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January 10, 2012 Ken Samples posts some great suggestions for developing the mind - "Are You a Renaissance Christian? 12 Tips for Pursuing Knowledge and Wisdom in Daily Life."
December 28, 2011 We have just become aware, through a post on the Rick Ross forum, that in 2008 Tim and Ginger Geftakys, Mark Miller and Mike Struven established a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, "Pilgrims Provisions Ministries". The purpose as stated on the PPM website is to support Christian ministries, particularly in connection with education, orphans and missions. The organization solicits financial contributions, volunteer talent, and long and short term onsite workers...(more »»)
November 18 Two areas involving AK's are now noted in the Assembly Kids section: 'First Time Obedience', and Cornerstone Academy.
November 6 Former Assembly member "Torey" received a letter of appreciation for participation in the annual Phoenix Project, a production of the International Cultic Studies Association showcasing creative work by former cult members. "Torey" submitted several poems for participation in the annual event in Philadelphia.
November
1, 2011 Begone, false images of an angry God demanding, "Strive harder to enter in!"
Rebecca unpacks how God "...sees us, regards us, counts us, declares us as righteous and holy as Jesus is."
I would say this is the biggest reason the Reformed perspective is such a
great antidote to cultic works righteousness teaching. Read Rebecca's blog post,
"Christ's Active and Passive Obedience and Our Justification".
September 18 There have been requests for audio samples of George Geftakys preaching. Here are the first twenty minutes of a lecture on Daniel 9, given at his Summer School class in 1973. Having been present in the class, Mrs. I. cannot bear personally to listen to it, so if there are problems with the file, please let her know and she'll try to fortify her nerves to look into it.
August 1 "What does it say, what does it mean, and what am
I going to do about it," - that's the way to study the Bible, right? And there
is a particular lens through which to figure out the meaning. In the Assembly it
was the Higher Life lens - carnal vs. spiritual.
But what would happen if you slowed down and used literacy tools to focus on step one - what does the passage actually say? With chapter one of Ephesians, for example, you pay close attention to pronouns - 'you', 'we', 'him', prepositions - 'to', 'from', 'in', etc., and at verse 13, you get the clear picture that we all, with the Ephesian believers, have a guaranteed inheritance in Christ that was secured by the Holy Spirit when we believed! The inheritance is clearly not something we have to earn!
You get Paul's message simply by applying basic literacy tools to the biblical text, not by looking through the lens of a particular doctrinal interpretation. Amazing!
Dr. Sandy Blank uses this approach in her Bible literacy Bible studies. In addition to the weekly Thursday evening class at Lake Avenue Church, she also teaches on Wednesday mornings at the Culture Cafe in Pasadena. The monthly class at the Los Angeles Arboretum includes free admission and lunch. Check Sandy's Theocentrix website for class schedules and locations.
August 1 Just posted - a photo of the Tuscola Assembly in 1982 at the House of Promise.
July 18 Downplaying the mind, even denying its role,
is a key element in disabling critical thinking. The popular belief that man
is made up of three parts - body, soul and spirit - supports this
denigration of the mind, which is deemed to be soulish, and therefore not spiritual.
In Trichotomy:
Beachhead for Gnostic Influences
Kim Riddlebarger tackles this widespread misconception and shows how it
leads to error.
June 21 Ken Samples posted today on "The Historic Alignment of Christianity and Science." Lucid as always. With assertive atheism making a media push these days, a dose of apologetics now and then clears the head.
June 9 A former Assembly member and Worker surfed back to the site recently, and was pierced by the soul-searching question, "Why did we go along? Why didn't we speak up?"
May 31 Dave Sable writes, "The Harold Camping debacle has been rather personal for me for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I remember well Family Radio. I have a very clear memory of listening one time with Lee in the car, and we were doubled-over with laughter at one of the spiritualized answers Camping gave to an open forum caller. But also, his retreat into isolation so parallels George. Those "worldly" elders in the Plymouth Brethren were probably the last voices that could have helped George before he created his world of no accountability where disaster was eventually inevitable. Here is an e-devotional I wrote for our church, and a link to a good World Magazine Web Extra, Stay Tuned."
