Pretend COG False Prophet Has Another Melt Down Over Other COG False Prophets

 

Our most highly favored self-appointed prophet to the Churches of God, in this latter-day dispensation, got his holistic knickers in a major twist last night after he read an article on this blog about Wade Cox and his 2028 millennium prediction. Nothing infuriates a COG false prophet more than another COG false prophet making a prediction that they did not think of. When that person does the daggers come out swinging, labeling the other person a false prophet, and that "true" COG members should be wary of them. The dual-minded false prophet, Bob,  tries to bring Jesus into the mix to justify his words of wisdom, which is about the only time the Dude ever gets mentioned.

The great Bwana writes:

...There is no possibility that the millennium can begin before 2030. Wade Cox will be proven wrong on this. Certain events that Jesus pointed to have not yet occurred which render Wade Cox’s dates impossible. 

Just like all of Thiel's predictions are impossible. 

Some have been critical of me pointing out false predictions from people who claim to be Church of God, but who are probably not truly COG, but instead are false. 

Bob is not truly the Church of God and is indeed false! He self-appointed himself after Rod Meredith humiliated him and that did not sit well with Bob. After a couple decades of being ignored and made fun of by LCG leaders, Bob had to set on on his own. God, Christ, dreams, etc, had nothing to do with Bob's self-appointment. Only his vanity and supercharged narcissistic ego did that.  

My normal response to such is to mention how Jesus dealt with religious leaders (Matthew 7:15-23) and/or Laodiceans (Revelation 3:14-19). If the claims seem improperly prophetic or exceptionally bold, I tend to cite 2 Peter 2:1-3. 

 

Should we be concerned about false and heretical leaders? Should they always be ignored? Should we focus on the positive about them? What did Jesus do? What does the Bible teach? 

Absolutely! That's why this blog, The Painful Truth, and others regularly bring to light the lies of Bob. There is nothing positive about the guy when his ultimate works are evil to the core.  Providing laptops. seeds, animals, etc. to impoverished Africans is negated by the heretical lies he preaches.

Many people do not seem to understand what Jesus was really like and what He really taught.
While it is true He taught, “love your enemies” and to “pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), it is a misunderstanding to believe that Jesus taught that one could never point out the problems of religious enemies (and yes, we should still pray for them).

The Great Bwana then went on to quote Jesus when he is describing deceptive men like Bob Thiel in the Church of God:

Jesus often taught to beware of religious leaders. Notice:

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.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! (Matthew 7:15-23, NKJV throughout unless otherwise indicated).

Elijah Ben Thiel continues:

False leaders do not produce good fruit. Many of them tend to encourage lawlessness (though they would almost all deny that). Those that follow them risk being cast out by Jesus. 

 

Notice that Jesus is saying to look at their fruits and that even if they appear to be doing miracles in Jesus’ name, if they promote lawlessness, they are not true Christians.

This may look all appropriate as what Jesus said, but what Bob is actually doing here is setting you up for him stating later on that HE and only HE is doing a fruitful work in this age.

The Great Bwana then has to drag in Norm Edwards once again as an instrument to justify his prophetic mantle and his asinine dreams. Norm Edwards is no more a source of godly wisdom and truth than Dave Pack is, but as long as Norm's words can be twisted by Bob to justify his dreams then, Hell yes! Let's use him!

Consider the following from former GCG board member Norman Edwards:

Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 

 

1Th 5:19-21 Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. 

 

1Tim 1:18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 

 

1Tim 4:14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 

 

2Tim 3:1-2, 5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

 

Do people today have faith that God is able to prophecy through people in their congregations? 

 

1Jo 4:1-2 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 

 

Note: If there were no true prophets, there would be no need to “test the spirits”—because every prophet would be a “false prophet”. But because there are both true prophets and false prophets, we need to “test the spirits”. (Edwards N. Need Prophets More than Prophecy. Shepherd’s Voice, Fall 2013) 

 

So, do not be quick to consider the good to be bad. If you truly have God’s Spirit and really strive to be a Philadelphian Christian, you will actually believe that God’s word says there will be prophets and dreams from Him in the last days per Acts 2:17-18

The Great Bwana ends with this:

Do not follow false teachers. Do not presume, however, someone is false because an accuser of the brethren lumps him/her in with the false. 

 

Remember, the Apostle Paul wrote:

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22) 

 

So, in addition to avoiding the bad, do not overlook the good.  

