United Church of God: Trouble in Paradise With Mark Mickelson

Updated 6/30/17

God's most unified church is struggling to maintain control of its ministry and its ability to change doctrinal teachings.

Recently the big boys in Cincinnati tried to work through by vote a policy where 2/3rds of those present members at the conference voting could vote in a new rule that 3/4ths voting members PRESENT could change rules and doctrines instead of 3/4's off ALL the ministry. It failed miserably.

UCG has also been having to do damage control over one of its ministers, Mark Michelson. He has been preaching a lot recently that the God of the Old Testament (YHVH) was known exclusively as God the Father. The name YHVH cannot, according to Mickelson, refer to Jesus His sermons have been circulating around UCG like wildfire. Some agree with him and many do not. What brought it all to light was the fact that his sermons were being posted to the Spokane website which allowed all UCG members access.

The boys in UCG were none too happy.  One of the excuses that UCG has used for two decades was that the nature of God doctrine was their reason to leave the Worldwide Church of God.  While WCG was moving to a trinitarian position, which many present-day UCG ministers supported while still receiving a WCG paycheck, they could not stand the fact that the Holy Spirit might also be God.  Entrenched in Herbert Armstrong's understanding after his 6-month study in the Portland library, the men quickly abandoned the trinitarian position once they started getting paid by UCG.

Now the UCG is having to defend its self once again over the nature of God with Mark Mickelson's stance that there is only one God, God the Father (YHVH).  Jesus is not YHVH, contrary to what Herbert Armstrong had always taught.  Many of the things Michelson teaches is similar to  Ken Westby and The One God Seminars.

Vic Kubik and Don Ward came out with a letter, signed by them both, about the present confusion of many UCG members on doctrines that they are expected to believe.

Do you understand what we teach regarding God the Father and Jesus Christ?

Some sermons have recently created confusion about the nature of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Do all of us fully understand what we believe and preach on this subject? How long has it been since you reviewed the study papers and other Church publications on the topic in question? In many cases it’s been too long. The nature of God and Christ was one of the topics of controversy that led to the formation of the United Church of God.

The questions surrounding the nature of God have been debated for centuries. The only valid source we have is the Bible. We must use sound principles of exegesis in reaching our conclusions. Below are resources that we encourage you to read and study deeply regarding the nature of God and Christ. 

Can they seriously believe what they wrote in the paragraph above?  They seriously believe they use "sound principles of exegesis?   Seriously?  When has the COG EVER used sound exegesis?

Kubik and Ward both feel that members continue to be swayed to and fro by doctrinal issues due to not being grounded in what they are expected to believe. Part of the problem with UCG members is that summer is here. Seriously! Summer! The summer is now warming up and church members are becoming lazy in their Bible Study and reading. Once again the members are too stupid to know what they are supposed to believe.

The purpose of this letter is to encourage all of us to continue to fight the good fight of faith and be settled in the faith. Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are now entering the long, hot summer, and it’s a time when there can be a let-down in our spiritual lives—as there are so many distractions in the world today. It is a time in which people travel, go on vacation and young people go to camp. All this is coupled with the perilous times in which are living.

It is also a time in which we can easily become lax in renewing the inward man on a daily basis. We often need to be reminded of the exhortation that the apostle Paul gave the Hebrews: “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). We are committed to guarding those precious truths that God has revealed to us. And at the same time, we are admonished by the apostle Peter to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should always keep in mind that the Church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

From time to time some brethren have become troubled by sermons or conversations in which they get the idea that the Church is going to change doctrine. So let’s be reminded of the process necessary for changing the official doctrine of the United Church of God (UCG). Even though there is a rigorous review process in place for sermons and articles that appear on our website or in our Church’s publications, some few sermons may not properly represent the official doctrine of the Church.

It seems the fine folk in Spokane have been very negligent in posting Mark Mickelson's sermons. The Boys in Cincinnati are not happy. The veiled comment below is directed at Mark Mickelson, even though they do not mention him directly. While the Spokane UCG has removed Mark's sermons from their website, Mark still has not stopped preaching his understanding.

