There’s a scene in The Shack where Mack and Jesus are out on the dock in the evening, enjoying the stars. Mack imagines he could reach out and pluck diamonds off a velvet black sky:
“Wow!” he whispered.
“Incredible!” Whispered Jesus…”I never get tired of this…”
They’re doing nothing, Jesus and Mack. Just lying on the dock [...]
Archive for the ‘The Assembly experience’ Category
“You’re with Me….”
Posted in Devotional, Grace, Intensity addiction, Performance-based Christianity, Stress, The Assembly experience, The Geftakys Assembly, The love of God, Works-based Christianity, tagged "Higher Life" teaching, Devotional, Geftakys Assembly, Intensity, love of God, Performance vs grace, Stress on August 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Why call it “cultic”?….
Posted in Abusive church leadership, The Assembly experience, spiritual abuse, tagged spiritual abuse, Spiritually abusive leadership on June 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Just a quick addendum to the previous discussion on the book Not of My Making. I was horrified at the treatment Maggie Jones received in three different churches. Those churches were not cults; they were just your normal boulevard church. So if even ordinary churches can sometimes be so hurtful, why do we imply that [...]
“Just carry on”….
Posted in Higher life, Spiritual abuse devotion, The Assembly experience, Works-based Christianity, tagged "Higher Life" teaching, growth, Performance vs grace, spiritual abuse on June 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“Just carry on” is one of the cards in The Oblique Strategies by Peter Schmidt and Brian Eno. Haven’t seen the set of cards, but I ran across this quote just now, and was surprised how a load suddenly felt lifted. Hmmm, wonder what that could be about….Even though I’ve consciously rejected the performance-based life, [...]
Dr. Jones’ answer….
Posted in Abusive church leadership, The Assembly experience, spiritual abuse, triggers, tagged Geftakys Assembly, growth, spiritual abuse, Spiritually abusive leadership on June 8, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Saturday I posted my question to Dr. Jones regarding her book, Not of My Making: Bullying, Scapegoating and Misconduct in Churches.
Here is Dr. Jones’ reply:
Margaret Irons asked me, “What can persons who have formerly been abusive do now to make amends and help their former victims (with whom they are no longer in regular [...]
Virtual book tour….
Posted in Abusive church leadership, Books, The Assembly experience, spiritual abuse, tagged Books, spiritual abuse, Spiritually abusive leadership on June 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Dr. Margaret W. Jones, author of Not of My Making: Bullying, Scapegoating and Misconduct in Churches, will stop by here Monday on her virtual book tour to answer questions. One question I have for her is this: What can persons who have formerly bullied folks and been abusive do now to make amends to their [...]
“We shall see Him as He is!”
Posted in Assembly kids, Devotional, Grace, Legalism vs grace, Spiritual abuse devotion, The Assembly experience, The love of God, Works-based Christianity, spiritual abuse, tagged children of bible-based cults, Devotional, Geftakys Assembly, growth, legalism versus grace, spiritual abuse, Spiritual abuse devotion on February 15, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The Internet Monk describes pretty well the prevailing concern of legalistic pastors over the dangers of ‘cheap grace’ (here, here and here). Betty G. once said to me, “If there weren’t the possibility of losing out on the inheritance, what would be the motivation for sanctification?” This was a rhetorical question – the obvious answer [...]
An atheist believes Africa needs Christian faith!!
Posted in Faith, The Assembly experience, tagged Faith, Geftakys Assembly on January 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The article As An Atheist, I Truly Believe Africa Needs God has been making the rounds in the Christian blogosphere. It’s a remarkable point of view deriving from the author’s experience growing up in Africa. Well worth reading!
The author argues that far beyond the works of charity done by missionaries, it’s the Christian faith that [...]
Keswick Higher Life….
Posted in Higher life, The Assembly experience, tagged Keswick on August 26, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Lee Irons has a blog post on Keswick Burnout. If you have been depressed lately over the quality of your spiritual life, this is a must read. Dave Sable has this response to Lee’s post: “Great thoughts by Lee. I downloaded the lectures to listen to. Here are some thoughts his post raised in me. [...]
“How do I know I am a Christian?”
Posted in Devotional, Faith, The Assembly experience, spiritual abuse, triggers, tagged Faith, growth, spiritual abuse on August 25, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Dr. Eric Thoennes answers the question this way: “For those who question their salvation, the best evidence is not the memory of having raised a hand or prayed a prayer. Nor is it having been baptized or christened. The true test of the authentic work of God in one’s life is growth in Christ-like character, [...]
