Tom, Although you don't think the plan was 'devised" but developed over time how do you explain the church with no name (I understand it started with just a few meeting) then paranoia over the tape ministry, and all the cash eventually no checks, I have checks that were handed out to workers not one went through his accounts. Then the door-keepers checking who was allowed in. GG had quite a hsitory and I think he was somewhat paranoid of being found-out. How would you have responded to him preaching 7th day creation had you been attending at the time? I would say this is more then a fallen away Christian ( He was Pastoring many ) Summer.
It does make you wonder. From the outset, his actions do appear to be that of a man looking over his shoulder.
I have heard it from more than one source that he gave early instructions that the money sent to Fullerton should be wrapped in aluminum foil. His refusal to accept checks on its surface does seem to be a dersire to avoid any sort of paper trail. We know that the man was fundamentally dishonest. Every adulterer is.
Nonetheless, many of us found his preaching impressive did we not?
We invited others to hear him.
Clearly despite our personal impressions,
we were wrong!While Tom makes some good points about the theology, the fact is that not everyone who subscribes to Brethrenism has lived a life like Geftakys.
I would argue that some of the theology provided an covenient justification for the man's impure motives rather than being the actual cause of his awful sin. A man like George could pervert anything. Other brethren ministers have fallen into similar serious sin and tried to justify it with theology.
The painful thing for many of us is having to admit what the fact that we ever trusted a man like this says about us.
It speaks to our lack of discernment.
It speaks to our lack of maturity.
It speaks to our lack of true spirituality.
As if that was not bad enough, in the middle of the storm of his exposure, you had incredible mischief makers still sounding the siren song about how this man was "the Lord's servant"!
Remember that?
The most critical lesson that the man teaches us is that we cannot trust feeble sense to measure spiritual things.
God gives elders to the church for the exact reason that the flock would be protected from a man like Geftakys.
What happened in the assemblies would not have gone so long unchecked in the presence of truly Godly men.
I am prepared to take any and all challenges on this basic point.
As I said, we all listened to him preach and uttered our hearty "Amens!", all the time he was engaged in profound wickedness.
Everything must ultimately be tested by the Word of God.
It is absolutely astonishing how plain the man's biography is clearly written in the Scripture.
Even my own current strong feelings of opprobrium are insufficient warrant to form any reliable assessment.
They are no more reliable than the feelings I had when I sat and listened to him preach and thought that he was a true misnister of the gospel.
We must in the end ask oursleves: what does the Word of God say about a man who behaves the way GG has?
Who among us, would come to the conclusion that he was "the Lord's servant'?!
Verne
p.s. his teaching about meeting God's need in worship deeply disturbed me. I lacked either the stature or the courage to repudiate it the times I heard him say these things. How remarkable that no one in leadership (beside Tom) had the spiritual insight and willingness to oppose this and to do so publicly. This is the kind of thing that makes me so rabid about doctrinal matters. I am today absolutely no respector of persons, when it comes to what I believe the Word of God is saying. God forgive me, but at the time I simply was not able...
Verne, Yes he pulled it off in Spades as you said. Can you see him riding down the river nile, then having an affair in Paris, Summer
George was once preaching in Champaign after his "European Journey".
In what I can only surmise must have been a Freudian slip, or perhaps a back-door attempt at public confession, he talked strangely about being in some section of town in Holland where he saw unspeaklable things, and in particlular some woman who as she approached appeared really beautiful, but when you got closer you could see by her face, according to him, that she was disease ravaged. He went on to say how he promised God that he would never go back to that part of town.
I distinctly rememeber at the time thinking how strange unconnected to anything the anecdote was, and furthermore, what on earth was he doing in "that part" of town in the first place and so had to promise God that he would never go back. Strange huh?
Verne
