Crackpot Prophet: I am the 21st Century Radio Church of God

Craig White sent out his latest newsletter, which talks about the history behind the name Radio Church of God, which Herbert named his version of the Church of God when he left in a fit of rebellion from COG, Salem WV (COG7) because they refused his demands about holy days and other non-essentials. Does that remind you of anyone else today?

There is only one correct answer to that: it is the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel, the greatest Church of God leader since Peter, Paul, and James walked this earth. No one knows more about theology, world events, the Catholic Church, Mayans, Malachy, church history, geology, and herbs than he. Only an ungrateful heathen would fail to recognize the mighty one!

That said, let’s talk about radio. 

 

Jesus said:

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14) 

 

Being on mass media, including radio, is something that COG leaders have done since no later than the 1930s to help fulfill that. 

 

Radio was used so much to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and other biblical messages, that after he left CG7, the late Herbert W. Armstrong initially did business as the Radio Church of God.

You can be guaranteed that this is going to go just where you think he will take it!.

Notice something published by the old Radio Church of God:

Revelation 3:7-13: “And to the angel of the Church in Philadelphia write these things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that OPENETH, and no man SHUTTETH; and SHUTTETH and no man openeth.” The great door that God has opened to this work is the facility to go into all the world and preach the gospel; the door of radio, the door of the printing press, plus many other such doors. God has set before us an open door and no MAN can shut it. God can shut it, and He will when the work is finished and the Philadelphia Church goes to a place of safety. “I know thy works: Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name” (verse 8). 

 

Notice that this Church has works. It has works of ZEAL and of REPENTANCE. This Church has only a little strength. But, by contrast, the Church of Laodicea believes that IT is increased with goods and has a great deal of strength. Philadelphia has little strength to do this great work that God has given it to do. God has opened the door, and yet look how insignificant, how weak, how little strength we as a Church have to do that work. How much we lack in every way, and yet God has opened the door and has given us certain vital, supernatural, spiritual gifts. Very often we lack enough money to pay the radio bills and other expenses. WE ARE FEW IN NUMBER, while many other eras of the Church of God numbered in the hundreds of thousands. We indeed have little strength. And yet, look at the great power that God has placed before us. (Neff L. What Is the LAODICEAN CHURCH? Good News, August 1959) 

 

The ‘open door’ to the Philadelphians does have to do with gospel proclamation. Consider the following scriptures:

12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord (2 Corinthians 2:12).

8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has opened to me (1 Corinthians 16:8-9).

27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 14:27). 

 

We in the Continuing Church of God are going through the open doors in radio as well as with the printing press, the internet, travel, and personal contact. This includes to areas like Africa with Gentiles.

Did you also know that Herbert Armstrong knew that Bwana Bob would rise up in the latter days to lead the one true church?

Consider also the following from Herbert W. Armstrong’s last letter before he died:

It may be that the Work that God has given me to do is complete, but not the Work of God’s Church, which will be faithfully doing God’s Work till Christ, the True Head of this Church, returns… 

 

Remember brethren, this is not the work of Herbert W. Armstrong…The greatest work lies ahead… Never before in the history of the Church has it been possible to reap so great a harvest. It has only been made possible through modern technology, beginning with the printing press, radio, television...Each of you must commit yourself to support God’s Work…God’s work must push ahead as never before. God is opening up new doors in television (Letter, 1/10/86).

Actually, those new doors for television have included the internet, which allows videos as well as online radio. 

 

Another new door has been being a radio guest. 

Being a radio guest where he cons his host that he is a real Christian and a person who understands the Bible is NOT using an open door. Besides, the door has never been shut. Not when Herbert was alive, nor now, when various COG cults are spreading heresy freely.  

As long-term readers are aware, I, Dr. Bob Thiel, AKA COGwriter have frequently been a radio guest. After being so over 230 times, the time seemed right for the CCOG to sponsor our own programs. 

 

Prior to that, CCOG Overseer Samuel Ofosu from Ghana had already doing that. 

 

Plus, in New Zealand, Shirley Gestro helped handling our Bible News Prophecy online radio channel. Various men in CCOG have been on it. This is another way we reach people. 

 

We reach people all around the world from the online radio program. We also have Bible News Prophecy International radio which Kristy Gorman handles.

