-14; 19:11-19)!
Thiel also gives a warning to the "fake" prophets that contact him. Notice how important the laying on of hands is to him. This is Thiel's only claim to fame.
Thus far, none who have ever contacted me and claimed to have been a
prophet of some type have had hands laid upon them to give them the type
of anointing that a true prophet of God would likely have had in this
church age if God was selecting them. Hence, if the anointing from a
true minister has not happened to you, understand that I do not now
accept that you are a prophet or one of the two witnesses. Laying hands upon yourself is not enough.
Thiel was not anointed by a true minister, so why is he making such a rule against those that come to him doing the EXACT same thign he did to Rod Meredith?
This idiot truly knows no shame as he continues trying to prove his legitimacy as a new prophet in the COG.
In my case, in November/December 2011, I prayed that if I truly had a
prophetic role from God that He would have something happen during a
planned mid-December 2011 trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to confirm
it or deny it if that were His will. As it turned out, on 12/15/2011
hands were laid upon me in Charlotte by ordained minister Gaylyn
Bonjour. He prayed that I would be granted a “double-portion” of God’s
Holy Spirit. He told me that he had not ever done this before but he
felt that it was reminiscent of the time that the prophetic and
ecclesiastical leadership mantle passed from the Prophet Elijah to
Elisha (2 Kings 2:9-13). This minister had been unaware that I had
prayed that God would have me anointed or somehow identified for a
prophetic role on that mid-December 2011 trip if that were His plan for
me and I had never discussed my possible prophetic role with him prior
to this anointing. This 12/15/11 anointing appears to be the first
biblically-appropriate prophetic anointing in the Church of God in many
decades, if not many multiple centuries. And the legitimacy of this
anointing has been proven by subsequent events–though many do not seem
to understand how God works at times. And yes, I will add that I believe
that I do have the appropriate prophetic fruits that Jesus discussed
(Matthew 7:15-20) and that those truly interested in the truth can see
this if they truly wish to prayfully look into this.
Herbert is rolling in his grave right now!