Good Example / Bad Example...

[al Hartman]

     On the "News" line (above), i read a quote about each of us being either a Good Example or a Horrible Warning...  
(i can't find the quote now).

     It reminded me of my days (years) of confusion as a leader (!?) in the Fullerton assembly.  Initially, i was honored (read: "proud") to be invited into the workers' meeting, and shortly thereafter into the LBs' meeting.  As time wore on, and the demands of my "position" far exceeded my vision or abilities, i knew in my heart that, while i had not admitted it openly, i was a phony and an incompetent.
     Oh, i truly cared for the Lord and his people.  but i had been pushed into (and had accepted) a level of responsibility that was way beyond me.  i was probably a joke to those who excelled above me, but (as Mark C. pointed out in a recent post to the "?? WHY ??" thread) i was often a terror to those under my "care."

     It was at that time, feeling hopelessly trapped in a life that was a lie, that i began to pray earnestly, "Lord, change me into the man you want me to be (i had long been asking that much of him), BUT if i won't allow you to make a good example of me, then make me a Bad Example, that your people may see how NOT to be!"
     That prayer became a theme in my life.  Today i can say that God has used me as a living illustration of each extreme.  i have never regretted having prayed that of him, although his responses have at times been painful.  But i have believed two things:

     (1.)  It is better to willingly let God use my failures as an effective Bad Example than to willfully not serve him at all, and

     (2.)  God is able and faithful to deliver me from the worst hole i can dig myself into, and he WILL if i allow it.

     It must be glorious to be a massive, shiny piece of hi-tech equipment used in the construction of God's kingdom!  
     But sometimes all he needs is a crescent wrench...
     ...and sometimes i am nothing more than a nut that needs to be turned...

brother al

[David Mauldin]

Al when were you in Fullerton?   Were you a "Leading Brother"  When did you leave?  

[psalm51]

     On the "News" line (above), i read a quote about each of us being either a Good Example or a Horrible Warning...  
(i can't find the quote now).

brother al

Al, the quote is under the thread "Quotes to Ponder".

[garylwilson]

EXAMPLE:  IT'S SNARES

It is lunch time here in Cypress.

Good example - Bad example.  Example of what?

Being on time - doing the "right" thing,  looking outwardly strong,  taking the lead,  involved, etc. etc.
When I retrace my steps I am astounded, sickened by how much I have done the may have looked wonderful but was utterly void of God's life.

I've known 30 years of stumbling, being picked up by the Lord, comforted and then set back on the path.

Who's the example?  Christ is.  When I would have given up on me, he didn't.  When I would have written myself off as a total loss, he didn't.  

I have very convicted of late of putting my hands on things.  See Jn 10:1-4.  It says a thief and a robber climb up some other way.  Christ was no thief.  He went the way of lowliness.  He didn't grasp or do violence to the souls of others.

An example?  Oh to learn to be an example of one who is transparent.  Of one who can be vulnerable.  Of one who can be weak.  Of one who can openly express his doubts, fears, confusion, and sorrow.  Somehow for years I have missed this.  Is this not an element that binds our hearts together - Jn 13?  Maybe then I really will understand the pain of my brother and my sister.

I am still in Fullerton [ to stay or to leave? ].  I've seen much that has crumbled.  My's heart reaction is to launch out -be an example.  Please pray for me and others.  I can only speak for myself but I sense a need to sit down in the rubble and listen for God's voice.

An example:  Today I have no human answers, only questions.  But this I know - Christ died for me -even me-
Christ died for you.  He is risen - It's hard to see that right now - but I know its true. He's risen - so there is hope - even for me.

Beware of being a example or being an example with your eyes set on what others think.

Sorry for the babbling.

Lord bless.

[4Him]

EXAMPLE:  IT'S SNARES
...
An example?  Oh to learn to be an example of one who is transparent.  Of one who can be vulnerable.  Of one who can be weak.
...
My's heart reaction is to launch out -be an example.  Please pray for me and others.  I can only speak for myself but I sense a need to sit down in the rubble and listen for God's voice.
...
...  But this I know - Christ died for me -even me-
Christ died for you.  He is risen - It's hard to see that right now - but I know its true. He's risen - so there is hope - even for me.
...
Sorry for the babbling.
...

Not babbling Gary, but a heart that's being moved.
I do not remember ever having met you but I believe that God is working greatly in you, having read many of your posts.  This is why I continue to visit this board.  Posts like this one bring our focus back to the proper place, that is, out place with the Savior.  He is risen indeed.
Thanks for your openness.  You are having a positive effect!

[al Hartman]

     Amen, Tim!!!

     Gary, keep on posting.  Your words on this BB have been an inspiration to many.  You are a positive example to us all in your love for Christ and your concern for his people.

al

[al Hartman]

     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

[garylwilson]

First: Thank you Al and Tim for your kind words.
It so encourages my heart that God can use a person's confusion, sorrow, feeling of helplessness, a questioning of his faith.   God is good.

I think I understand what you are trying to say in your post Al.  I know you are NOT trying to "magic word" away people's pain or abuse.  For want of a better term i would think you are trying to redirect it.  

1)  If Christ 1st met me on the basis of need - I needed forgiveness - will He not meet me over and over again on the basis of my woundedness.  I know it is not magic.  I think I have missed so much fellowship with the Lord because I came on the basis of  "Lord - change this - change that - take away the hurt - take away the pain.  I may be wrong but more and more I am seeing that He is so willing to meet me where I hurt.  It is my opportunity to learn the compassion of Christ.

2)  What can I learn from this?  Aren't you saying Al that whatever state we find ourseleves in there is something that we can personally learn.  We can learn from our reactions.  We can learn how much we need Christ.  We can learn how deeply the human race has fallen.  We need not excuse or white wash the sin of others.  But God can release us from "stone throwing".  Christ didn't throw stones but he did call sin - "Sin".
I don't think any of us ever get beyond the basics of learning humility and love.
This has been a humbling journey for me.  At 1st my pride was wounded at thinking I was given the general label
of a "mindless, spineless,  non-thinking assembly puppet" that dwelt in the lower regions of darkness.  "MY Description"
However I must admit.  How little I see.  How little has Christ changed me.  How little i love.  How little the pain of others drives me to prayer.  How easy i am to take offense.  How much pride i still have.  How much self strength and self serving opinions i still harbor.  Somehow i think i am one of those hard cases that God has to use adversity to get my attention.  

I remember Oswald Chambers once saying that their is a world of difference between "circumstance and environment".  2 people could be in the same set of  circumstances and yet the environment in which they functioned could be quite different.  One person could be in great sorrow and the other could be in love.  His point was that sometimes altough we can't control the circumstances, God wants us to experience the Love of Christ [ environement ] within the circumstances.
Unfortunately many of us have missed this.  Either by thinking we had to work to achieve this [ rather than God's gracious gift] or thinking we shouldn't experience any sort of emotion that was NOT JOYFUL.

So Al I hope i haven't mis-represented what i thought you where saying.

Lord bless

[al Hartman]

Gary,

     That's why i'm so glad you post:  You have said a lot of what i was trying to express, and you said it much more effectively than i did.  Thank you.  

     Please visit the thread "Now What to Do?" and read Dave Sable's post (about Reckoning Faith).

     God bless you, Brother.  Don't concern yourself about what others think of you, nor even (especially!) what YOU think of you...  concentrate on learning what Christ thinks of you.

brother al