Weird Teachings

[Joe Sperling]

Heide----

I think the  reason women were pregnant all the time is
because there was no television to watch.

--Joe

[Tanya]

  Our 3 kids were born within 4 yrs.  They are our greatest blessings. Our first-born was a honeymoon baby, which is pretty normal in the assemblies but is very uncommon elsewhere.
  As a couple, we were never specifically forbidden to use birth control; but there was a time in SLO when the theme was trusting the Lord & using birth control was specifically mentioned as a way NOT to show our faith in God.  After all saints, you should trust the Lord for 1 or 8 kids, right? What's the difference?  As any parent will tell you, there's A LOT of difference.  
  One of the LB, whose wife was almost constantly pregnant, was well-known for his view on the subject.  I dreaded having him ask me when I would next get pregnant.  Even with a newborn, it was assumed that a mom would soon be expecting again...  "Sister, are you getting ready for your next one yet??"  
   One of the leading couples (workers) passed a copy of a Full Quiver book around & couples were expected to look through it.   After reading it, the logical conclusion was supposed to be that if you really trust the Lord, you'll not use birth control. Also, the husband was the head of the home so even if the wife had a different opinion, the husband had the final say.  Therefore, in the mid-90's, there was a baby boom in many of the California assemblies.  
   I believe the Bible when it says children are a blessing from the Lord.  I think each of those kids were gifts from God.   However, it's sad to remember what it was like for many of the young assembly parents.  There was an intense amount of pressure to be on board, have your kids be mat-trained & on schedule, etc.
     I remember looking around the room during mtgs & seeing exhausted moms. Many were pregnant & already had 2 or 3 little ones.  A baby would make a peep & many eyes would turn around to see what was distracting them from hearing from the Lord's voice.  Yipes.  There was a lot of pressure & not much grace.
    An interesting sidenote would be a conversation we had w/Judy G. in 1999.  There was a wknd of couples mtgs & I asked her outside about the birth control issue.  She said not to worry, it was just another passing trend through the assembly.  When we asked her what she meant, she explained that in the 70's & 80's,  Betty advocated completely the opposite point of view.  That's why many "older" saints only had 1-3 kids.  The couples were told that you can't really serve the Lord with a bunch of kids, so back then, birth control was OK.    Obviously, Betty's viewpoint changed, she passed along her opinion & there you have it!  
    I'm glad to be at a church now where there is a wide range of families.  There are adopted kids, foster kids, some families with 1 & some with 8!  The difference is that the parents made a choice before the Lord.  Moms & Dads need encouragement & support, not harsh treatment & condemnation.   It's really no one's business but the parents and how they are led by the Lord.  

[Oscar]

You know that is really true about Betty changing her mind on the birth control issue.  Our kids were born between '68 and '79.  We have four.  Three girls two years apart and a little surprise after a hiatus of 7 years.

When Caryl was pregnant with Joy, our third daughter, GG said to me "Brother, you are really going to have your hands full with three kids".  Meaning: "I don't approve of what you did".

Well, we are sure glad we did it.

Thomas Maddux

[psalm51]

Ha!

Eric, we had the same kind of thing up here.  All of the women were supposed to wear dresses to the Wed. nite Chapter summary.  Suzie decided to wear pants, and she was the only one for a while, but eventually they all started wearing them.

Brent
(What an imbecile I was!)

Sisters always wore dresses to prayer meeting. I remember someone telling me that if you wore a headcovering then you should have a dress on.  If a sister who was new wore slacks to worship then eventually she would be spoken to about it.
Shortly before GA.com became common knowledge several sisters in Champaign began to occasionally wear slacks to prayer meeting because it was COLD outside. One of them even wore pierced earrings!   What a rebel.

[Heide]

First Sister's House in SLO: You were suppose to spend more time on your knees then in front of the mirror. We had to eat healthy, we all had to have dinner at the same time, couldn't talk at the dinner table if it wasn't godly, after dinner always had to read something and have a godly thought, had to attend all meetings, couldn't have your own bedroom so two bedrooms went unused. There was no forgiveness so you got consequences.

Ok, there were some good times, like when someone put laundry detergent in the dishwasher...

[retread]

First Sister's House in SLO: You were suppose to spend more time on your knees then in front of the mirror. We had to eat healthy, we all had to have dinner at the same time, couldn't talk at the dinner table if it wasn't godly, after dinner always had to read something and have a godly thought, had to attend all meetings, couldn't have your own bedroom so two bedrooms went unused. There was no forgiveness so you got consequences.

Ok, there were some good times, like when someone put laundry detergent in the dishwasher...