The Great Bwana just entered into an agreement with European Gospel Radio to spread his illicit message of Old Covenant bondage. And that, boys and girls, is why he is the New Radio Church of God. This new radio program will bring him into direct conflict with the Catholic Church and help usher in the end times.

Being on radio in Europe is part of The Final Phase of the Work. When we see certain prophecies fulfilled and are identifying the upcoming European Beast leader in leading some of those efforts, it is my opinion that being on radio in places like Europe will be key for attention to be drawn to the Continuing Church of God (CCOG). 

 

I believe that being on European radio may be the spark that will set off more public scrutiny of the CCOG and our teachings. That will lead to more people looking at our websites as well as the hundreds of languages that of our The Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been translated into. The coming scrutiny of our teachings will lead not only to support the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14, but also events in Daniel 11:28-35 and other scriptures. 

The Great Bwana goes on to name numerous radio stations he is on ( a prime list of organizations to contact as to why they are letting American cultists spread heresy.

He ends with this:

Consider that most, even in the Church of God, will not believe the message of the work, even though they were told and could see the truth if they were willing. 

 

Now, we are continuing to lay the foundation for the short work of Romans 9:28 and I believe that having a radio presence around the world, and particularly in Europe, will be a factor in it.

No faithful Christian would EVER follow such a deceptive, illegitimately ordained fraud as we see today in Bob Thiel. That is a simple fact! 

 

A Meditation on Tyrannosaurus Rex: Apokatastasis, Dinosauria and Armstrongism

 T. Rex in perspective.  (Fair Use)

A Meditation on Tyrannosaurus Rex

Apokatastasis, Dinosauria and Armstrongism

By Scout

 

Dinosaurs were monsters and they reigned on earth for about 160 million years. Homo sapiens has been on earth for a short 300,000 years by comparison.  I have puzzled over why there were dinosaurs.  At one point I concluded that it was to provide our modern human society with fossil fuels.  And fossil fuels were a necessary part of our learning experience.  God furnished the classroom with fossil fuels.  Like a nursery school playroom is furnished with blocks. But dinosaurs did not make a big contribution to oil deposits.  Most of the deposits were created from the remains of tiny sea life.  So, why was earth like a Monsterland for 160 million years?  What does this tell us about God?  I have a theory. 

The Armstrongist View

The Armstrongists press has published a number of articles on dinosaurs and I looked at a few.  While the writers support the view that dinosaurs died in a worldwide catastrophe, there is no direct statement about who created dinosaurs.  The catastrophism comports with the scientific findings that posit a globally destructive asteroid impact that formed the Chicxulub Crater. But in these articles the origin of dinosaurs is vague.  The assertion is that the earth was under the management of angels and the angels rebelled and the world became chaotic.  And the reader is to deduce that the dinosaurs fit into this chaos in some way.   Further thinking about the origins must have taken place although in my cursory review I could find nothing in print.  But I did hear a WCG minister back in the Eighties make a statement about origins but I do not know who developed the idea.  He said that God created all the creatures of the earth but angels manipulated the genomes of some creatures to produce dinosaurs. Angels cannot create directly but can modify what has already been created.  I should have asked the pastor where he got the information but I was not in the habit of questioning WCG ministers back then. 

There are issues with the Armstrongist theory that I will just mention briefly.  The dinosaur world was not chaotic.  It was a stable creation.  It persisted for 160 million years and would have gone on longer if it had not been interdicted by an asteroid. And if it was a foul creation why would God have permitted it to go on so long?  God did not balk at destroying the evil society of ancient Mesopotamia with a flood.  The Chicxulub asteroid could have hit much earlier. And we know now that modern day birds are descended from dinosaurs so dinosaurs did not go extinct.  They were instead moderated for the human environment.  Something useful for humans came out of something that was initially something dangerous for humans had there been humans around back then. The important theme is not destruction but renewal.  The fact is that T. Rex has only an abstract, perhaps literary, meaning for humans – humans have never co-existed with the monstrousness of T. Rex. I had a couple of eggs this morning for breakfast and enjoyed them. So, the Armstrongist history of sauropods fits uneasily on this data.

