Several have mentioned the difficulty they have experienced in trying to find another church family after leaving TLWF. Many of us have carried with us the haunting words of John that once we tasted of John’s version of the Kingdom, nothing else would ever satisfy us. We would be ruined for anything else. I realize that I may be in a small minority, but that is simply not true. I’ve found a wonderful church family that is much healthier than anything I ever experienced in TLWF. It certainly is not limited to one church either.
I’ve been attending my local church for 17 years and have genuine relationships with the leadership – the honeymoon is long over. I use the word “leadership” loosely – they are looking for places to serve, not be served. Through my church, I have been connected to many other churches of many denominations – something that would never have happened in the time I attended TLWF. For example, 40 churches in Colorado Springs just banded together and gave the local homeless shelter $216,000 over Easter. Jesus separated the sheep from the goats by how they fed and clothed the least – something I was taught to be cynical of in TLWF. I was told other churches were Babylon and now Gary is connecting with the very church John used as an example of Babylon. The one thing a counterfeiter does not want you to have is something true that exposes that you are fraud. “Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Depart from me, I never knew you.”
A few months back, the discussion on this thread addressed mind control. I would suggest the thinking that nothing can take the place of John is a programmed response. Spiritual abuse is a complicated thing that is very difficult to unravel without professional help. An important point to understand about cults is that the leadership takes the place that only God should fill and overrides your critical thinking. If you are looking for a person or system to take the place of God, your wounds will be a red flag that will not allow you to go down that road again - nor should you. I know there are exceptions and some people pursue ever crazier things. However, most will not even have anything to do with God – myself included – after such an experience, and there wasn’t much of the true God in the first place.
Part of my healing was to figure out where I personally got off track. – not focus so much on the leadership of the group I was in. Granted, there is a ton of manipulation by leaders that we were completely oblivious to – especially in our teens and twenties when the hook was set for most of us. I personally had no visions of grandeur of ruling the world as a super son. I did love God and want His will for my life, and for the longest time had difficulty understanding how He could allow this to happen to me. I knew in the depths of my heart that I had been sincere – often more than those I was following.
The thing I kept sensing the Spirit speaking to me was that I had not obeyed what Jesus had taught. When I started digging below the surface and applying what Jesus had said, my life dramatically changed. I would suggest that the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of John do not match. Many have sited discrepancies, but perhaps that is a personal discovery for the individual. Several have mentioned breakthroughs into the Kingdom, but I would suggest the Kingdom is functional right now if you do what He says. Many who have died before us have walked in its power without the passing of a certain date.
I needed to go back and rediscover my first love – which had nothing to do with any human. I would suggest that when He is first, we can relate to anyone – inside or out of the church. Perfect humans do not exist – a perfect God does. A perfect or complete church does not exist without each one of us. I thought it might be encouraging to share a worship video from my local church and for you to think back on your teens and twenties. Remembering your first love can be a wonderful thing. [www.youtube.com]
Another oldie, but goody: [www.youtube.com]
I’ve been attending my local church for 17 years and have genuine relationships with the leadership – the honeymoon is long over. I use the word “leadership” loosely – they are looking for places to serve, not be served. Through my church, I have been connected to many other churches of many denominations – something that would never have happened in the time I attended TLWF. For example, 40 churches in Colorado Springs just banded together and gave the local homeless shelter $216,000 over Easter. Jesus separated the sheep from the goats by how they fed and clothed the least – something I was taught to be cynical of in TLWF. I was told other churches were Babylon and now Gary is connecting with the very church John used as an example of Babylon. The one thing a counterfeiter does not want you to have is something true that exposes that you are fraud. “Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Depart from me, I never knew you.”
A few months back, the discussion on this thread addressed mind control. I would suggest the thinking that nothing can take the place of John is a programmed response. Spiritual abuse is a complicated thing that is very difficult to unravel without professional help. An important point to understand about cults is that the leadership takes the place that only God should fill and overrides your critical thinking. If you are looking for a person or system to take the place of God, your wounds will be a red flag that will not allow you to go down that road again - nor should you. I know there are exceptions and some people pursue ever crazier things. However, most will not even have anything to do with God – myself included – after such an experience, and there wasn’t much of the true God in the first place.
Part of my healing was to figure out where I personally got off track. – not focus so much on the leadership of the group I was in. Granted, there is a ton of manipulation by leaders that we were completely oblivious to – especially in our teens and twenties when the hook was set for most of us. I personally had no visions of grandeur of ruling the world as a super son. I did love God and want His will for my life, and for the longest time had difficulty understanding how He could allow this to happen to me. I knew in the depths of my heart that I had been sincere – often more than those I was following.
The thing I kept sensing the Spirit speaking to me was that I had not obeyed what Jesus had taught. When I started digging below the surface and applying what Jesus had said, my life dramatically changed. I would suggest that the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of John do not match. Many have sited discrepancies, but perhaps that is a personal discovery for the individual. Several have mentioned breakthroughs into the Kingdom, but I would suggest the Kingdom is functional right now if you do what He says. Many who have died before us have walked in its power without the passing of a certain date.
I needed to go back and rediscover my first love – which had nothing to do with any human. I would suggest that when He is first, we can relate to anyone – inside or out of the church. Perfect humans do not exist – a perfect God does. A perfect or complete church does not exist without each one of us. I thought it might be encouraging to share a worship video from my local church and for you to think back on your teens and twenties. Remembering your first love can be a wonderful thing. [www.youtube.com]
Another oldie, but goody: [www.youtube.com]