Your 10:53 – HA HA HA HA HA HA!

That was my laugh for today.  NOW, be good…( saying this with “tongue in cheek” ’cause I really don’t want you to stop horsing around – it’s too fun).

Ahhh…there’s that word again…”change.”

Uhh…many of us know the pastors at CrossWay.  Is this pastor trying to say that Brent is the reason they’ve been so controlling all these years?  Because that’s a lie.  Granted, Brent was “over-the-top” when it came to control, the poster child for sure; but those other guys like control, too.

As a matter of fact, I can take Brent’s obvious “in-your-face” control better than I can take their subtle, deceptive control.  You know where you stand with Brent…what you see is what you get.  But that deceptive/manipulative control…now that’s some EVIL stuff!  Hard to detect at first because it appears so “genuine, compassionate, and loving.”

Knowing these pastors’ STRONG personalities, I don’t think anyone’s going to buy into ”the devil (Brent) made me do it.”  (I’m NOT calling Brent “the devil”, simply making a point.)

Brent’s guilty, that’s for sure!  But these other guys are no saints, let me assure you.  They would be HORRIFIED if they were told folks had tape recordings of the things they’ve said to them over the years.  Absolutely horrified!  What’s even more sickening is the “ever so humble and caring” attitude with which they condemned them.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard folks walk away from a meeting with MC and say, “he comes across as such a humble, compassionate man, and he seemed GENUNINELY interested in what I had to say; but somehow I walked away feeling so condemned.”

Like I said…give me an “in-your-face” kind of guy ANY DAY!! 

That being said the jiggler confesses that he too enjoys arguing with 20 people at once and is actively trying to figure out how to start such an argument without actually getting caught starting said argument.

The jiggler appreciates the appearance of Stephen and ______ because it may now be possible.

The jiggler is glad that GCC closed.  The jiggler thinks it’s a good thing.  Some people are going to be hurt in the short term and the jiggler is sorry for them, but they will be better off in the long term. Amputation is sometimes the only way to stop the spread of infection. The jiggler knows enough of what went on to believe this to be true.  Many who left on the church plant were of the opinion that CCC was too loose or on its way to becoming to loose.  Can you imagine that? Not enough control, we need more.  This was confirmed to the jiggler by a CCC pastor who mentioned to him that he should consider staying at CCC because once the planters left, the culture would probably change.

They wanted tight and they got it.  In spades.

You are so right!  He is there ready to assure us that He is crazy about us and all that is worth having is found in HIM!!!!

He was there!  I’ll never forget that.

I remember when we left our SG “church.”  Our names and identification (pictures) and contact info were removed within days, so others couldn’t contact us who didn’t already have our info.  In one way, it made the break feel cleaner; on the other hand, we had a sense of betrayal and isolation as well.  But all is well now.  Their is LIFE in the New Covenant outside the camp!

What I pray for is that NO church will ever have ICABOD written on it’s doors. 

I would LOVE to have saints like you SGM Refuge folks in my church — your writings are full of love, grace, and scriptural understanding, laced with kindness even to those with whom you disagree. 

I’m with you, Canary.

A word to the wise….

Proverbs 10:13 On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found.

Romans 16:17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.

‘Nuff said.

Again, as mentioned yesterday, walking in the flesh is humanity living independently of God, and walking in the Spirit is humanity walking in total dependence on Him. Similarly, when in a dark room, we can either scream and complain or turn on the antidote to darkness–LIGHT.  If we’re in a cold room (assuming we are current with our electric bill), we can change that by turning on the heat.  Many organized “churches” and us as individuals, navel gaze at our works of the flesh, trying to repress and hide them, instead of, turning on the light, turning on the heat, or in this case, walking in the Spirit. Gal 5:16 But I say,walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Most “churches,” that I’ve been part of, especially the SGM ones,  has focused on sin management.   I.e more conferences, more accountability, more seminars, more teaching, and so on.  Some of that is an attempt to Christianize the flesh, and it NEVER works inside where it matters.  Oh we can get people to conform to almost anything and look good, but the “fruit” is rotten on the branch. The flesh cannot be Christianized.  The flesh is the branch unattached to the vine, often looking pretty, but destined to die and produce nothing.

Jesus was good at that, too.

I do know your Dad. He seems to have raised a fine son. I am one of those here who agree with Jim/Carole that all the doctrine in SGM is not bad, just parts of it that give so much authority to a few men, taking on more than God has given them, which leads to terrible abuses down the chain of command. For instance, if you read the book “Who Is Your Covering” by Frank Viola, you will have an in-depth explanation of what the scriptures mean in the Greek dealing with authority in leadership. Also, “Twisted Scriptures” will give you a better idea of what others here have suffered.

In regards to your 1:11 – good, encouraging words. 

Me: Yes he does!!!! I got to see him him live a few years ago – great show!!! The thing that I like best about his hunting is that he USES all of what he kills. He doesn’t just hunt to go kill something, he makes sure he USES all of the resources God has provided. He and his family live off of what he kills.

I have a HUGE issue with hunting just to kill and put a “trophy” on your wall. If you TRULY using the resources and enjoy the hunt, great. If you doing the hunt just to KILL and only to get the enjoyment of the KILL, then you are wasting God’s resources……

Stephen – I can understand how though it is when you whole life has been SGM (and PDI prior). Everything you have been taught and the way you were raised is SGM. I really hope and pray you start asking the hard questions that those who have left have asked.

Our traffic is driven by buzz. While google’s our friend, most people come here based on word of mouth.

Stephen is posting here. That’ll create buzz. As it does, I’d ask that we put ourselves in his shoes and not overload him with comments or questions. He posted his email address, and offline is always the best way to communicate.

While I would enjoy (probably too much) arguing with 20 people at once, I think I’m wired differently than most.

This is not a correction to anyone here-I do that offline, but a request moving forward.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program….

Not that it does really matter now like you said but I think I can shed some light on that for you. The current location GCC was meeting wasn’t where they hoped. The GCC leadership team was actively looking for land in a more central situation to the three cities.

In order to further understand you’d really have to be familiar with the area and the plans for development. Years from now the three cities will really become more like one large city.

The thinking behind the plant is not much different then say having two churches in Orlando… just advanced planning.