Recent thoughts

[steve26 (steve26)]

One of the reasons I thought it was a good idea to start this board when Calv suggested it was a rather selfish one: It seemed like a good place for me, as an ex-Chapelite, to discuss my thoughts about Christian faith in general and my life of faith in particular without inadvertantly triggering an uproar based on my violation of some spoken or unspoken Chapel presupposition. As the events on the CCG board over the last few weeks have shown, that's not really possible over there anymore. For whatever reasons, I have changed so much since my Chapel years so that the very presence of my written thoughts about those years, and about what we were taught and believed at that time, is intolerable to almost every other ex-Chapelite that participates there.

Not that I'm really complaining, but that's a very curious situation. Those who think it doesn't show a closed, cultish mindset are just fooling themselves, in my opinion. They take firmly stated disagreement as personal hostility.

Another interesting thing was that it seemed OK if you believed some things that the Chapel taught were wrong, but just not if you believed that most things it taught were wrong, and that some other church's teaching was definitely right instead. There is a real conviction over there that doctrine doesn't really have much to do with faith, and that, in fact, a too close attention to doctrine is somehow opposed to faith. I myself have never been able to see that this is a Biblical approach.

[movinon (movinon)]

steve26,

Interesting thoughts regarding closed and cultish mindsets...can't comment too much now, but I'm definitely giving some thought to it...

mo

[steve26 (steve26)]

mo,

It is evident to me that the real reason that there is such an outcry against me on the CCG board is not because the way of expressing my thoughts was hateful, bitter, or vitriolic (as most CCG participants claimed), but because I had concluded that the Chapel was (and Chapel ways of thinking are) very definitely cultish. Saying so is socially intolerable on the CCG board - they simply cannot handle it without labeling it "sick and vindictive" (the actual words of one participant about me). They have apparently come to believe that somebody who really thinks that something is cultish is, by definition, unreasonable and hateful.

Ah, well. All of this serves to illustrate how deep a gulf separates what I now believe from the Chapel way of thinking - and to me, that's a very good and healthy thing. When I believed the way the CCG participants do now, I proved susceptible to being misled and derailed spiritually. One recent posting spoke of how its author walked down the streets "just absorbing Jesus" and how by the end of the day he felt like Jesus had met him and made significant changes in his life. The posting was of course greeted by accolades from other participants for being faithful to "what God is doing" in the author's life. However, to me, nothing could have illustrated better the vagueness, silliness, and ultimate futility in the way those people think that God works.

[movinon (movinon)]

steve26,

I am in complete agreement with you regarding statements such as the one you mentioned above about "absorbing Jesus"....and I agree with you that anyone who calls the chapel a cult is going to be looked upon with suspicion,anger,and hatefulness by those who still promote its ways and beliefs. Which is why I don't belong there any longer. I have felt for some time that CC wasn't just a good place gone bad, but a place whose roots I have come to seriously question. I realize that is NOT a popular view among those that still work vigorously at keeping the myth of CC alive. Yet, I would be lying to myself if I said anything other than what I just said regarding my personal views of CC. I have a hard time comprehending how something supposedly so "right" could go so incredibly wrong if its foundation was all that solid to begin with. These are things I have contemplated and considered for many years, and not just opinions that I have come to overnight because something someone said on another forum made me angry or disgusted. My searchings in regard to the subject of CC and what really happened haven't let me off the hook for my part in being deceived and sucked into such a vortex of confusion. Seeking the truth in my heart about this has cost me a lot in one sense, but in another sense, it has really set me on a path to freedom and understanding and real faith.

mo

[calv (calv)]

The emotional hook
its how you feel
not what not what you think
we dont have to agree
but does that mean im wrong

give it some time
see if it lasts
what do you see
once youve been there

its not what you think
its what you do
so hard to see
livin in the fog

time to get clear
let the sun shine
so much to see
so much to do

[david_munson (david_munson)]

<font color="000000"><font face="arial,helvetica"></font>
Not having read the posts attributed to your being hateful or what ever statements made against your observance.I cannot knowledgeably comment on anything you have said except what I am reading here.

It seems at least at this thread ,that your demeanor is observational and lacks ill intent.That is exsactly what you should do.

You will find that anyone involved in mind control will have a certain hostility regardless of the approach that you may take.
Just from your statements above,I find myself in agreement with your observation.
As it is written,"Faith comes by hearing the Word of God."
Osmosis just won't do.
Anyone who partakes in spiritual osmosis,has no idea what spirit they are letting in.There are no checks or safeguards put on the door of the heart.No armour such as we find in Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

This approach of spiritual osmosis is most often found in unity penticostalism and opens a person up to demonic invovlement.

That we are in perilous times,becomes more evident with each passing day as we see such atrocities taking place in the "church."

The Lord told us that the path is narrow that leads to life not broad and all encompassing.

God bless you and keep you.

Dave

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[david_munson (david_munson)]

<font color="000000"><font face="arial,helvetica"></font>
Not having read the posts attributed to your being hateful or what ever statements made against your observance.I cannot knowledgeably comment on anything you have said except what I am reading here.

It seems at least at this thread ,that your demeanor is observational and lacks ill intent.That is exsactly what you should do.

You will find that anyone involved in mind control will have a certain hostility regardless of the approach that you may take.
Just from your statements above,I find myself in agreement with your observation.
As it is written,"Faith comes by hearing the Word of God."
Osmosis just won't do.
Anyone who partakes in spiritual osmosis,has no idea what spirit they are letting in.There are no checks or safeguards put on the door of the heart.No armour such as we find in Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

This approach of spiritual osmosis is most often found in unity penticostalism and opens a person up to demonic invovlement.

That we are in perilous times,becomes more evident with each passing day as we see such atrocities taking place in the "church."

The Lord told us that the path is narrow that leads to life not broad and all encompassing.

God bless you and keep you.

Dave

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