Some congregations are not as vigilant as they could be in monitoring sermons placed on their local church website. And some few sermons do not properly reflect the official doctrines of the Church. So let’s be reminded of the process necessary for changing the official doctrines of the Church.

Kubik then makes a hypocritical statement below on how all UCG ministers must tow the line and teach only what UCG wants to be taught. He seems to forget he failed to do this exact same thing while still employed by WCG as he sat in 360 South Orange Grove plotting and scheming to started UCG. While doing this he paid lip service to WCG's new doctrinal stances, even disfellowshipping those that did not agree with WCG's new direction. Kubik does not want any of his ministers doing likewise now that he is in charge. 

Our ministry, and all who speak for UCG, should remember the teaching of the apostle Paul when he said an elder must “[hold] fast the faithful word as he has been taught” (Titus 1:9). Paul also said we are to “hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13). We have been entrusted with a sound doctrinal heritage. Our messages to God’s people should always be grounded in the truth of Scripture and the doctrinal teachings we hold.

How long will we have to wait till Mickelson is fired as a minister and removed from the Council of Elders and he starts his own splinter group? What would the Church of God be without yet one more splinter group?


See: Letter from the Chairman and President, June 28, 2017

Rod Meredith FORCE Me, FORCED Me I Say, Into Holding Him Accountable..Oh, Did I Say FORCED Me?

The other day an LCG source sent me a little blurb on Almost-arrested Elisha, Elijah, Amos, Habakkuk, Joshua, doubly cursed Bob Thiel.  As usual, God's most righteous end time prophet has suffered major butt-hurt.  I have to admit I have never seen such an insecure COG leader in my life.  Is it because deep down he knows he is a fraud?

This morning, apostate Bob had a meltdown and said some really fun things and as usual had to take a slam aginst his "dad and mentor" Rod Meredith.

The LCG source sent this:

Rod Meredith spent many years having to listen to his self-important "son" wax prolific on hundreds of prophecies his "son" claimed to know more about than he did. Every time Meredith turned around his narcissistic "son" had had a new revelation and was demanding that the LCG change its "understanding."

The apostate one took great exception to the statement and went on to claim that Rod Meredith FORCED him to say and do the things he did.

That is not the case. Dr. Meredith is the one who forced me, over my objections, to promise to tell him if I felt he was 'pulling punches.' The fact that I strove to live up to that promise is not a negative. Furthermore, years after Dr. Meredith made me promise that, he appointed me as an advisor to he and the Charlotte-based evangelists on doctrine and prophecy. That was also his idea. It should further be pointed out that I did not "demand" that LCG change its understanding on matters. I pointed out issues and the LCG the evangelists often agreed. The closest thing to a demand I ever made while there was reminding them to keep their word and make the corrections they promised to do. LCG leaders, like Richard Ames, have known what I have written is true, but have sadly been unwilling to publicly rebuke those that slander me.

Rod Meredith expected his men to be manly men.  Men with fortitude and cajones.  Apparently delicate Thiel had neither.  No man who claims to be a follower of Jesus would ever let another man bully him like that.  Apparently, we now see that he is not a follower of that inconvenient dude, but rather kowtows to men, thus he submitted to being FORCED to tell Meredith he was going astray.

Readers will also note that doubly-cursed Thiel is still suffering butthurt because various COG leaders will not defend him in any manner anymore.  Richard Ames takes the heat this time from Elisha Thiel.  Even worse, Gaylyn Bonjour said that he did not in any manner doubly bless the self-appointed false propeht so that he could go out and start another church.  Apostate Thiel's "double blessing" is a major doctrine of belief for his splinter cult along with the demand that people recognize he dreamed about himself.   It is no wonder that LCG leaders will not back apostate Thiel up in any manner. Why would any of them want to be associated with someone so unsound?

You can read the rest of Thiel's's spiel here.

Job Opening At Greatest Church of God On Earth In This End Times!