April 4 Watch the streaming video of Dr. Robert Godfrey's lecture on "Pleasing God" from the 2011 Ligonier Conference. Godfrey is very clear on legalism and and works righteousness. He is also very listenable.
February 17
Lee I. posted this week
on childhood conversion. His perspective is very different from the Assembly approach of disciplining children
into the Kingdom.
January 11, 2011
Chaplain Mike, who is continuing the iMonk's blog,
posted last week on
"Works Righteousness by Any Other Name Still Stinks":
My only hope on the Day of Judgment for any positive outcome is the finished work of Jesus Christ. If God has welcomed me into his family by grace, if he is “happy” with me, it will be because of Jesus and what he did for me plus nothing else. On that basis and on that basis alone, there will be no condemnation on that day.
Nor will there be any regret. Jesus will not frown at me and chasten me for wasting my life. At that moment, it will all be about him sacrificing his life for me and taking it up again. Period.
It will be about his dedication to his Father’s will, not mine. It will be about his zeal to complete the work his Father gave him, not mine. It will be about the faithfulness by which he followed through all the way to the cross for me, the ever-faithless one. His love will be celebrated, not mine. His obedience, not mine. The Good News of what he did for me, not any story about anything I have done for him.
Get that straight, and there will be no need to rev up the troops with guilt-inducing appeals warning us about wasting our lives and having to face a disappointed Savior.
December 12 Many of you remember Jim and Brinda M., formerly of the Tuscola Assembly, and have read Brinda's account. Their son Stephen had surgery for another brain tumor last week. He went to be with the Lord today. Here is a note from Brinda. Please pray for the family. Stephen's obituary was published in The News-Gazette serving Champaign, and in the Tuscola paper.
In "The Christian in Romans 7" Arthur W. Pink decries Wesleyan perfectionism, and supports the view that Romans 7 describes the life of believers. "To talk of “getting out of Romans 7 into Romans 8” is excuseless folly. Romans 7 and 8 both apply with undiminished force and pertinence to every believer on earth today." Recognizing and sorrowing over inner corruption is the result of the Holy Spirit working. Pink cites many examples of men of God who experienced this more and more as they grew in grace - Spurgeon, Newton, and Rutherford, to name a few.
October 24 Dr. Philip Zimbardo gave a public lecture at MIT on
The Lucifer Effect:
Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.
The recipe for behavior change isn't
complicated. "All evil begins with a big lie," says Zimbardo, whether it's a
claim to be following the word of God, or the need to stamp out political
opposition. A seemingly insignificant step follows, with successive small
actions, presented as essential by an apparently-just authority figure. The
situation presents others complying with the same rules, perhaps protesting, but
following along all the same.....And exiting the situation is extremely
difficult.
Read more and watch the video »»
October 24 Sandy Blank had doubts about
the Worldwide Church of God a couple of years ago. She decided to go to
seminary to sort out Biblical truth. Unexpectedly, she was granted
permission to lead a Bible study within Worldwide, working through Paul's
letter to the Romans. Several members came to solid faith in Christ as they
began to understand the Gospel for the first time. They and Sandy ultimately
left Worldwide. Sandy has completed her PhD. in theology and is leading a Bible study at Lake Avenue
Church in Pasadena. Notice the special invitation to former cult members!
Read-to-Believe Bible Study
Thursdays, November through June
6:30 - 8:30 pm, FL 201
Join us for a highly interactive class that emphasizes God-centered Bible literacy. We gather each week to read through entire books of the Bible in a respectful and patient environment with the goal of increasing our faith in Jesus. This class is for men and women who are already somewhat familiar with the Bible. We extend a special invitation to individuals who have ever been involved in a religious cult. For information contact Dr. Sandy Blank at "sandyblank at theocentrix dot org" or 626.529.5920.
October 7 Dr. Maria Salavitz, who is the co-author of several books with Dr. Bruce Perry, has this observation about how traumatic discipline affects the development of the nervous system in young children:
As we discuss in Born for Love
and in The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, startle responses and skin conductance offer insight into what's going on in the brain's stress response system.