Apokatastasis (Restoration, Restitution, Regeneration)

Peter spoke of the Apokatastasis as he preached on Solomons’ Porch in the Temple (Acts 3:21).  Peter said, “…until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”  The word for restitution in Greek is apokatastasis.  Robin Parry, a British theologian and author, pointed out that the scenario for the Cosmos is: First the original creation in Genesis, then the Cross, and then the re-creation.  There will be a New Heavens and a New Earth.  In Rev 21:4, John of Patmos writes, “… for the former things are passed away.”  John of Patmos also wrote something that he heard, “And he (God) that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”

God created Jurassic Park but why this interest in something so horrifically monstrous?  The horror of it is really a function of size.  If you were the size of a flea, the insect biome in your backyard would seem like Jurassic Park.  But God is not limited by size.  He created the idea of size.  If T. Rex were the size of a humming bird, he would be comic instead of horrific.  He would be something that kids would buy for the terrarium.  And we might be put off by the predator-prey cycle of these great carnivores.  T. Rex ate other dinosaurs in order to live.  But we eat animals, too.  When an Armstrongist sits in a comfortable restaurant on a Holy Day and makes a gustatory assault on a steak, he doesn’t think of himself as a T. Rex.  But it is the same principle of consumption.  It is just that T. Rex is not as genteel and tidy.  And, of course, he would have eaten us if we had been around. In the view of T. Rex, we would be just another snack. So, the horror and monstrosity are a matter of perspective.

My belief is that in the first creation, T. Rex was a monster from the human perspective.  But in the future he will be renewed and made something useful for humankind.  Maybe he will be a little multi-colored bird flitting happily through the forest giving cheer to all.  It is conjectural but renewal may even focus on the original Tyrannosauri.  They might be reconstituted but in a different form.  If God creates something, does it ever really pass out of existence? Maybe it is, rather, transformed for good and will appear again in due season. As long as God knows something, it has the potential to be again. And he knows everything.  James says in Acts 15:18, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the Age.”  And T. Rex is one of his works.  And maybe that work will not be finished until the Apokatastasis. 

The focus of much apocalyptic theology is on the idea of God as Destroyer. God is going to come back to earth and destroy a bunch of stuff as the faithful watch the fireworks gleefully from some place of safety.  In counterpoint, the Bible’s emphasis is on transformation and renewal.  The reason why the destroyer motif does not fly is that the creation is a reflection of God himself.  He invested his character in the creation.  He did not create something alien when he made the Cosmos.  He made something that will be ultimately useful and joyous.  He will not leave it in a diminished state. Like the poet Robert Frost wrote, ”The question that he frames in all but words Is what to make of a diminished thing”.  God will not leave the creation in a diminished state because it reflects what he is. 

Conclusion: T. Rex Redux

For Armstrongists T. Rex is all about rebellion and destruction.  For Christians, T. Rex is all about restoration and all things working for good.  Has God ever created anything that he cannot save and renew – something that is just beyond his capabilities like Dr. Frankenstein?  Is a creation that goes rogue forever without restitution not a kind of profound defeat?  And how can a God who is absolute, who generates reality itself, be defeated?  Evil will pass away.  Evil has no substance.  It is rather an absence of Good.  When God created all things, he said the creation was good.  Evil is a parasite on this goodness. I look forward to seeing what God will do with T. Rex in the Apokatastasis.  Because he said in Isaiah, “But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.”

 

Crackpot Prophet Continues To Be Perturbed That No One Considers His Ordination Valid

 

It has been a hard couple of days at the world-famous Grover Beach headquarters of the church that has become the laughing stock of Armstrongism. Its world-renowned leader, widely sought theologian, world's foremost historian, herb peddler, diviner of Catholic mysticism, and self-appointed prophet to the Churches of God, has been popping his cork over various articles on Banned in the last few days, calling out his illegitimate ordination. How can the world's most perfect old-covenant pseudo-Christian handle all of this? Lash out, as usual.

In a looooooooong tirade today about apostolic ordination by laying on of hands, the Great Bwana tries to define his self-imagined ordination by Gaylyn Bonjour as a legitimate ordination that carries deep apostolic historical roots (which it doesn't).

The Great Bwana spends a lot of time trying to denigrate the ordination process and apostolic succession claims of the Catholic Church. Then he drags in dead Herb to denigrate Andrew Dugger and the so-called Sardis COG7.

Herbert W. Armstrong claimed that A.N. Dugger had been unfaithful to the word of God (and he was) and that A.N. Dugger/CG7 no longer possessed the ‘mantle’ of leadership past 1933 (if not sooner, and if he ever had it. An other Sardis era leader, John S. Stanford, may have held it instead of A.N. Dugger).