 

Have your really tested all things? 

 

Or have you relied on traditions and feeling?

Bob is a false teacher. He quenches the spirit by forcing his followers to observe old covenant laws they don't need instead of following the ONE they should be following. Just look at how Bob's leaders in Africa slobber all over him when they mention him. Jesus is no more a part of their conversations than the New Covenant is.

Bob has been tested and found wanting!  The Living Church of God members understood this as did Rod Meredith and 99.97% of the COG membership!

If you have bad feelings about Bob then there is justification for that. Stay away! Far away!

The COG Tradition of Appropriating Prophecies Intended for Israel

 

Is It Appropriate to Appropriate Prophecies Intended for Israel?

Alright, so you've demonstrated that Armstrong's brand of Anglo-Israelism is NOT consistent with Scripture, but what about America as a type of Israel? After all, didn't the founders of the United States see themselves as God's "chosen" people? And didn't they regard themselves as planting a "Christian" nation in the wilderness of a new "Promised Land"? Isn't it reasonable to assume that God would hold the United States and its leaders to the same standard that he instituted for ancient Israel and its leaders? Haven't the English-speaking nations of the world embraced Israel's Bible and been its greatest proponents around the globe? So, isn't the entire question of whether or not the English-speaking peoples of the earth are the physical descendants of Abraham irrelevant?

Herbert Armstrong and his followers have traditionally regarded Anglo-Israelism as the key to understanding Bible prophecy. Indeed, they think that this "understanding" gives them a "prophetic advantage" over all other Christians! Moreover, these folks have used this teaching to justify their focus on the English-speaking folks of the earth! Hence, we should not be surprised that Armstrongites would be extremely reluctant to give up something which has proven to be one of their trademarks - one of the things that has set them apart from the crowd!

However, it is as they say: extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. In order for someone or something to by a type of someone or something, there must be some clear and convincing parallels/similarities between the two. Hence, it is entirely appropriate to point out that the United States is very different from ancient Israel. To begin with, there are the obvious differences between a Bronze-Iron Age, agrarian-based economy and a modern, industrialized, technologically advanced nation. The big differences relative to size of the population, territory, and military power of the two nations is also rather glaring. Likewise, Israel was an absolute monarchy with a state religion, and the United States is a democratic republic which has eschewed the establishment of a state religion. Israel was a party to a formal covenant/agreement with God and was subject to the terms outlined in the Torah, and the United States is governed by a constitution which is more in the nature of a contract/covenant between the people and their government. Israel was subject to the imperialism of its much stronger neighbors throughout its history as a nation, while the United States has actively participated in the Imperialism which engulfed the Western World in the 19th and 20th Centuries! Israel was guilty of idolatry and breaking the terms of their covenant with God, and the United States has been accused of killing its unborn, tolerating homosexuality, and racism by its critics. In other words, there are some very profound differences between the ancient nation of Israel and the modern nation of the United States!

What about the similarities in the religious and political leadership of ancient Israel compared to that of the United States? Aren't the abuses of power, lying, hypocrisy, wickedness, and bad examples exhibited by the leaders of ancient Israel also present in the religious and political leadership of the United States? Yes, but couldn't we characterize the leadership of every other country on the face of the earth in exactly the same way? Moreover, very unlike ancient Israel, the people of the United States can periodically vote to remove their leaders and replace them.

In terms of the Hebrew Bible, we should also point out that the entire Western World has adopted that book! Hence, the suggestion that the United States and other English-speaking nations are unique in this regard is shown to be absurd. Indeed, Christianity has the MOST adherents of any other religion on the face of the earth! Also, in this connection, we must not forget that Judaism is an active religion, and that a nation of Jews named "Israel" currently exists within the boundaries of the ancient nation of the same name!

I would also point out that one of the primary rules of biblical interpretation is CONTEXT. How do we justify taking something that was clearly addressed to a particular people in a specific time and place and applying it to someone else in another time and place? Moreover, if we are serious about trying to find a place for the United States in the context of biblical prophecy, isn't the Babylonian/Beast system of the book of Revelation infinitely more appropriate? Take a look at Babylon as a prophetic template and let me know what you think!

Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix

Dave Pack: We are in Serious Dilemma! All of our literature is wrong!

