| GET OUT NOW | |||||||||||||||||
| Children Learn What They Live | Your voice is a filter of God's voice. | ||||||||||||||||
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If a child lives with criticism - he learns to condemn If a child lives with security he learns to have faith If a child lives with hostility he learns to fight If a child lifes with fairness he learns justice If a child lives with ridicule he learns to be shy If a child lives with praise he learns to appreciate If a child lives with shame he learns to feel guilty If a child lives with encouragement he learns confidence If a child lives with tolerance he learns to be patient If a child lives with approval he learns to like himself If a child lives with acceptance and friendship he learns to find love in the world. |
What you think about yourself has a lot to do with what you're going to see about God. There's a good example in Mark 5. This man had a legion of demons; he hated himself. All the world could figure out to do with him was try to subdue him; bind him up. He would cry out at night and gash himself with stones. Living among tombs consumed with self-hatred. We don't know what circumstances brought him to this point. So Jesus comes on the scene. Good news, right? The demoniac didn't think so at first. "Do not torment me". That's what is meant by your voice is a filter of God's voice. He really thought that Jesus was there to torment him! As if life wasn't hard enough, he thought the Son of God was going to give him a few more kicks while he was down. His image of himself shaped his image of God. Do you know that in your life? It's absolutley true! You hate yourself - you're going to have a hard time sensing God's love. Sit down (rest), be clothed (in the garments of salvation), and then you'll be in your right mind. Beautiful illustration of what happens when you let God untie the knot. When you say "I am God's beloved child" (even if you choke on it the first time). | ||||||||||||||||
| Effectively having the witness in your own spirit | |||||||||||||||||
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For those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. Still practicing? Me too. To quote the title of Jess Laire's book: "I ain't well, but I sure am better!" Getting out of COBU I was like a fish out of water. Did I do the right thing? Was Jesus pleased? What do I tell people when I tell them about Jesus? Where do I tell them to go now? I no longer had the security of the fellowhsip backing me up. And if they didn't go, it just wasn't meant to be. But now what? There are a lot of grey areas. Isn't it the truth though? There are a lot of grey areas. Read Wurmbrand. Did the woman who was caught in adultery go and never sin again? Come on. But I'll bet she never committed adultery again. Did the fellow who said he would pay back those who he had defrauded do it? Did the man who picked up his pallet and walked and then "squealed" on Jesus, did his family kick him out of the house and make him get a job the next week? We don't know. There's some things we just don't know. This I know - that God is for me. (scripture) And I never experienced the peace which passes understanding until I left the Church of Bible Misunderstanding. The longer you were in, the longer it takes to heal. And some people, you can take them out of COBU, but you can't take the COBU out of them. The people who cannot have a conversation unless it's a confrontation. The debating spirit. Remember witnessing like that? I could win any argument because I was always right! And with God and the Bible to back you up, geez... And Stewart used to say even if you don't win, but it looks like you've won - then you won! Please... Talk about winning the battle but losing the war. Crushing people into oblivion, the person be damned! And we would wonder why do we lack kindness? Why is there all this harshness? Anyway, when I left, one of the things I started to do was read Letters to a Devastated Christian. I was hitting out against the things in the book like crazy. He was all wrong. He was an outsider. What did he know? Plenty. I reread that book about ten times. I would wake up in the middle of the night and reread sections. Brothers and sisters still in - consider this: Stewart made a little boo boo about missing the simple foundation of our faith: GRACE. Amazing Grace! If he can make a simple mistake as big as that... I mean that's not the camel having the nose under the tent - that's living with the stinking animal (sorry camels) lying in bed with you for twenty years. "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" If you could be so wrong about something so big - doesn't it figure, well, if the eye is not sound, what do you do? Keep signing your checks over, that's what. You brothers and sisters are so dedicated! You don't mind squalid conditions for yourself whilst the king laps in luxury. He has his own personal carpenter for heaven's sake. I remember when they were making up the "Bible study room". I did a little work there. I thought, gee, a place for lambs. No, a lair for the wolf. He laps in luxury. But you'll spend the night on a park bench in Chicago in the name of cutting costs! A sister did that! So dedicated! Well, I did it too. Lived with the roaches and the mice. Worked the long hours. Ate the lousy food(I'm talking when you get home late and all - the sisters did very good work). And suffered the lousy allowance. I hear they're in the money now. Any of it trickling down? I remember brothers suffering guilt for using phone money to buy a cup of coffee. Boy would I like to relate some stories here! And we long for the "glory days". Witnessing in Greenwich Village. Sweeping up the homeless. Looking at slides from Haiti. But there is stuff you don't know. Can you keep a secret? So can I. Did you know that Brother Wurmbrand tried to talk sense to Stewart and Stewart rebuffed him? Have you ever tried to talk sense to Stewart? Oh, I guess I was just being weird you might think. But what, what are the words to describe, or whatever - what would it take to fend off Brother Wurmbrand's simple logic? Whatever it takes - Stewart's got it. When I say GET OUT NOW, what is most important is to cling to Christ. You know Jesus. He has saved you. He died for our sins. At the first reunion I went to, a brother (Herman) kept telling me that over and over. Jesus died for your sins. My relationship is with Jesus. When I say GET OUT NOW, it's get out of that mindset. You're like the guy in Pilgrim's Progress caught in a cage. GET OUT. You know what is comfortable about staying there? A lot. Three squares (I hope) Lodging. Exercise period. And prison walls and guards. You're scared of freedom, aren't you? I was. You know what is comfortable about staying there? You can label us on the outside as backsliders. With that the thinking stops. You can put us on the shelf and leave us there and you don't have to love us until we come crawling back to you admitting our grave error. Not! You know what else is comfortable about staying there? All your Bible Studies and opinions ready made and served up on a plate. Gasp if you should have to think for yourself. Am I being melodramatic? I guess so. I didn't plan this. I just sat down to write and this is what came out. But I beckon to reason with you: Could you be as wrong about your present situation as you were about listening to baseless graceless teaching? Doesn't it stand to reason that you could be at least as wrong. And even if you were half! Come now, let us reason together. The Woodruff and Woodland Ave houses are boarded up trash heaps. Is this not indicative of something run amok? Shouldn't this rancid revelation rend you of your present circumstances? I appeal to you, brethren. Take a good look at yourself. And tell your mother, she'll only tell ya, that she told you so. The life you're leading, you won't beleive, the real trick in life, we all know... With that Jon Anderson outburst, the defense rests... I further my exposition: I just finished reading "Atheism The Case Against God" You should get to know how other people think. This guy had some good arguments. I'm glad I don't live in his darkness. I opened the door and let Jesus in. He's real. I wish I had the words to convince you you'd be better off out from under somebody's thumb. If Jesus could just give me the right words to say. And that's the great thing about Jesus. He is alive. He is winning. More and more brethren are further in their relationships with Jesus. They certainly are. There are many great testimonies. Ask those who have traveled the roads. And that's a reason you are trained to be so paranoid of us - we may get through to you with our logic. So you're indoctrinated and inoculated with paranoia. We're not going to hurt you. We're the ones who got hurt. Shouldn't you bless instead of curse? Or is that beyond your ability? We offer Christ. We offer freedom. You still want that comfort station you're in? It's impossible for me to cotton that anymore. I know Jesus. And He knows you. He knows your needs. Maybe you need that comfort station. And when you're ready, Jesus abundantly provides a better life. Life, life, eternal life! It's a big world. You scared? Trust Jesus. He died for your sins. I came that they may have life. If you have love for one another the world will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another. This is the least that I can do, sitting in front of a computer monitor. May God Bless you and keep you! | |||||||||||||||||
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