While there are genetic tendencies that affect these systems, they are also highly responsive to early life experience. If that experience is nurturing and empathetic, the system will wire up one way; if it is harsh and frightening, the same genes will produce a very different wiring....
....[R]esearch shows that traumatic experience in particular can profoundly affect startle response and skin conductance....
....If you discipline your children in ways that are stressful to them, their stress response systems will change. Children may become more fearful and often, they will have a more easily triggered startle response.
For more on how trauma affects children, read Dr. Perry's article Stairway to Heaven: Children in the Crosshairs of Trauma.
September 23, 2010 Phillip Cary's latest book sounds
promising,
Good News for Anxious Christians: 10
Practical Things You Don't Have to Do. The introduction, titled "Why Trying
to Be Christian Makes Us Anxious",
begins with the statement that God's commands are actually permissions.
Read the introduction here.
These are the book chapter titles - sound intriguing?
- Why You Don't Have to Hear God's Voice in Your Heart, Or, How God Really Speaks Today
- Why You Don't Have to Believe Your Intuitions Are the Holy Spirit, Or, How the Spirit Shapes Our Hearts
- Why You Don't Have to "Let God Take Control", Or, How Obedience Is for Responsible Adults
- Why You Don't Have to "Find God's Will for Your Life", Or, How Faith Seeks Wisdom
- Why You Don't Have to Be Sure You Have the Right Motivations, Or, How Love Seeks the Good
- Why You Don't Have to Worry about Splitting Head from Heart, Or, How Thinking Welcomes Feeling
- Why You Don't Have to Keep Getting Transformed All the Time, Or, How Virtues Make a Lasting Change in Us
- Why You Don't Always Have to Experience Joy, Or, How God Vindicates the Afflicted
- Why "Applying It to Your Life" Is Boring, Or, How the Gospel Is Beautiful
- Why Basing Faith on Experience Leads to a Post-Christian Future, Or, How Christian Faith Needs Christian Teaching
Thanks to Dave Sable for the heads up on this new book.
September 11, 2010
A major component of
George Geftakys' teaching was based on the "higher
life" concepts promoted by the Keswick convention. In fact, the Assembly
songbook, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, was a reprint of the early Keswick hymnal!
Here is a webpage
critiquing
the Keswick theology of sanctification. The author provides a very
informative PDF outline of
how it developed historically and where it stands today.
June 28 "How can I discern whether I'm in a healthy or abusive fellowship?" Good question. Holly Dye tackles the answer on her blog Refocusing Our Eyes. Here is one of her observations:
"In healthy fellowships we are admonished to imitate the Christ-like virtues seen in others. In abusive fellowships the leaders are imitated in many more ways than just their virtues. In fact, members take on many of the personal characteristics (personality) of the leaders in a manner that appears unseemly..."
Here's more:
In healthy fellowships we are encouraged to love and bless our enemies. In abusive fellowships showing hatred for our enemies and speaking defamatory of them is acceptable. And often the occasion for “rallying the troops.”
Abusive leaders seldom practice this scripture:
…when ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered we respond gently… (1 Cor 4:12, 13).
Thanks to Al Hartman for passing along this link.
Sometimes we are asked why we don't recommend two books by Gene Edwards, Letters to a Devastated Christian and A Tale of Three Kings. These books would seem to be very applicable. We read them after we left the Assembly in 1990, and they resonated, in the sense that they described our experience to a certain extent. But they were confusing, because they blame the victim, failing to make a proper emphasis on the deception and control perpetrated by leaders. A look at Gene Edwards' own ministry shows why this is so. Kevin Knox has a series of blog posts about his ten years under Edwards' ministry - déjà vu all over again in many ways. The Barnabas Ministry reviews Letters to a Devastated Christian.
Note: The word 'cult' is used on this website in the sociological sense, referring to the practice and conduct of groups, not their beliefs or doctrine. Read more about the use of this word here ».
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