Here is your chance to get in on the ground floor of the greatest Church of God ever in human history!  No church has ever been this awesome nor lead by a prophet who is as great as this one.  Being doubly blessed does has its perks! Even Dave Pack is trembling at the magnificence of this global enterprise.

Not only will you get to be handling materials for the improperly named "continuing" Church of God, you will also get to handle the books for the holistic pill-peddling enterprise of the holy end time prophet himself!  These pills are so miraculous because they have been touched by the doubly blessed prophet!  Awesome!

Just think how much fun this will be.  Decades from now you can say you were in on the ground floor of the greatest work ever imaginable.  Can you imagine how great it will be to see the end time witness correcting nations with homeopathic pills!  Super awesome!  Even Herbert Armstrong will shake your hand in the millennium in awe.

Act quickly on this major never before seen opportunity before the job is offered to the public.

Mind you though, this job is "more complicated" than other office jobs due to the fact you will be working for a fake Doctor who got his diploma from a diploma mill in India, who is not licensed to practice in California and who is also a prophet of his god.  Nope, not complicated at all!

Office Worker 

We have a need for someone who wants a job handling a variety of tasks in an office. This job is located in Grover Beach, California and the employing company would be Doctors’ Research, Inc. 

Before looking at local people outside of the Continuing Church of God, I thought that perhaps someone in the Church may have interest. 

The ideal candidate would have office and computer skills (QuickBooks, Microsoft Word), and at least some interest in computer graphics and natural health. The job would include church and non-church work, telephones, lifting, packaging, mailing, and editing, etc. and is more complicated than many office positions. If you are interested, please email me your resume. My email address is cogwriter@aol.com 

LCG Is Expected To Correct "Errors" That Self-appointed False Prophet Says Are Wrong

From an LCG source:

Rod Meredith spent many years having to listen to his self-important "son" wax prolific on hundreds of prophecies his "son" claimed to know more about than he did.  Every  time Meredith turned around his narcissistic "son" had had a new revelation and was demanding that the LCG change its "understanding."  Eventually, Meredith got tired of the self-serving nature of his "son" whom he had stroked and petted for many years, much to his chagrin.

Various Charlotte employees went to Meredith over and over and told him to get rid of Bob Thiel because he was creating dissension in the church.  Meredith soon started ignoring Thiel which forced Thiel to start planning his escape into his own church where his word would be heard and he would have the final rule.  Before his departure, Thiel deliberately conned Gaylyn Bonjour into giving him a blessing.  Thiel had already started thinking he was a prophet, thanks to Meredith's stroking.

As time went on Thiel got weirder and weirder in the things he was professing.  HQ staff started getting really perturbed at the constant stream of things coming from Thiel and they essentially shut down his channels to the church. If HQ ministers thought Thiel was weird, the church members found him offensive and off-putting.  Thiel became to be intensely disliked by members.

Thiel continued to stick his head in the sand and kept going to Meredith with things he thought needed to be changed.  As usual, Meredith ignored him and finally had to publicly denounce Thiel.

Now that Gerald Weston has taken over LCG after Meredith's death, Thiel thinks he can influence Weston into making changes that Meredith ignored.

Thiel writes:

06/23/17 a.m. This morning, LCG sent out its TW News & Prophecy, which had the following statement:

To better understand what is happening in Europe, be sure to watch our insightful telecast “Four Prophecies for Germany.” 

The reason to bring that up here is that there is an error in that telecast that I pointed out a little while ago. That error is now number 45 from the list of "Doctrinal Differences between LCG and the Continuing Church of God" in the article What About the Living Church of God? Are there Doctrinal Differences with the Continuing Church of God? and it reads as follows:

WWIII is not related to the battles between Europe and Eurasia as LCG asserted in its Tomorrow's World telecast Four Prophecies for Germany in March 2017, but has to do with the destruction and takeover of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies by a European-led force who will then conquer the Middle East (see also World War III: Steps in Progress).

Perhaps, under Gerald Weston, LCG will correct some of its errors. He and others in LCG remain in my prayers.

There is no way Weston is going to listen to Thiel.  Thiel has burned his bridges and will be ignored, as he should be.