Bob Thiel: False Prophet Continues To Hallucinate While In Rome

Bob Thiel, the non-ordaiend self-appointed false prophet of the Continuing Ed Church of God is vacationing in Europe and made a pit stop in Rome to visit the Whore of Babylon.

As usual the false prophet is quoting the rantings of lunatics from hundreds of years ago as truth.  He did the exact same thing with the Mayan calendar last year and ended up looking like a fool.

Thiel places great trust in these extra-biblical nightmares that these people had.  From Fatima and Malachy to Loma Armstrong, the dreams and visions these three had hold more importance to anything that is continued in his bible.  Jesus takes the back burner while Fatima and Malachy are given places of prominence in his little personality cult.  Without these conspiracy theories and his proof texts of Revelations, Daniel and Ezekiel he has nothing to stand up for.

While in Rome he has this to say about the new Pope:

I was encouraged that in the former Archdiocese of our new Pope there exists a sanctuary and two parishes dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is especially practised on the first Saturday of every month. So the words and requests of Our Lady of Fatima would not be foreign to him.

The other thing I had in my background was a prophecy from Antonio Ruffini, who has a prophetic gift. He told me in January, 1990 that this Pope – he didn’t name him – but he just said “the successor of the successor of John Paul II would be the one to do the consecration.” If Ruffini is not mistaken, then it’s a good sign. We may finally have a Pope who is going to do the consecration of Russia. Prudently though, we have to wait and see whether or not Ruffini completely understood whatever message he got on that.

What this means is that a Catholic “prophet” told Priest Gruner that it would be Pope 112 on the Malachy prophecy list that would bring devotion to Mary to the world, peace, and prosperity.

Pope Francis himself asked twice that his pontificate would be consecrated to the Lady of Fatima (see Pope Francis’ pontificate consecrated to ‘Lady of Fatima’).  This would seem to be a step towards the type of consecration that The Fatima Center wants.  If this consecration is done, it could set off a series of events that will lead to the rise of the Beast power and the confirmation of the Antichrist (there are many antichrists, but I am referring to the one that is the False Prophet listed in Revelation).  Despite his age, Pope Francis possibly could be this leader.  He has taken steps that suggest he either is that leader or he is setting the stage for that leader (e.g. Pope Francis calls for new economic order and is alleged to have performed a public exorcism: Could these be signs of the final Antichrist?).

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The Bible warns about a “Lady” in the end times (Isaiah 47) who is also called a “harlot” (Revelation 17/18).  As I have contended for years, it may well be that some of what is related to Fatima will tie into various end time biblical prophecies about signs and lying wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9)–that most people will sadly believe as they have insufficient love of the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

Ambassador Fine Arts Demo Continues

 I find it interesting that one little machine like what is pictured above is bringing all of this down.

Grace Communion International, Exodus International, and Gay Christians In The Churches of God

The Naked Pastor

At the end of this month Grace Communion International is holding a conference in Disney World at the Hilton.  Of the different ministry sessions there will be three devoted to those who have same sex attractions i.e gay/lesbian.

Sharing in Christ’s Ministry to those Dealing with Same-Sex Attraction

Sharing in Christ’s Ministry to those Dealing with Same-Sex Attraction – to register click here
This workshop will be offered on Thursday afternoon.
In this three-part workshop we will consider the complex questions involved in serving with Christ those who experience same-sex attraction. The first session will address discerning the moral and spiritual dimensions of this issue. Biblical and theological foundations will be a central consideration, but the claims of social science will be given some consideration. In the second session we will begin considering the practical implications of ministering to such persons and how best to approach it. The third session will be devoted entirely to discussion, sharing experiences and attempting to discern together how best to conduct such a ministry.

Attendance at all three sessions is strongly encouraged. Pre-registration will be required as well as some preparation which will involve the reading of a couple of papers. These will be sent to all those who pre-register for the class, via email.  Gary Deddo and Ted Johnston will lead this seminar.

 More about the GCI conference a little later.


The Church of God has always had gay members in it.  They were in WCG, they are in UCG, LCG, PCG, RCG and many of the other splinter groups.  Many are there for the love they feel for God, others are there thinking that God has placed them there so they can be cured and made straight.  Even LCG has gay members, though God only knows why considering the garbage that Rod Meredith continually spews out at them.

Herbert Armstrong employed several in his years ruling the church.  The interior decorator of the church was and helped HWA decorated three campuses and countless offices and homes.  Meredith and others tried over and over to get HWA to fire  the man and he would not.  He and his partner showed up for HWA's funeral.

If you look on the Painful Truth website at the Suicides page, you will see a lot of young men and women.  While not all were gay, several of them were.  They struggled and struggled to be something they could not.  After listening to sermon after sermon, having hands laid on them to cast demons out, praying and fasting for literally decades, God did not change them.

The Church of God and many Christians churches have destroyed lives all in the name of the God they claim to follow.  One of the biggest tools of this damage has been the ex-gay ministries that have popped up over the years.  There are Ex-Gay Ministries in the Mormon Church, the SDA's, Evanglical groups, and several others.  All claiming that they have huge success rates in changed gay and lesbians Christian's into 100% straight heterosexuals.  The biggest of these groups is Exodus International.  Many COG members have went through this organization.

Today, Exodus International announced it was shutting itself down because of the damage it had done to peoples mental and spiritual lives over the last close to four decades.

