Why is it that a church that says it is God's most highly favored and one that is carrying on in a direct lineage from the original apostolic church, has to CONSTANTLY compare itself with other splinter groups?
Even before the Church of God imploded, at every Feast site it was one big one-upmanship as to who had the most people and the biggest offerings. Today that pissing contest still goes on with the various Churches of God, but never more so than with Tinfoil Bob Thiel's improperly named "continuing" Church of God.
Yesterday I posted some comments by James Tabor and items from the Church of God News site about the dwindling Church of God membership numbers. Leave it up to thin-skinned and eternally butt-hurt Tinfoil Bob to take exception to the comments.
While size is not an indicator of truth, the truth is that the CCOG has been the fastest growing COG in the 21st century. The three groups with more congregants than CCOG (UCG, COGWA, LCG) have essentially been slow growing and the other two shown on the post (PCG and RCG) have had substantial losses of congregants in the past 6 or so years.
Unlike UCG, COGWA, and LCG who got the bulk of their members because of a split from another organization (as PCG also somewhat also did–but not as quickly directly as the others did), CCOG did not do that.
Currently, about 3,800 are considered and/or wish to be considered congregants with the CCOG.
Now, I noticed that the anti-COG Banned by HWA site made negative comments about CCOG and Africans today.
But scripture points to a much more positive view.
Jesus taught that fruits will identify the true from the false:
15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)
So, fruits are the criteria Matthew recorded that Jesus set to know true from false prophets.
It is obvious to tens of thousands of Church of God members and even more ex-members that Bob Thiel
IS a false prophet, who comes as a ravenous wolf seeking to devour sincere seeking Africans in order to add to his "astounding" membership rolls. Never has the church seen a more puffed up and vainglorious self-appointed COG leader that it has in Bob Thiel. Even Dave Pack, the narcissist he is, is not as important as Thiel who has declared himself the one and only true end time prophet. No COG has ever grown as fast as he has nor made available booklets in so many languages as he has, at least in his eyes.
According to Tinfoil Bob, those that dare to question him and his vision are just like the Jews that got all ticked off when gentiles entered the church and did not have to worry about pork and being burdened by the letter of the law.
Good trees produce a lot of fruit.
Deuteronomy 7:13 refers to people as the fruit of the womb.
If fruits can be defined as people in the Church of God, then CCOG has those.
Since CCOG formed, it has produced the most fruit that way.
Thus, the only group of the six listed that claims to have a prophet that has the fruits of a prophet Jesus referred to is the CCOG.
Laodiceans, and others, however, refuse to accept that standard that Jesus set.
They decide (they reason around this).
Jesus never, I repeat NEVER set up Bob Thiel as a prophet or the one foretold in dreams, as he claims.
Various ones say, well anyone can get Africans to come with them, and since CCOG has mainly Africans, this does not count.
Well, that was basically the same attitude that the Jews had in New Testament times concerning the calling of Gentiles. They did not think that the Gentiles counted.
That is a load of Armstrongite self-serving bullshit. Those who see through the lies of the self-appointed false prophet are concerned about sincere searching people in Africa who probably truly want to follow Jesus but have been caught up in another white man's cult imported from America that is trying to save the unconverted heathen blacks of Africa. It is time these people stepped out in faith and rebuked the white Bawana's coming to give them their version of the truth. It is time they stop prostituting themselves to the American purveyors of legalism and learned to embrace grace and freedom that the Jesus the seek to follow came to give to them, freely and without and works of their own.
The late Pastor General of the old Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote about this portion of scripture:
Now study carefully beginning verse 25: “Blindness in part is happened to Israel [HOW LONG? Forever? No — note it], UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” — the end of this age during which God is calling a people from among the gentiles to bear His name (Acts 15:14). And so, says Romans 11:26, “all Israel SHALL BE SAVED [how?]: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” The Deliverer, Jesus Christ, is coming again!
When He comes, the gentile times will be over — the BLINDNESS will be removed from the Israelites — and their opportunity — their FIRST chance — of salvation will then come to those whom God had blinded! This is at the time when He comes to REIGN on HIS THRONE — the throne of David, with the saints made immortal reigning and ruling with Him — and the time is DURING THE THOUSAND YEARS!
Notice verse 31. These blinded Israelites have not now, in this age, received mercy, that through the mercy of the gentiles saved in this age, they MAY, THEN, obtain mercy and salvation. How? Because these saved gentiles will then be kings and priests, assisting in this wonderful Work! (Armstrong HW. Where Will The MILLENNIUM Be Spent? Tomorrow’s Word magazine, September 1971)
Clearly, we are now (47 years later) much closer to the time when all the Gentiles are to come in to later be kings and priests!
It is a sad day when any COG leader claims salvation cannot be found outside their own respective church. Truth only resides with them and therefore those who reject them and their church are unable to understand any truth of God or what they have to offer.
If you are not with CCOG does your church teach or understand this?
Will you believe the Bible or reason around it?
More of the Gentiles had to be called–and that is happening–and now mainly in CCOG.
The end does NOT come until the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ reaches enough nations and the ‘full number’ (as the NIV, NLT, BSB, CEV, GNT, HCSV, ISV, and NET Bible, put Romans 11:25) of Gentiles God wants in this age come in.
If you really are praying for the kingdom to come as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:10, then you should support CCOG.
Don’t use prejudices and other factors stop you from acting on the truth and using the criteria that Jesus and the Apostle Paul laid out.
The truth is that CCOG has been the fastest growing COG in the 21st century.
Anyone who yearns for the kingdom to come will NOT under any circumstance EVER support the improperly named "continuing" Church of God. Trusting in the One who is greater than any COG leader will ever talk about is far better than ever desiring to be in a kingdom run by a COG leader or their group, particularly one envisioned by the improperly named "continuing" Church of God.
3,600 Africans have been duped by the lies and false teachings of Bob Thiel and shame on the 200 Americans who turned their backs on the giver of grace to follow this bastardizer of the law.
