Uh Oh
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« on: November 21, 2003, 01:48:03 am » |
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To Whom it May Concern;
Last February, when I was told of the collapse of the assembly system, I was overcome with a flood of emotions. People that know me probably think that "geez, he was out for ten years before this was exposed, and as a child and teenager, was never really into it and obviously resented it with the exception of a couple brief year to 18 month periods, so why is he so angry?" I hope those people realize that from the time I was two years old to 19 years old, I was constantly at meetings/outings, and as you can imagine, the assembly system had a major impact in the choices I made or that were made for me. It was like no other church that anyone of my piers was involved in - it was a system that demanded full involement and if one was not willing to give full involement, you were pestered and pressured to no end. While there was definitely some good that came out of the assembly system, their is no doubt in my mind that the damage it caused clearly outweighed any good that it did. I don't need to go over the pros and cons - they are crystal clear here on this web site.
With that being said, the majority of the families in the assembly were without a doubt the nicest and most sincere people you could ever meet. I am very apologetic if the shots I have taken over the past 6 months have offended or hurt any of you I know that many of you have made tremendous sacrifices and have given a lot to this system, only to have all of this come down. I honestly believe that when I was growing up, the people that took an interest in me had no hidden agenda, rather wanted to be a friend and a mentor, and were doing what they thought was best. I truly believe that my mom and dad wanted what was best for myself and my siblings, and used the assemblies model for raising children with our best interests at heart.
There were a lot of children in the assembly who I grew up with, we had some fantastic times together...I guess we were making the best of our situation.
Going back to the flood of emotions....Its funny, I have a very successful career and love what I do, but the constant reminders of the assembly always made me wonder if I had somehow or the other made the wrong decision. Maybe Tim Geftakys was right when he suggested choosing the assembly over a relationship with my dad, or maybe this all or nothing commitment, psychotic commitment someone had to make was the answer and I had chosen the wrong path, or maybe it was o.k. for leading brothers in California who had no taxable income to live in million dollar homes - maybe that was the Lord providing... Once I was told of the assemblys collapse though, it really relieved a lot of pressure.... I wasn't so off base after all. However, the anxiety, issues of communication, controlling techniques etc. are still issues that I am dealing with and probably will be dealing with for a long time.
Some things still just don't make any sense to me. Mike Zach has been hammered all over this board. Maybe his ego did get the best of him from time to time, but I can remember many instances when Mike went above and beyond what any normal person would do when he flat didn't have to. I remember Mike and his wife driving through a snow storm from Omaha to Wayne State to preach at our Campus Bible Study. No person in their right mind would have ever have done this, but Mike had made a committment and had followed through. Mike Zach is the example I use, I am sure every assembly has an example "like Mike" (Zach not Jordan)...What did these people have to gain??? My guess is they are no different from anybody else who was involved - they were all under the spell of George Geftakys, whom they believe and trusted was some sort of an apostolistic figure. Whether it was a leading brother, a door keeper, or a pion -everyone was under George's spell. Obviously, leading brothers must be held more accountable, but for the ones who have stepped away and are no longer trying to lead - all power to them.
My guess is that George was like many people. I am sure that at one point and time George had a real passion for the ministry. As things moved along and his passion waned, He probably then pulled a con job making people something think he was something that he was clearly not, and enough people aroound the country bought in and there you go. It is so obvious that George Geftakys is the biggest fraud and con manthat I have ever been associated with...Thus my next question.
Why Tim Geftakys, Rod Zach, etc. do you insist on carrying this ministry on? You have no business whatsoever having any sort of influence over anyones lives!!! If the two of you did not have the last names that you did, you never would have been in a position of leadership in the first place. If either of you have any compassion, sense of righteousness or any balls whatsoever, you will do all that you can to point people in a different direction and to a different church or place of gathering. When Hitler's regime was overthrown, his chief lieutenants didn't just step in and say "well we would like to lead now and all of the questionable stuff that Adolph taught us we are going to do away with lets carry on". It just doesn't work this way!!! As soon as the two of you and others let this go, the better off society will be. Yes your ministry may do some good, but overall, the harm that this crap causes far outweighs any good.
At any rate, my time on this site has been and will continue to declince. I hope that everyone who was associated with this ministry can overcome the hurt and paing that it has caused and we can all move on.
Sincerely,
Bob Franzese
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