No talking at the dinner table!  Wow, during dinner at the brother's house where I lived we were encouraged to talk about how the Lord had blessed us that day.  Maybe brothers just need more encouragement to talk then sisters do , or perhaps the assembly leadership wanted to keep sisters quiet .  Not all of our dinner conversations were of a spiritual nature , I remember GG telling jokes during dinner .  Of course all of the brothers laughed along with GG at his jokes .  All eyes were on GG whenever he had dinner with us (it was as if the brothers worshipped him ), and of course GG loved to show how clever he was.

[vbeers]

this is in response to rachel's post about best friends and barb zach.  it was funny b/c i had just talked to my mom about this.  i remember when barbara got home from summer school that summer and i went to her house for dinner and bible study.  she told me that she had gotten in trouble with betty for having a 'best friend' while at summer school and had to stop hanging out with her.  i thought this was so wierd and said so.  boy did i hear it!  barbara told cheryl that i had, god forbid, spoken against betty, and i was strongly admonished.  i think i even had to apologize to barbara and then they told my mom.  very odd...

[BeckyW]

Does anyone remember the teaching about reward and inheritance being a corporate thing?  I'm thinking of the notion that where you are "in fellowship" geographically now will determine who you are with when you all appear before the Lord on some future reward ceremony Day. In other words, don't leave the assembly in Annandale, for instance, or you'll be AWOL at the judgement and miss out on any rewards. It sounds crazy even as I type this, but I know this was at least strongly implied in the ministry.
Still sorting things out-
Becky

[Arthur]

That is weird! And new to me.  Does it have something to do with the teaching that the state your body is in when you die will be the state it is in when you are resurrected?  Hmm...kinda makes you not want to be cremated.  

[editor]

Does anyone remember the teaching about reward and inheritance being a corporate thing?  I'm thinking of the notion that where you are "in fellowship" geographically now will determine who you are with when you all appear before the Lord on some future reward ceremony Day. In other words, don't leave the assembly in Annandale, for instance, or you'll be AWOL at the judgement and miss out on any rewards. It sounds crazy even as I type this, but I know this was at least strongly implied in the ministry.
Still sorting things out-
Becky

I don't remember it ever being taught like that, where Geography mattered.  

However, I do remember that it was of utmost importance that we be in fellowship in the exact local gathering that God wanted, and that our "living situations," be precise.  The local Assembly was the peculiar instrument that God was using to prepare His bride, and we would foreit a part of our inheritance if we weren't totally in the center of God's will.

I lost mine when I left, and only got it back when I was "un-excommunicated."  

The inheritance teaching that GG foisted on us is the reactor core that powered his counterfeit ministry.  Study it, ask questions, and make sure that it is clear in your mind!

Use grace as the lamp to illumine this dark teaching, and expose it.

Our inheritance was won for us by Christ Jesus.  If He was willing to die for us, while we were still His enemies, how much more, now that we have been reconciled to Him, will He not give us all things in Christ?

Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  9  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  10  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.


Brent

[BeckyW]

Geographically was probably the wrong word for me to use. It is more like what you said, Brent.  Missing out because you left "where God has placed you". I am studying! It's great. Thank you.
Becky

[BeckyW]

We just wanted to encourage everyone to read Mark Campbell's article called "False Holiness" on the assembly relections website.  We just found it a few days ago, although it seems it's been there for a while.  We think it should be required reading for anyone examining assembly doctrine and practice, & especially for those still meeting in an existing assembly.

the Wiesers

[Arthur]

"People accuse us of always saying the same thing.  The early Christians received the same accusation, 'Everybody always says the same thing.' "

"The early Christians were considered to be a cult of Judaism.  It was known as 'The Way'. "

--David Geftakys defending the assembly from those who would say that it is a cult.  Sounds convincing, doesn't it?

[Heide]

1) Not allowed to have your own opinion, if you did and it was not what everyone else believed, you had to align yourself to the right person.

2) Robot response of "Amen" when George was preaching.

3) You had to be 'friends' with everyone. Allow 'everyone' into your home. No playing favorites. If someone called to borrow something and you said no, be prepared for another phone call from a LB...

4) Babysitting is free if you are a LB. I wonder is this is something a LB would have to repent for? Exploiting the brethren for personal gain..... hmmmm

Heide

[Oscar]

Greetings:
Am I out of order here? Sorry about my gender but I can't change that(I must still have the 20th century thought patterns to make this kind of statement).
  The brothers where I am from couldn't preach unless they wore a tie. I realize that this isn't so weird, but we did tend to look like a bunch of Mormon missionaries on the afternoon outreach. Wicked me, I was always fantasizing that a certain brother's clip-on would fall off in front of everyone whilst he preached.

Sebastian,

Once, many years after leaving the assembly, my wife and I were strolling on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.  I was a warm summer day in July.  

We saw some small groups of people dressed up in coats and ties or ankle length dresses.  We commented that they were oddly dressed, and that although they were eating lunch on the lawn in the shade of small trees, they must be miserably hot.

Then we realized...it was the "Saints" having lunch at the July 4th Seminar.  

Thomas Maddux