Public Letter from Arthur Topos: CCOG IS THE CONTINUING PHILADELPHIAN CHURCH

Evans Ochieng (left) & Arthur Topos (right)

This morning I received a totally unexpected and totally unsolicited email from pastor Arthur Topos of Lodwar, Kenya. Since he intended it as a public letter, here it is:

TO THE CCOG WORSHIPPERS AND OTHERS

CARE OF

BOB THIEL, COG WRITER,

CCOG

AMERICA’S CCOG OFFICE

Dear the called people of God (John 6:44,65) and others

REF: CCOG IS THE CONTINUING PHILADELPHIAN CHURCH

I have come from a long journey in my spiritual journey from Sunday, SDA churches of God , the general conference church, and finally the continuing philadelphian church (CCOG).

I was confirmed by God that I am a called servant in a dream that I was shown in Micah 7:8 .Prayer has really assisted me for I have been praying for a true church .All the churches have entered have not given me peace

I have been meeting very proud and arrogant leaders. As a professional teacher the lord humbled me to the extent of being fed by God. After preaching I was used to get money being on my way then I collect and use with my family .I have come to learn that the plan of God is good ,the purpose is clean and the program is mysterious .I had become fed up with the leadership of the churches of God I had encountered ,I have been ordained two times in cogmers and the general conference but have had no peace in them .My conscience was not comfortable in this churches .i like reading the bible so much and this is what has helped me to be on the safe side in confronting heresis . I love prayers.

When I was tired in these churches ,I continued in prayer for a true church .it happened that when I was in our main town (Lodwar) I entered one of the cybers where I told the worker to google for me Church of GOD and the spirit of God led me to CCOG where I got the history and the teachings of God which made me to learn a lot including dreams.I downloaded and went home to read deeply and out of discernment I came to learn this was the true church

I communicated and I was welcomed according to the will of God our God can never forsake any prayerful person. I now call upon all my friends in the name of our lord Jesus Christ that the church of the current age is CCOG under Bob thiel.Since I entered CCOG,I have undergone dreaming of success in preaching.My younger daughter of Grade 5 dreamt of Bob thiel coming to my home,slept there and went with the daughter to see her school and she was given scholarship and she bid farewell to us.My wife when I was sitted with her in a room one of the afternoons told me that to my surprise,that CCOG is the true church and I learnt that God was confirming to me about the CCOG which was the Philadelphian church.I am comfortable to be under Bob Thiel.Bob Thiel is always ready to answer anyone despite of class.

Comparing Bob thiel and the leaders of other churches I have come across,Bob thiel is an humble servant of God .

He is paul of the current age. I hail from a minor pastoralist people from northern part of Kenya who were said to be very primitive and vulnerable but I thank God for remembering me to be under the leadership of Bob thiel. The spirit in me tells me that Bob thiel is the man to give direction at the current age.

I call upon the doubting Thomases to put their pride aside and support the servant of God.

-I pray for the ladies who participated in prayer in the birth of CCOG.

-I also pray for all the worshippers of CCOG in the world. We also in need your prayers.

-Pray for the people living in dry areas like us and God to open for the true church(CCOG) reach our neighbors and unreached

-I pray for all who support CCOG and I also pray God to call many to come and support God’s work,in Africa,Asia and other parts of the world.

-May God bring all his remnants to CCOG.

-I also welcome all the called to listen to the true word of God.

God bless you all,

Yours in Christ,

ARTHUR TOPOS LOPETA

(THE SERVANT)

Arthur Topos had been in the Church of God, 7th Day, and he and about 250 others with him came to the Continuing Church of God earlier this year after he was communicating with CCOG evangelist Evans Ochieng (see Letter to the Brethren: March 16, 2023).

We have had a lot of growth in Kenya in 2023 and have been the fastest growing xWCG group in the 21st century.

Since Arthur Topos mentioned dreams, let us look at what the Apostle Peter taught related to them:

17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18)

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)

Brethren, despite divine confirmation, most end time Christians do not accept that God’s Spirit is working through dreams (see Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God ) or prophets in the 21st century (see Church of God Leaders on Prophets).

Do not be like them.

“Test all things; hold fast what is good” — see also: Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18?

Now in his letter to us and the public, Arthur Topos pointed to the Continuing Church of God representing the Philadelphian remnant at this time.

Let me state here that when the old Worldwide Church of God was Philadelphian, Herbert W. Armstrong taught that there would be a future fulfillment of Acts 2:17-18, yet most Laodicean Christians do not really accept that.

Also, Herbert W. Armstrong taught that God led him to restore at least 18 truths to the Philadelphia era of the Church of God that had been lost by those he knew in the Sardis era. In a sermon on that topic (see 18 Truths Restored to the Churches of God: Mission of the Philadelphia Church Era), he mentioned church government towards the beginning as well as later in that sermon as one of the truths restored to the Philadelphian portion of the Church of God (see also The Bible, Peter, Paul, John, Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, Roderick C. Meredith, and Bob Thiel on Church Government). Let me add that ALL of the 18 truths that Herbert W. Armstrong said God had him restore to the Philadelphian era are part of the official Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God, which anyone with interest can verify. The CCOG may be the only group that has done so using Herbert W. Armstrong’s actual list. Most other groups either do not teach all of the 18 truths or they use the Tkach list, which was not the correct one (see The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made?).

Anyway, while not all groups that claim proper hierarchical church governance are Philadelphian, by Herbert W. Armstrong’s definition, no group that opposes hierarchical church governance can possibly be Philadelphian or represent the Philadelphian remnant.

Hold fast to the truths of the Bible and the Philadelphian portion of the Church of God as Jesus taught you should do in Revelation 3:7-13.

In the Continuing Church of God, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached (see also Preaching the Gospel in Over 1000 Languages), we have divine confirmation of the signs of Acts 2:17-18, and we teach ALL the truths restored to the Philadelphian portion of the Church of God as we strive to prepare for the short work of Romans 9:28 (see Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word) and teach all things that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19-20; see also Continuing Church of God, Elijah, and Restoring All Things).

Do not let naysayers and accusers of the brethren convince you otherwise.