God brought me here.

[Oscar]

Hi folks,

This is one hot thread!  Two pages since I knocked off last night.

Reading these new posts has given me so many thoughts.  I will just try to post a list of them without replying to individuals.   If you care to read  them, here goes.

1. I think you young brothers are awesome!  I don't agree with some of your ideas, but I admire your willingness to stand up for what you believe, and your clarity in articulating your thoughts.  

2. I apologize ahead of time for things I say that are offensive to individuals.  Putting folks down is not my goal. I just wish to place ideas in minds that I really believe need to be chewed on.

3. One thing I see as a remainder of GG's thinking is the attitude that all we need is the Holy Spirit and the Bible.
George was constantly disparaging formal study.  Now we know that God has gifted his CHURCH,  not every congregation, with teachers.  GG did not want the "saints" to learn from them!!   So he "insulated" his followers by two methods; building up a contemptuous attitude toward scholarship, and  actively trying to keep his followers ignorant!

One brother said, "Paul was a regular tent maker before he was called".  Not true.  Paul says he was "brought up at the feet of Gamaliel".  Gamaliel was one of the Jew's top scholars.  He had a fine education.  Not only that, he was a revelator...I Cor 2:10.  Paul spoke words that had been directly revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.  This is hardly just a simple tent maker.  That was a way of making a living on the road.

What about the "fishermen and tax collectors"?  Were they ignorant men?  Most of them had spent many hours listening to Bible exposition every sabbath in the synogogues.  Then they lived day and night with Jesus Christ for three years!
On top of this the Lord Jesus personally opened their minds to understand the scriptures!  Luke 24:45.

Brethren, these men were apostles.  Our lives do not correspond directly to theirs.  We don't give inspired utterances as they did.  We have to learn God's word.

4. In our assembly years, we did more Bible reading than most Christians do in their lifetimes.  I don't think that is too strong.   But we had a very flawed interpretive structure in our minds to relate we were reading to.   This is one of the reasons so many of us urge outside help for the assemblies.
We can see you doing the same things we did when we were in bondage.  You use verses in certain ways, not necessarily in line with the contextual understanding of the passage.  These verses were drummed into your, (and our) heads by constant repitition. When you read or hear them, the habitual thoughts emerge.  

I think I have shown a few examples of this in my posts on this thread.  Believe me, there are many many more.

It keeps you from hearing the voice of God!!!

Strong stuff?  Yes it is.  But how else can you explain the degree of deception we sank into in these assemblies?  How could we have otherwise acceded to so much abuse and pride. With most of us, it was emotional pain that shocked us awake again and got us thinking our way out.

I say this, to you, and to all the elders and "leading brothers" in the assemblies.  I'm not putting you down, but I haven't yet read anything to show that you have done a thorough house cleaning.  You need help, turn to the gifted men that God has provided, and seek it.  Please, for the sake of God's people.

5. Finally, remember the purpose of GG's assemblies.  He called them "testimonies".  They were supposed to display the wisdom of God to the world and the heavenly hosts.
They miserably failed in this.

Now I ask you to think, What is the purpose of these assemblies now?

In Christ,

Thomas Maddux

[lemonlime]

and you, Scott, never cease to make me laugh

[jesusfreak]

And your big brother, even though you called him a jerk

Doh! Was that a secret?

All hail, the POSTRIX!

Nah, not a secret......i am getting used to it from her

[lemonlime]

yeah well... I still love him, even if he has jerk-like tendencies  

[Scott McCumber]

At least she didn't change her username to FrostbittenToads! Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!

[jesusfreak]

I am very glad you are having these opportunities and I hope you make the most of them. When I was a teen in the Assembly the edict came down hard from Tim Geftakys - "contemporary Christian music is forbidden! It is as bad as secular rock because the evil rhythms lead to demon possession and licentious acts!" I kid you not!

My goodness! for a while i was on a kick to never listen to any music that did not specifically worship God in the lyrics.  I have since seen the beauty in many secular groups but even in such restrictions i placed upon myself, there was always that distain for CCM.  I remeber one older brother specifically in this regard, calling it the "devil's beat".  

Anyway, DC Talk's artistry as a group is much more solid that Tony Mac's solo effect, just like Newsboys and Phil Joel.  My fav band of all time is Third Day, with Newsboys and SuperTones close runnerups.

If you want, i can list off quite a few  

[Aslan213]

Hi All,
 I'm with Tom on this one; the basic error of the Assembly teaching is in regard to how we hear God's voice.  This leads to the barrage of contradictory teaching that GG fed us.  GG's method was "revelatory" in nature; this meant you had to have an experience where God unveiled the true meaning of a passage to your heart. One passage could mean one thing one day and another the next, but if it disagreed with GG it didn't last a second.
  A GG listener needed special "spectacles" to see what the Bible really taught, and like Jo. Smith only GG's saw clearly.
  There is danger in just reading the Bible as a scholar and not allowing the verses to penetrate to our conscience, but to suggest that we should abandon scholarship is to miss the point; we need both.
   Without proper instruction in studying the Bible present day Assembly teacher's will be blind leading the blind.
               God Bless,  Mark C. (care of Eric's computer)

[lemonlime]

actually i did scott... but i decided i was doing it for the wrong reasons. i was changing it to prove i was the righteous one and thats worse then doing something out of jealousy. soo i decided to stay with my lemonlime screen name.

[Guest]

Luke,

Please read Matt 18:7 and I hope that you will soon be knocked off your high horse, even as Paul was, so that the scales will be removed from your eyes.

I'm glad that you have all the answers.

[Scott McCumber]

Emily,

And once again proving that you truly are the Postrix and the rest of us merely wannabes! Apprearantly the desire to surpass you has become so great in some of us that we will even resort to cheating to get there! (Actually, I'm more jealous of Luke cause I don't know how to set up a script like that!)

Scott

[Scott McCumber]

Guest,

I disagree with Luke about 90% of the time, but I at least I have the b%@#s to post my name.

What are you, 12?

Scott McCumber

[Scott McCumber]

And let me get this straight? You are hoping that a brother in Christ is wounded so he will think the way you do?

Get out.

[lemonlime]

i find that posting the verse helps alot so here it goes:

Matthew 18:7

Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

extreme...confusion...guest please explain who the blocker is and who the blockee is according to you?

Scott,
I know the feeling lol

[brad]

Gotta share this lil secret... Scott, remember our first bootleg "Foreigner" album...Double vision...? Whew...that was almost like loosing ones salvation to even listen to that record let alone own it!

I hung out with Tim Geftackys a bunch when I was in Fullerton and later in Providence RI on MTT. He LOVED BOB DYLAN...and had every album and we listened to the two isolated ( Dylan only stayed "born again" for like 18 months, then went back to being a Devout Jew and thus there are no more Christian albums) Dylan Christian albums like a thousand times from Champign IL to Brown Univeristy...It was Tim G that got me going into CCM...before it was even called that. "SLOW TRAIN COMING"....wailing out of that black dodge van with orange shag carpet and bubble windows...far out man!!!

Sounds like things are MUCH better for AK now....I am thrilled for you all, as music is such a wonderful medium to worship and meditate on GODS words...

* Total side tanget...Wonder if anyone out there remembers that 1987 MTT trip...? Krista Sullivan was a great big sis to me then and i would love to catch up with her. I heard she had married and stayed with the Assembly on the east coast... can anyone help?

[lemonlime]

i verify that scott disagrees with luke about 90% of the time, if not more