Where would the Church of God be without having some COG leader getting his sacred knickers in a twist over labels of importance?
For decades the church looked at Herbert Armstrong as an apostle and then as carrying the Elijah mantle. Then the unthinkable happened. Elijah died and a void was left for some other crackpot Church of God leader to step up to the plate and claim those titles.
Gerald Flurry took on those titles as proof of his standing with his god. Flurry would eventually call himself "king" since he was in possession of the new coronaton stone. Then there was Ronnie Weinland, the first certified COG felon. He too, claims the Elijah mantle and says he is one of the two witless witnesses - his dingy wife is witnessed #2. Even Dave Pack had to get into the Elijah role which he has so mangled with one false prophecy after another that even Herbert is rolling over in his grave.
All of these Elijahs running around has really ticked off the ONE TRUE Elijah and he is NOT happy! How dare Gerry and Dave claim to be Elijah when HE is the ONE TRUE Elijah!!!! How dare they.
The perpetually butthurt prophet and the ONE TRUE Elijah has this to say about these that refuse to believe he is the Chosen One:
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 nearly 100 different languages? Or has God not chosen to have him do much at this stage?
Crackpot Bwana Bob has been tooting his horn for several years now with his claim he is producing more literature in more languages than any other COG is today. He's not, even though he claims he is. Christians around the world have been doing a more powerful job of getting the REAL gospel out instead of the make-believe farce Bob is promoting as truth.
The Great Bwana claims Herbert did not realize that he was not Elijah and that another one was to come. Which of course, in Bob's eyes, means his perfect self. For some unknown reason, Bwana Bob continues to use Dibar Apartian as a voice of authority. Apartian was one of the most disliked men ever put over the French-speaking people of Europe and elsewhere and most of them would never use Apartian as a source of authority or truth.
Yes, HWA expressed some doubt. 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.
Bob's lies about himself just get worse as he continues on:
Now since the Church age has not ended, and the Day of the Lord has not yet come, then it follows that Elijah was to come on the scene publicly after this was written.
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).
Never has the COG had such a skillful shoveler of bullshit than we have in the Great Bwana today! The lies have been going on for so long that Bob actually believes them himself.
CCOG: Restoring All Things
Jesus stated that an Elijah to come would restore all things (Mathew 17:11). Did Herbert W. Armstrong restore anything? Consistent with Daniel 12:4, were there truths that were to be restored in the 21st century? What are some that have been restored? What about church history, the original catholic church, the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and apostolic succession? What were the last days signs of Acts 2:17-18? What about teachings on violent sports, the fulness of the Gentiles, using scores of languages to help fulfill Matthew 24:14, non-trinitarian ramifications, prophetic matters, the identity of the man of sin, Daniel 11:39 and the start of the Great Tribulation, the identity of Samaria, the connection between Habakkuk 2:1-8 and the United States of America, the final phase of the work, the mark of the Beast, and the third resurrection? Has the Continuing Church of God been restoring matters in the 21st century? Dr. Thiel addresses these questions and more.
This is the lie Bwana Bob actually believes:
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.