al Hartman
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« Reply #6 on: February 24, 2003, 07:14:21 am » |
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My remarks are prefaced with this request: Please, especially you whose familiarity with the Geftakys' and the assemblies began after my departure in 1980, bear with me. My opinions are just that: opinions. Their purpose is to help heal. But, like salt in an open wound, the healing may be excruciatingly painful. My intent is not to hurt, but the pain and the healing may be inseparable. For the pain i am truly sorry. If my words inspire anger, please try to look beyond your anger: the intended message is one of peace... al -------------------------------------------------
Having begun this thread got me thinking further on the idea of the Lord's using people for examples, both good and bad.
When i was part of a small group of believers in the San Fernando Valley, we met to seek God. We had no clear direction, but we were hungry for an example to follow. God gave us George and Betty Geftakys. ...and they have served as examples to us, both of what to do, and (when we could finally see it) of what not to do. Since leaving the Fullerton assembly in 1980, i have had plenty of time for review. To this day, i believe that George and Betty set out long ago to serve the Lord. ...and i believe that when we prayed for someone to lead us, God sent them our way (or us, theirs). That they were led astray by satan's wiles, or gave place to their own wicked devices, is not the subject of this essay.
Some of the good examples i have seen (remember, this was pre-1980): George preached a solid gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, and led many to Christ through public ministry and privately, one-on-one. Many of us learned to witness and to preach Christ by following his lead. George took what was essentially a bunch of open-hearted, empty-headed riff-raff, and taught us discipleship. We learned from him how to study the bible, to pray, to teach, to lead. Betty showed the sisters how to be Christian women; to support the ministry and their individual husbands, and how to rear their children. In the early days of the Fullerton assembly, George and Betty appeared to be excellent examples. This is not to say that their hearts were clean and their motives pure-- i don't know about that. God knows their hearts, but outwardly they led us by example as well as by what they said.
It must be difficult for those who were not there at that time to visualize how different things were then from the way they became later: George was still working and supporting his family. Almost everyone was young, and either single or recently married. There were only a handful of saints middle-aged or older. All the children were infants or toddlers. Betty's blanket-training worked beautifully because there were no unruly older kids to disrupt it. There were a few teens, but they came of their own accord, not because of their parents. Any misconduct by the Geftakys boys was hidden from us, and we knew nothing of it.
None of the above is intended as a defense of the Geftakys' or of those who have followed them in their errors. But i urge you to consider two things: (1.) This bulletin board bears the postings of a considerable number of strong and stable Christian brothers and sisters whose spiritual lives began and/or grew under the tutelage of the Geftakys'. This is not any kind of testimony to George, Betty, their sons, or those who emulate them. But those who once sat at their feet and today follow Christ bear witness to God's faithfulness to his Word, to his Spirit, and to those who love him. They have received from clay vessels what was from God, and rejected what was not, giving God the glory. (2.) You, too, have gained spiritually from both the good and the bad examples that were set before you, if you will accept it. Ask and trust God to show you what good may be harvested from your experience, and what to let go. No matter how it feels to you now, your time has not been wasted. If you will, you can count it as an investment. Trying to establish blame for what has happened to you will only obstruct your gaining insight and growth from your past. Anger over having been misled is an exercise of the ego. The new creation in Christ, the real you which is apprehended by faith in his promises, rejoices in the Truth and moves on, following him.
There is a lesson for us in every experience, every day. We don't even have to figure out who is a good example, and who is a bad one. We have only to ask the Lord to keep us safe, to direct our steps, and to teach us whatever he wants us to learn, every moment. He will do these things. What more could we need?
Yours because his, brother al
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