Here we are again. God must be rolling his eyes once again at the sheer grandiloquence of our very own self-appointed Elijah. I can see God sighing heavily as he gets out his enormous bingo card to tick off another box with one of many hundreds of Elijahs the Church of God has produced over the decades. Sadly, some church members see this as a sign that this has to be God's true church because you never see Elijah appearing to other Christian churches.
Our most highly favored gift to humanity is back tooting his itty-bitty horn trying too hard to get our attention so that we recognize his awesomeness. The church apparently needs Elijah to appear and whip the church into shape, and the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel is just the man! Woo Hoo!
Although people, like the discredited Ron Weinland and David Pack have claimed to be ‘Elijah,’ neither of them are.
Yet, the Bible does show that there will be an ‘Elijah’ who is alive before Jesus returns and that it is likely that he will be one of the two witnesses. And as Jesus is likely to return within the next couple of decades, it is reasonable to consider that he must be alive today.
Could he be one who has restored information on church history, doctrine, prophecy, and the reason that God created anything? Could he be one reaching people around the world with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God in over 1,000 different languages? Or has God not chosen to have him do much at this stage?
The Great Bwana and Elijah To Be then drags out Buffy McNair and Dibar Apartian to prove to us that Herbert was not the Elijah to come and that one bigger and better was to come:
Was it Herbert W. Armstrong?
No.
Did Herbert W. Armstrong ever think he might be Elijah?
Most definitely.
The late evangelist Raymond McNair admitted:
However, on occasion, Mr. Armstrong may have expressed some doubt in regard to his calling and ministry, concerning himself being the end-time “Elijah,” (McNair, Raymond. Was Mr. Armstrong Who He Said He Was? Ad in Connection’s section of The Journal, June 30, 2004).
Yes, HWA expressed some doubt–not simply may have. Herbert W. Armstrong admitted to Aaron Dean, his long-time personal aide (and Aaron Dean told me this personally on several occasions for over the past two+ decades) that he might not have understood the biblical passages on the Elijah correctly before he died, and that God could raise someone else up to fulfill the Elijah role. Furthermore, HWA specifically expressed doubt to the late evangelist Dibar Apartian (and who also told me). Dibar Apartian did not believe that HWA was the Elijah when we discussed this several times and he agreed with me about this.
The Great Elijah Bwana then pulls one of his gaslighting stunts to make you believe you are wrong to think he is going to be the Elijah.
HWA, himself, wrote:
Jesus shall come, SOON NOW, to RESTORE ALL THINGS! He did NOT restore all things when he first came. John the Baptist did not “restore all things.” But the one who was to “restore all things” just before the “day of the Lord” and preparing the way for Christ’s second coming, was YET to come, in the future, as Jesus said. Now what are the “all things” to be RESTORED? “Restitution” means restore to a former state or condition (Armstrong HW. Brethren & Co-Worker Letter, August 24, 1982).
Note that HWA states ONE (Elijah) comes just before the day of the Lord—an event that still has not occurred, hence some additional restoration beyond what HWA did is needed–and this has been happening in the Continuing Church of God. CCOG has restored more than any COG in the 21st century and under the human leadership of Bob Thiel it continues to do so. In time, God will make the final Elijah clear to all willing to see (this is NOT saying that he MUST be Bob Thiel–but we believe it will be a leader in CCOG).
It's all about me, but not about me, even though it is about me, but shouldn't be.
Deep down, you know he is referring to himself above all others. There is NO ONE in the improperly named "continuing" Church of god that could ever step into such shoes. His narcissism and vanity would never permit such a thing.
There is a 21st century Elijah, and that individual would be expected to be part of the Continuing Church of God.
He continues on:
Sadly, just as many would not hear Elijah’s nor John the Baptist’s messages, relatively few will pay much attention to the end time Elijah as well.
That is not a surprise as most Christians in the end times were to be Laodicean, and Jesus warned the Laodiceans since they would not ‘get with the program,’ that they would be punished (Revelation 3:14-18).
Of course, if you are willing to believe the truth and do what the Bible teaches, that does not have to include you.
Fortunately for the world, and particularly the churches of God, no one needs to heed any warning or Elijah gobbledygook that Sideshow Bob proclaims. In the grand scheme of things, it is all worthless words.
The Elijah’s restoring of “all things” means that he is to be restoring information that the true Church of God once understood, but later must have lost or misunderstood.
The problem is that just as many would not hear Elijah’s or John the Baptist’s messages, relatively few will pay much attention to the end time Elijah as well.
No, Bob is not Elijah. No one in the improperly named "continuing" Church of God is Elijah. No one needs to heed any warning that comes from this self-appointed, illegitimate, non-ordained, narcissistic church leader. Everything is always about him and how great he is. It isn't and never will be.
