It was a time, I really felt free -
This has got to be just about the most powerful impact leaving the assembly system would have on an individual - a new-found sense of freedom.
When you stop to think about it, the assemblies were anti-thetical to everything that salvation in Christ implies.
After-all, it was to secure our
freedom that He went to the cross.
In the assemblies we were mercilessly driven.
Tuesday night chapter summaries, Wednesday night prayer meetings, Friday night outreach, Saturday morning taped ministry, and of course, all day Sunday "for the Lord"...remember those days?
If you were a part of the leadership, it was even worse.
It was a horrific assault on the human psyche and the results certainly speak for themselves for we really don't know the half of it...
With the exception of a monthly visit to a local nursing home, Sunday afternoons at our house are jealously guarded as down-time for family.
Some of my very fondest memories are of lazy, tranquil Sundays with a delicious Sunday dinner followed by whatever...lively game of scrabble or ten days in Africa, a good book by a roaring fire in Winter, or even a glorious afternoon nap...!
I
think the very zenith of the believer's maturation in his spiritual walk, is a recognition of the remarkable liberty he has in Christ.That is the reason we ultimately left, is it not?