Why are so many Church of God leaders such miserable human beings? Do they ever find any joy in life whatsoever? Far too many of them can take simple life pleasures and turn them into miserable gloomy lamentations of Armstrongist propaganda.
This morning, that miserable whiney little prophet of doom and damnation turned Independence Day celebrations into a bête noire of dread and misery into Laodicean proportions.
God's most incredible human representative on earth today, the Great Bwana Mzungu to Africa and 100 Caucasians, Homeopath, Naturopath, and Herbologist, the Chief Overseer Bob Thiel had this to say about July 4th celebrations.
Tomorrow is USA Independence Day.
Many in the USA will celebrate it.
But what about being independent of the world?
The Apostle John wrote:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
The world and its ways will pass away and be gone.
So what alternative does the little miserable prophet of doom provide as an alternative?
Join his church as a TRUE Christan! Whoopee!
But being a true Christian allows one to abide forever.
Then, being the Great Herbologist that he is, he had to quote an article by Herbert from the Tomorrow’s World magazine, July-August 1970 on Just What is the Church? (which I am not posting here).
After the article, he says this:
What about being part of the truest Church?
Well, although the Worldwide Church of God is no more, the true Church of God was never to die out as Jesus said:
18 … I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
That means that the true Church would not die out, but continue.
In the Continuing (Sic) Church of God (CCOG) we strive to be the continuation of the Philadelphia portion of the Christian church. This is consistent with the following
1 Let brotherly love {Philadelphia} continue. (Hebrews 13:1)
We strive to do that.
Yet, Jesus warned in His messages to the churches in Revelation 2 & 3 that most end time Christians would NOT be Philadelphian. Most will be Laodicean–a term that roughly translates as “people judge.” While many seem to think that is great, Jesus harshly scolded the Laodiceans (see Revelation 3:14-22).
LOL! Talk about gaslighting and diversionary tactics away from his own incompetent ministry! Blaming those who criticize him as "non-Philadlphians". You are too funny Bobby! Too funny!
Then, the Great Bwana Mzungu starts listing the things necessary for salvation through him:
Is God is calling you (or has called you), and will you learn, continue, and seriously do what is taught in the Bible? If so, you can be a member of the Continuing (sic) Church of God.
If God is calling you, notice what the Apostle Peter said you should do (those wishing to argue against this, obviously would not wish to be part of the CCOG):
938 “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
If you have already been appropriately baptized, then we also suggest that you read the Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God. If you agree, will live as a true Christian, and wish to be part of us, then we accept true believers who wish to support us as we lead the Final Phase of the Work by proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God as a witness (Matthew 24:14), teaching all that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20), working to reach the full number of those called in this age, while also preparing for the ‘Short Work, remembering the poor (Galatians 2:10), and proclaiming the Ezekiel Warning.
You can contact a minister or other representative near your area to let him know you wish to be part of us. We also would expect you to live as a Christian and, among other things, keep the Sabbath, attend or watch our church services, and strive to attend the Feast of Tabernacles.
If you have not been appropriately baptized, or are not sure if you have been, and you believe you are being called to become part of the Continuing Church of God, you will want to meet with a deacon or minister in the church to discuss church teachings and get questions answers. We have many congregations around the world, several of which are listed on our Congregations page. You can also read about the teachings of our church throughout this www.ccog.org website as well as the www.cogwriter.com website. For more on counseling, etc., check out the article: How does the CCOG handle Counseling, Prayer Requests, Funerals, and Anointing of the Sick?
Please understand, there is no minimum or maximum amount of time required to learn about the church. The important thing is to believe the word of God and understand the about living as a true Christian.
Once you have turned you life over to God and learned about the church, you are ready to become part of the body of Christ. You become a member of the Church of God through being baptized by a representative of the church. Baptism is a critical and fundamental step. Baptism signifies the death of our carnal nature and our being begotten as a follower of Jesus Christ. It allows us to partake God’s plan of eternal salvation. Furthermore, baptism is a public statement to the church and the world that the believer is turning away from loving the world and dedicating his/her life to God.