So what kind of mantle does the church need to possess for legitimate ordinations to take place? We have been hearing a lot about the subject in COG groups lately, and that is church government. Church government is vitally important to Armstrongism because it keeps members under control and subjected to abuse above them without recourse.

Since Church leaders are appointed and not voted into office, and since, therefore, the members are not watchdogs over the leaders, who is responsible for keeping these leaders on track spiritually and administratively? 

 

1. The answer is that God’s government in His Church is a government of faith. Simply put, this means members believe that behind the physical, outward appearance of the Church, is the unseen hand of Jesus Christ, who directs its affairs.

2. True Christians today trust Christ to direct the Church, bless it, correct it or its officers if need be and steer its general course.

3. From the time of Moses and the rebellion of Korab (a leader in the congregation who was killed by God for insubordination — Numbers 16), through the age of the apostles and the rejection of Judas Iscariot from his apostleship, to the present day, Christ has demonstrated His ability to: 

 

1. run His Church,

2. place capable men in their proper positions,

3. discipline those who need it,

4. and reject from the Church those unfit to wear the Christian mantle. 

 

4. The very existence of the Church and the Church’s continuing vitality proves this beyond dispute! (Doctrines of the Church: Church Governance. Worldwide Church of God, 1986/1987) 

 

From the time of Moses and the rebellion of Korah (a leader in the congregation who was killed by God for insubordination — Numbers 16) , through the age of the apostles and the rejection of Judas Iscariot from his apostleship, to the present day, Christ has demonstrated His ability to run His Church, place capable men in their proper positions, discipline those who need it and reject from His Church those unfit to wear the Christian mantle. The very existence of the Church and the Church’s continuing vitality prove this beyond dispute! (Prove All Things: Governance in the Church. Good News, May 1986)

As you can see, proper church government in the Church of God is all about control. Note in the very first quoted paragraph this: "...the members are not watchdogs over the leaders". This is why the leadership in the Churches of God never concerned themselves with what the lower-class church members thought of them. In fact, in the articles of incorporation for almost every COG group out there, the  official members of the church are listed as the ministry, not the lay members. 

These kinds of shenanigans worked well for corrupt church leaders until the internet age hit and the crap started getting exposed. Now their dirty deeds are well known and, in many cases, have effectively stunted the growth of certain COG groups, particularly with the so-called "continuing" Church of God.

The Great Bwana then ends his article with this desperate plea to legitimize himself as apostolically ordained:

In my own case, hands were laid upon me by an elder in the Living Church of God.

This is a blatant lie, and Bob knows it! In no way whatsoever did Gaylyn Bonjour lay hands on Bob to ordain him. It was a blessing to say the right things when he went in to see Rod Meredith. Gaylyn's blessing was NOT an ordination, and Gaylyn said so several times before he died. Even the Living Church of God has refuted this claim as a lie. 

God used the laying on of hands in the Old Testament.

Little children in the COG movement have hands laid on them at the blessing of the children, and none of them claim it as an ordination. Church members have had hands laid on them when they ask for healing, and none of them claim to be ordained.  In some church areas, graduating high school students have had hands laid on them for a blessing that they use their education wisely, and yet, none of them claim ordination. This claim by Bob is a subtle attempt to justify his lack of ordination. 

In the New Testament, God used the laying on of hands to grant His Holy Spirit to the baptized as well as to those that are to be in His ministry. Plus, it is a tool God uses, when people avail themselves of it, for healing. 

 

Church of God leaders have recognized the doctrine of the laying on of hands throughout history. 

 

We also have been faithful to the original teachings of the apostles. 

 

Hence the Church of God, not the Church of Rome, possesses true apostolic succession. 

 

The true Church of God has had laying on of hands succession from the time of the apostles in Acts chapter 2 to present.

Bob Thiel has had none of this. Every single Church of God he was a part of refused to ordain him. 

The laying on of hands is an elementary doctrine of the true church (Hebrews 6:1-2). 

Laying on of hands in any church, "true" church or "worldly" church, does NOT imply ordination. Never has and never will. There is a specific time and place for that in every church out there. The Great Bwana Bob has NEVER had that happen. 

It is an official belief of the Continuing Church of God.