The deep things of God….
Posted in Devotional, Faith, Grace, The Assembly experience, The love of God, tagged legalism versus grace on August 24, 2008 | 1 Comment »
“Oh dear friends, the time is almost up, and I’ve only just scratched the surface of all the Lord has shown me – the deep things of Gawd!! You must press on to see these things, friends, strive to enter in! I tell you, you’re not going to hear these things anywheres else! If you knew what [...]
Our children….
Posted in Devotional, Faith, The Assembly experience, tagged children of bible-based cults, Geftakys Assembly, spiritual abuse on August 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
After five years of post-Assembly recovery, it seems that quite a few former Assembly members have regained some sense of stability in their lives and the beginnings of restored faith. But the parents among them may still be watching their children struggle with life. Many of us who left long ago – maybe even most [...]
False teachers and fruit….
Posted in Abusive church leadership, The Assembly experience, spiritual abuse, tagged spiritual abuse, Spiritually abusive leadership on July 18, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Reading in Matthew I came across the passage in the sermon on the mount about false teachers. Jesus gives a strong warning – “Watch out for them!” He gives one way – and only one – by which to recognize them: their fruit. Gal 5:22 immediately comes to mind – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [...]
Quest for the spiritual secret….
Posted in Books, Higher life, The Assembly experience, tagged "Higher Life" teaching, Keswick on April 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
When I was in high school my mother (later known in the Assembly as Sister Mayo), began a library for Fountain Avenue Baptist Church in Los Angeles. She and I had a great time discovering Christian books [...]
Hymn triggers….
Posted in The Assembly experience, tagged Hymn triggers, triggers on March 17, 2008 | 5 Comments »
This was one of those Sunday mornings that was a minefield of triggers, hymn triggers. I’ve learned I have to look over the bulletin for roadside bombs before the church service begins. So there it was, the hymn before communion – “Let us love and sing and wonder” (Little Flock, I think). I haven’t laid eyes on this [...]
That old enemy….
Posted in Devotional, Faith, The Assembly experience, tagged Devotional, Faith, Joe Sperling, Spiritual abuse devotion on August 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Joe Sperling posted this devotional thought on the Assembly bulletin board this morning:
“Our enemy, as always, seeks to alter our perception of God. He seeks to turn Him into a Judge, with “consequences” for every wrong. Thank God he has “not rewarded us according to our iniquities”—
10He hath not dealt with us after our [...]
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit: Prequel….
Posted in Devotional, Family, Intensity addiction, The Assembly experience, tagged Faith, Family, Geftakys Assembly, Intensity, love of God on August 8, 2007 | 2 Comments »
This morning I ran across a draft for a blog post I had written a year ago about recognizing God’s presence in daily life. I am blessed to realize that what I was getting a glimmer of then has become much more of a reality in the intervening year. The July 25 post on “The fellowship of the [...]
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit….
Posted in Books, Devotional, Prayer, The Assembly experience, tagged Books, Devotional, Faith, Prayer on July 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been reading Phil Yancey’s book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?, and I want to say that this book definitely made a significant difference for me, not only in my awareness of God’s unceasing care and presence, but also in my approach to prayer. Chapter 4, “The God Who Is”, opens with [...]
Wish I could be there….
Posted in Assembly kids, Stress, The Assembly experience, triggers, tagged spiritual abuse, triggers on July 22, 2007 | 1 Comment »
I’ve been reading Allen Shawn’s book, Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life. What piqued my interest in it was a comment made by an AK (Assembly kid) to another AK, “They made us afraid of everything.” That synched with my awareness that quite a few FAM’s (former Assembly members) experience “social [...]
Sermon on the Book of Ruth….
Posted in The Assembly experience, tagged Devotional, Faith, growth, spiritual abuse on July 16, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Andrew Compton, a recent Westminster graduate and husband of our fabulous organist, Pam, preached for the first time today in our church. He chose the Book of Ruth for his text. It left me thinking, a lot of former Assembly members are like Naomi in chapter one. She and her family went to Moab [...]
Mercy Alone….
Posted in Devotional, Intensity addiction, The Assembly experience, tagged Devotional, Grace on June 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Last week, for some reason, a phrase from the song, “A Debtor to Mercy Alone” (lyrics, #598 H&SS) kept running through my head. It was from the last verse, “…Yet I to the end shall endure…” So what hymn should we sing yesterday in church but that one, and I noticed the context of that phrase in [...]