Bwana Bob lies when he tries to imply that baptism is required. Baptism is NOT spoken about as a requirement of salvation anywhere in the New Testament. Nowhere. While baptism is important for a believer and is an outward sign of commitment it by no means saves anyone. It is an external act and not a faith act for salvation. Acts 15 and Romans 4 both state that no external act is necessary for salvation. Christians have long understood that salvation is a direct result of divine grace through faith.
Even Paul clearly understood water baptism to be separate from the gospel, and hence in no way necessary for salvation. Paul says
Baptism was not part of his gospel message.
Nor was baptism a requirement for the penitent woman (
Luke 7:37-50), the paralytic man (
Matthew 9:2), the publican (
Luke 18:13-14), and the thief on the cross (
Luke 23:39-43) all experienced forgiveness of sins apart from baptism. Faith was the only requirement.
Bwana Mzungu also conveniently fails to acknowledge that Sciptrure nowhere states that the apostles were baptized. Jesus pronounced them clean of their sins (
John 15:3- the Word of God, not baptism, is what cleansed them).
The Great Bwana Mzungu then lays out 10 points on what he requires for salvation and to be a member of his little cult:
If you are not already a properly baptized part of the Church of God, in order to be considered a real member of the Continuing Church of God, you must:
1) Be called of God.
2) Be willing to seek first the kingdom of God.
Not true. the first thing a Christian does is to have faith in Christ and accept him for the things accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. Then, a Christian repents knowing right off the bat that those sins were already wiped clean by the things accomplished. At this point, Christians know their life and salvation are secure as they have hope in a world to come. That hope does NOT come first.
3) Repent of your sins.
4) Have the godly faith to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
It is pretty pathetic that Bob has this all the way down to #4. Accepting Jesus comes BEFORE repentance and even before seeking that magical Armstrongist kingdom.
5) Strive to live as a loving Christian.
Sadly, some of the most unloving people I have ever seen are people claiming to be Christians in the Church of God. We have all read the horror stories of abuse by COG ministers here, whether it is physical, spiritual, or mental abuse.
6) Be persuaded that our beliefs are biblical.
A real follower of Jesus does not need to be constantly persuaded. Talk about trivializing the gospel message! A follower of Christ, grounded in their beliefs does not need persuasion. their rest is secure and an undeniable fact.
7) Contact a CCOG leader for counseling.
This certainly is NOT a requirement. No human leader of any Church of God, or any church for that matter, is an intermediary in the conversion process. Faith and faith alone are all that is required.
8) Be properly baptized and have hands laid upon you.
100% not true! Baptism is not a required act of faith or salvation. Never has been. It is an outward public act of your journey of faith as is the laying on of hands.
9) Support the work of Matthew 24:14, Matthew 28:19-20, and other aspects of the Philadelphian work.
All of this Laodicean/Phialdphian/Sardis crap is just one more diversionary tactic to keep people living lives of fear by looking away from faith in Christ and instead to human idiots leading Churches of God today. Also, the word "work" used in Armstrongist conversations is deeply loaded with legalistic requirements meant to burden followers and keep them in submission.
10) Continue to live as a Christian and endure to the end.
Christians have always done this, looking with faith in salvation, no matter how it plays out. Our assurance is that salvation and the kingdom to come will NOT in ANY WAY resemble the crap we have been fed in the Churches of God. None of our leaders will be in charge of anything or sitting by the right hand of Christ leading legions of people to reshape and train the world.
We also have literature to assist you in the process.
YOU can be independent of the world as well as non-Philadelphian Christianity.
Followers of Christ have no need to worry about non-Phladlphnian Christianity. This is only a social construct of Armstrongism which used it as a diversionary tactic to scare members into submission.
The best advice a person could give to any follower of Bob Thiel on this Independence Day is to walk away as fast as you can! True independence is found OUTSIDE the Armstrongite personality cults. This man and none of his men can save you nor do they have the tools necessary for you to follow for salvation.
