Why is it that so many look up to Church of God leaders as father figures? Many think this is the case with Nearly Arrested Elisha Elijah Bob Thiel. Have you ever noticed that Thiel never talks about his birth father? Nothing is ever said. All he ever mentions his "spiritual" father Rod Meredith. Thiel used to wax eloquent on Meredith all the time. Daddy could do no wrong. Daddy sat and ate lunches and dinners with him. Daddy had him over for cocktails Daddy personally had an audience in his office with him. Then his daddy had to go and reject him. Daddy publicly humiliated him in church, a double whammy. His father figure Rod Meredith rejected him and refused to listen to him when he approached him with concerns that the church was preaching the wrong things. Now Thiel has lashed out once again bemoaning the fact that Meredith ignored his silly recommendations.
The problem this time is that Thiel is attempting to use an article from Living Church of God to prop up his absurd belief that he is a prophet. The only true prophet in the church now.
Sometime back, Dexter Wakefield wrote an article on "spiritual gifts." Thiel quotes Wakefield:
Statement on 1 Corinthians
Let’s look at some of the statements in the order Dexter Wakefield wrote them. Let’s start with the following:To serve the needs of the Church, God—through His Spirit—gives different members different gifts. “…to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits … the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually … (1 Corinthians 12:4–11)
Yes, as it states in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, there are differing gifts AND prophecy is one of them. But also notice that the discerning of spirits IS NOT taught as being given to all as he seemed to imply.
Gift of Prophecy
Let’s look at another of Dexter Wakefield’s statements:Similarly, the gift of “prophecy” is primarily the gift of inspired speech, and can be exercised in a strong sermon that covers no “new ground” but simply explains with clarity and power the meaning of Bible prophecy and end-time events.
Apostle Thiel is working up to the point that he is a prophet because he has the gift for inspired speech which leads him to preach sermons with the only accurate interpretation of prophecy and end-time events.Dexter Wakefield is correct that most of the time, one with a prophetic gift is properly explaining biblical prophecy and end time events. That occurs in the Continuing Church of God.
No other man outside of the Continuing Church of God has the correct interpretations:
It should be noted certain leaders of other COGs (including in LCG in several instances) have disqualified themselves on certain matters of prophecy, especially when they insist on matters that are wrong, or at best questionable...
Thiel clans that Rod Meredith personally said that his god "might" consider Thiel a prophet.
The Apostle Paul makes it clear that not all are prophets. Prophet is an office and prophets are to prophesy. LCG’s position is that it has NO prophets (which is likely the case as I stopped attending late on 12/28/12).
But it should be noted that its top leader had repeatedly taught in the past that God may consider Bob Thiel to be a prophet...Thiel then set himself up as the third Elijah The problem is that Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack and Ron Wienland have already claimed that they are. How can the "true church" have sooooo many end-time Elijah's?
Dexter Wakefield continued with:“Prophets” in the sense of Elijah are rare,
True. But rare does not mean that there are not and cannot be any. Now while Dexter Wakefield did not make that error, many in various COGs have concluded that rare means none. The New Testament is clear that God has prophets who prophesy (1 Corinthians 12:28-30) and will do so in the last days (Acts 2:17-18). Those in LCG and all other COGs need to realize this.
Thiel continues:As far as ‘Elijah,’ the position of the Church of God since the beginning is that there would be three biblical ‘Elijahs.’ The original Elijah (e.g. 1 Kings 17:1), John the Baptist (Matthew 7:12-13), and an Elijah to come at the very end of the church age (Malachi 4:4-6) to restore all things (Matthew 17:11).
CG has taught that Elijah will either be a man younger than its Roderick C. Meredith (Meredith, Roderick C. The Elijah Question. VTE 131, May 19, 2001) or that the Elijah is not a person but an “Elijah-type work” which fulfills the Elijah prophesies in Matthew 17:10-11 and Malachi 4:4-6 (Winnail D. The Mission of the Church. Living Church News, March-April 2006, p. 7). The Bible shows that ‘Elijah’ will be a person (see also The Elijah Heresies).
As far as rarity goes, I would ask, “How many people were told by an actual top evangelist in the Church of God that God may consider him to be a prophet?” In the 20th and 21st centuries, there is only one who comes to mind. So, while prophets are “rare,” and being told one is a prophet by an ordained evangelist is also rare, rarity does not mean that there are none.
One guess as to who that third Elijah is...As far as “Elijah” goes, he is to “restore all things” (Matthew 17:11).
We also get to the point where we see what is really still eating at Thiel's soul. He was rejected by his daddy, Rod Meredith. Because of that rejection Thiel HAD to start his own church.
The truth about early and apostolic Christians is that it is PROVABLY NOT IN LCG AND IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT than Dr. Meredith realizes. When I was in LCG in 2011, I was trying to help them restore much of it; Dr. Meredith agreed, but then failed to keep his word. Dr. Meredith’s failure to keep his word on that and other matters was a major reason that the Continuing Church of God had to form.I used to think Dave Pack and the Flurry clan were the biggest liars in the Church of God, but no longer. Everything that comes out of Thiel's mouth is a lie. God no more appointed Thiel to lead a church than he did Dave Pack or Gerald Flurry. No double blessing, no dreams, no prophetic truth, no mindless rants of of assumed titles. Nothing credible comes from this delusional man.
