College student looking in

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[Tyrael]

There is alot to this story, but I will only give the basics. I looked through a few threads to get an idea of what I want say, but bear with me if I talk about things that are very obvious.

I am current in college and here we have a student chapter of the GC*, The Rock. Of course this student chapter, has a church attached to it, which I attended with a friend for about 3 months. At that point I made the decision to leave. My friend has remained there. Following that my friend and I had a falling out (for theological and personal reasons). In my brief time with the church, and in the last 1.5 years since I left, I have become more and more aware of the church's dubious actions.

There are two things that particularly bother me. The first is their recruitment tactic at the university. It starts with innocent activities, capture the flag, movie night, ect. You meet lots of "friendly people". Then all of a sudden you are asked to go to their church, pray with them, and so on. I attended two such events, the first wasn't too bad, the second was the most awkward moment of my life. Needless to say, freshmen, with no friends, are frequent targets. I talked to the person in charge of student groups, and they said that I would need to be a member to complain. But I could write something up and it could go on file. I didn't want to stir the pot, and have the rage of the church on me. This was last May, and I have let it lapse.

The second is my friend. I really care about her, and it kills me to see her still involved and sucked in. However I know that no matter how many statistics or arguments I get together, I won't be able to get her to change her mind or leave, it is far deeper than that. At best I would probably just ruin our friendship (which is slowly recovering). So really it is a catch-22.

I don't want to think of my self as "The Hero" that should sweep in and "save" them. People are entitled to their beliefs, but what I have seen is manipulation. I'm not the only one that feels that way, other frequently make fun of the group, calling it a cult.  About once a month I am actively reminded. Today it so happened that I was walking in the student center, and found groups of two praying all over the building. In each group I recognized one person from my time at the church, but not the other (assumed new initiate). I normally get angry about it for a day and then go back to my life, but this time I decided to reach out a little more and I came here. After I saw a post talking about the minister of the church, it confirmed my need to ask.

I don't know if I should stay quiet, or act. I am graduating in May so if it goes sour, I can just walk away.

[EverAStudent]

Greetings Tyrael.

Welcome to the forum.

This may sound odd coming from people who have been harmed or abused by the control exerted by the leadership at GC-associated churches, but GC churches are Christian.  They are overly controlling, but still preach Jesus as the Christ. 

My first concern for you would be to ensure you have come to the point of turning your life over to Jesus in what Jesus calls being born again, or, born a second time from heaven.  Our sins not merely qualify us for Hell, but God's justice demands it.  So Jesus died as a sacrifice, which is freely ours, if we place our faith in Him as the Savior.  When we exercise our faith in Christ by allowing Him to make us born again, God forgives us of all our sin for eternity.  GC also preaches this, to their credit.

If you are a born again Christian, and if your friend is as well, then the next important matter is her involvment with GC.  If you have read through the materials on this forum you will find many testimonies of how GC goes beyond ordinary Christian pastoring and equipping.  GC has manipulated and controlled many people in ways that have caused those people much hurt, anxiety, and anger.  In general, our opinion is that it is often healthier to find a better church than GC.  Nonetheless, no one can make that decision for anyone else.

I would recommend showing your friend this site.  Not pushing it on her, just stating you have read some troubling things on it and ask her to evaluate it for you against her own experience.  If the Holy Spirit desires He will open her eyes in this matter.

Lastly, pray for your friend.

Blessings.

[Tyrael]

Ok, that makes sense. The question is how to tactfully give the information (the other side of the story) to people for them to consider and decide on their own. That is my stance, not that I want to take down the church or anything.

[Immortal_Raven]

That is indeed the question.  A couple for you though.  I won't get into any personal information, just a few questions:
How many people are you trying to convince?  Is it just this one friend or several others as well?
How much do they know about GC's history?  That was one of my biggest blunders, not learning the past.

Personally, I wouldn't show GCMwarning.com right off.  It would put anyone on the defensive.  Print off the church error statement published in 1991 and Gregg Walters' and Paul Willis' letters.  Those are a matter of public record and not specific to this forum.  Ask her to read them and evaluate the current conditions. If she's still curious and speaking to you, show her this forum.  If you're from the same Rock as Gregg Walters, then the letter should raise some serious questions in her mind.  One thing GC tends to do is try to sweep their transgressions under the rug like any big corporation would do.  So it wouldn't shock me if she hasn't even heard his name.

Let us know how things go.  We'll be praying.

-Immortal_Raven

[EverAStudent]

Excellent advice Raven.

Here is the link to GC's own statement of recognition of their errors: http://www.gcxweb.org/Misc/WeaknessesPaper.aspx

Gregg Walter's resignation letter: http://www.gcxweb.org/Misc/GreggWalters-03-16-2004.aspx

[AgathaL'Orange]

Oh heck, I'd probably show them the GCX web site and Decom forum.  It might be impacting enough to get them to leave.  And they should leave.  ASAP.   

[BTDT]

Oh heck, I'd probably show them the GCX web site and Decom forum.  It might be impacting enough to get them to leave.  And they should leave.  ASAP.   

I don't know about that.  You see now what an "introduction to the forum" did to insearchoftruthjc.  I think it might be very overwhelming at first.  The error letter/apology letter plus the two other letters is the right place to start, IMO.

[a]

Oh heck, I'd probably show them the GCX web site and Decom forum.  It might be impacting enough to get them to leave.  And they should leave.  ASAP.   

You're just as bad as everyone talk about from GC!

[a]

Oh heck, I'd probably show them the GCX web site and Decom forum.  It might be impacting enough to get them to leave.  And they should leave.  ASAP.   

You're just as bad as everyone *you talk about from GC!

[G_Prince]

Oh heck, I'd probably show them the GCX web site and Decom forum.  It might be impacting enough to get them to leave.  And they should leave.  ASAP.  

You're just as bad as everyone *you talk about from GC!

Agatha is one of the most wonderful people I know. If you have a problem with her I than I doubt you could be friendly to a ray of sunshine. Ohh and you forgot these for your user name...

SS

[Immortal_Raven]

Agatha said to look at the GCx website and this forum.  It's both sides of the story.  Pretty damning to quote that statement and accuse her of something.  Also pretty weak to not even type in a full name as a guest.

-Immortal_Raven

[Linda]

I'm with Agatha. Look at the info. Read it. Draw conclusions.

[Rebekah]

Boy, some drive-by posters are getting nasty around here!

I admit it. I have very few good things to say about GC. So sue me. I doubt many people in GC would have many nice things to say about my current church either ("Are they even Christians?!" is the response I've heard before), so I guess we're even.