Its leader, Alan Chambers,  announced this on Wednesday:

I Am Sorry

Recently, I have begun thinking again about how to apologize to the people that have been hurt by Exodus International through an experience or by a message. I have heard many firsthand stories from people called ex-gay survivors. Stories of people who went to Exodus affiliated ministries or ministers for help only to experience more trauma. I have heard stories of shame, sexual misconduct, and false hope. In every case that has been brought to my attention, there has been swift action resulting in the removal of these leaders and/or their organizations. But rarely was there an apology or a public acknowledgement by me. 

And then there is the trauma that I have caused. There were several years that I conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions. I was afraid to share them as readily and easily as I do today. They brought me tremendous shame and I hid them in the hopes they would go away. Looking back, it seems so odd that I thought I could do something to make them stop. Today, however, I accept these feelings as parts of my life that will likely always be there. The days of feeling shame over being human in that way are long over, and I feel free simply accepting myself as my wife and family does. As my friends do. As God does.

Friends and critics alike have said it’s not enough to simply change our message or website. I agree. I cannot simply move on and pretend that I have always been the friend that I long to be today. I understand why I am distrusted and why Exodus is hated. 

Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that there were times I didn’t stand up to people publicly “on my side” who called you names like sodomite—or worse. I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know. I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine. 

More than anything, I am sorry that so many have interpreted this religious rejection by Christians as God’s rejection.  I am profoundly sorry that many have walked away from their faith and that some have chosen to end their lives. For the rest of my life I will proclaim nothing but the whole truth of the Gospel, one of grace, mercy and open invitation to all to enter into an inseverable relationship with almighty God.

I cannot apologize for my deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex, but I will exercise my beliefs with great care and respect for those who do not share them.  I cannot apologize for my beliefs about marriage. But I do not have any desire to fight you on your beliefs or the rights that you seek. My beliefs about these things will never again interfere with God’s command to love my neighbor as I love myself.  

A Room of Ex-Gay Survivors Reacts to Alan Chambers' Apology

After Alan Chambers reads his apology (watch the full, uncut apology here) on behalf of the former "conversion" and "reparative" therapies that Exodus International ministries preached with him at it's helm, some ex-gay survivors are less than enthused. Watch as they question his message, his motives, and ask the ultimate question: where does his apology and announcement leave Exodus now? To view a scrolling, historical timeline of events since the first Our America episode of "Pray the Gay Away?" click here.

Exodus International's founder came out years ago and said that the organization did not work and refuted the claim that gays can be cured:

John Paulk Apologizes for Ex-Gay Gospel, Wife Ann Says She’ll Pray for Him

Tony Campolo, a prominent evangelical preacher and author had this to say:

The ex-gay myth has crashed.  Fallen.  Shattered.  Exodus International president Alan Chambers announced last night that Exodus is shutting down.  Tonight in a televised interview with Lisa Ling (OWN 10pmET), he will publicly apologize to all who have been harmed by the organization.  (See apology here)
 
The ex-gay house of cards has been falling for some time.  Over a decade ago, Focus on the Family’s Dr. Dobson was advocating the use of so-called ex-gay ministries.  Prior to 2000 Focus on the Family broadcasts featured their own John Paulk, “the story of how one man overcame homosexuality.”  In 2000, however, when Paulk was spotted in a gay bar, he quickly disappeared from the organization family.

A most interesting Focus on the Family story you may have missed was in 1997, when Focus on the Family co-founder Gil Alexander-Moegerle, having left the organization, wrote a letter of apology for the organization’s stands on homosexuality and women’s issues. (This story of course was not broadcast, and Dr. Dobson certainly did not endorse it.) He could no longer keep silent. In his words: “I apologize to lesbian and gay Americans who are demeaned and dehumanized on a regular basis by the false, irresponsible, and inflammatory rhetoric of James Dobson’s anti-gay radio and print materials.”

Now to GCI's conference workshop.  The  two men running it are Gary Deddo and Ted Johnston.  Deddo is a Presbyterian minister,  an adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary, and also in the employ of GCI's online "seminary."  Johnston is a WCG/GCI minister who embraced the changes and runs a blog called The Surpising God, the blog that Gavin Rumney loves to hate.

A former WCG elder, Micah Royal,  who resigned several years ago over the mistreatment he saw the COG was doing towards gay members has been very vocal in his criticism.  He and his wife have been very critical of the WCG/GCI stance over the years, as well as the anti gay stance of various COG's.

He still seeks and honest dialogue with the Church over this issue:

 I spoke with one of the organizers and they said they will NOT present an alternative point of view to this paper this year, but may later. When I stated that I viewed the paper is very misinformed on the nature of sexual orientation, the organizer seemed shocked and said they would be willing to hear my critique. I have put together a critique to send them, and here it is.My hope and prayer right now is not that Grace Communion International come to my stance on this issue -- which is full inclusion of same-gender couples and recognizing the equal place GLBT people have before God already -- but that they move to the place most mainstream denominations are at: where intellectually honest discussion goes on that include presentation of more than one side on an issue.  This is a standard approach for denominations both that exclude and include same-gender couples in their life of faith, including Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, various Episcopal/Anglican denominations, Quakers, Anabaptists, and many others. 

Deddo bases many of his arguments against gay Christians based upon trinitarian approaches to marriage.  You can read more of Royal's critique here:  One Step Forward, Three Steps Back: Problems with Grace Communion International's Current Approach to Explore GLBT Issues

It remains to be seen what GCI's stance will ultimately be, but it most likely will be that God still rejects them as Children of God.  While they won't hurl most of the insults and derogatory comments that so many "christian" ministries do, they will still present a stumbling block to it's gay and lesbian members.