 

UPDATE: On March 9, 2021, I posted this about Dave's ongoing lies and how almost all of RCG's literature was then obsolete. Here we are in February 2023 and the lies continue unabated. Jesus still has not returned. Dave's material is still outdated. No great secret of God has ever been revealed. Every time Dave opens his mouth he discredits himself, invalidating any previous words of wisdom.

We are in a Serious Dilemma!

From an RCG source:

This is perhaps one of the more shocking quotes I have seen in the series yet. I would ask that the Website team post this on the homepage somewhere just so new members understand that nothing they read is actually what the church teaches. This is a long quote but stay with me!

All the RCG material on the “Gospel” is wrong in Dave’s eyes. (This was discussed for years while the series was going on, some small changes were made, but now it’s obvious to church members). In effect, God needs to use material filled with lies and inaccurate information to get people into His TRUE CHURCH. 

An important question for the members of RCG, “Does an all-powerful “God of Truth,” need to use lies and deception to get people into His organization or True Church?” If so, then where is the Biblical precedent for this? Especially, when Christ is “the Way, the Truth, the Life”? 

At the judgment seat, could you imagine God or Christ condemning people for deceiving others, when they themselves actually deceived people to get them into the church?

Dave states at the end of 294:

“Finally let's imagine that the kingdom of God did not come this year. Let's imagine it. This church is in a serious dilemma, and I want you to think about it. And I ran it by a half dozen ministers, and here are our options, because all of our literature currently teaches that the kingdom of God is built the way my Baptist father-in-law believes, Christ comes and builds the kingdom. All of our literature is written that way. Now here's option "Number One," Ready? Let our literature say that and it's FALSE! I've written, I don't know probably a million words about the gospel. I've got to alter those. When would I do it? We can't let it go out. It's not true! So that's option number one would just let it stay there out of the question. 

Option "Number Two," withdraw all of our literature on the subject of the gospel. The Awesome Potential of Man, What's the Kingdom. What's the True Gospel, How World Peace Will Come. And all the booklets that I wrote years ago that had been so productive. Hundreds of millions of our pieces of literature have gone out, just withdraw them and never talk about the Gospel again? Well, that's a problem because we have an open door in front of us and nobody can shut it! So we wouldn't be expected to do that. So neither of those options are realistic. Here's the third one. God says he wants to come as a "thief", as a "snare." He does not want the world to know it. He wants a little group to know it. So then what do I do? Rewrite the literature and tell the world what it appears. God does not want them to know? That's option "Number three," that doesn't sound like a very good option, but we'd have to do something, unless God revealed this extraordinary mystery that has been this series right before he intended to solve the problem Himself. Because here they are, again, leave the literature that's up--it's wrong! It was "a present truth." Mr. Armstrong taught things that were wrong and he taught all the other doctrines of God correctly. We believed them. We held to them, but I no longer could. What would our ministers counsel people who were reading booklets that are wrong? "Well, this was actually wrong, but we need to understand it should say this." Well, they'd say, if I were a prospective member, like I was 55 years ago, I'd said, "Well, why hasn't it changed?" Or the alternative? Remember, second alternative? Just cancel all that literature and never talk about the kingdom of God. Well again, no one could consider that a viable option.

And the third one is start rewriting it. Now that would even take a while. And then we would do, because the Work is booming. Make no mistake. We are booming right now! I've never seen anything like it! And we're poised to do big stuff. So what would we do just sit on that we're wonderfully positioned to explode! But then we would be telling people what God doesn't want known. So, there was no box on that list where you could check "none of the above." You got to go one of the three ways. Now I never mentioned that as a metric because I never thought of it as a metric until I came to understand the "mystery of God" is that the kingdom of God arrives in a totally different way than anybody we or anybody else ever thought.

But it's a "fact" and you've heard the proof. So the only solution it seems to me is that the kingdom has to come, or I got to choose one of those three things because I'm not going to sit back. Our "reserves are," I mean, you just can't believe how well we're doing. We never done this well! We're 22 years now and I mean, we're not going to go build more buildings. There's no time for that. What would we do? We have a wonderful staff. We don't have to spend time hiring more staff. We're well positioned. We're poised, we're oiled. We could go out and do a much bigger work, but the problem is we would be disclosing a secret God does not want it out. I don't know how I could do that in good conscience. So, God speed the day! It looks like our weight is very short for one more reason. And the "Mystery of God" has gone away in a greater way. For one more reason. Good night.