Recalling the Appalling

Recalling the Appalling

This site is filled with just that. Pages and pages and more pages of testimonies of appalling control upon people's lives. Personal, professional, social, familial, relational and spiritual - all falsely in the name of "pleasing God". Not the God of the Bible, but the god of GCx. I am adding to those a recent revelation.

It seems since I left GCx I continue to recall appalling practices of control that I hadn't seen clearly before. I think God protected me from going into shock initially which would have happened had I seen them all at once. I am kind of surprised there are still things I hadn't recognized before. One of them, recently, was brought to light as I explained to someone how I was "discipled" when I went home for first visits to my family.

I had a discipler who stuck herself to me like glue (because that was what she was taught by GCx to do). She directed my day to day living without asking. She told me to basically get rid of close friends (especially one who was worried I was in a cult), get rid of a lot of my clothes (which were not immodest - perhaps just too plentiful), get rid of my makeup, and get rid of my secular music all within the first week!

I think she had me move out of my apartment (and in with her and other women in GCX) in less than a month! I spent "umpteen" hours with her; went everywhere with her. The first time I went home after moving in with them, she insisted on going with me. I was naive in assuming it was just for friendship. I spent the night there and so did she. I don't think I had a moment alone with my mom. I can vaguely remember being reproved by her to chose the church over my mom who was none too thrilled with her controlling presence. I can laugh about it now - she even invited herself to my extended family gatherings for quite awhile. Little did I know she was there to buffer any objection of GCx practices by my family. This was all part of their controlling plan to CAGE PEOPLE IN that GCx so heavily modeled and mandated.

The strong believer listening to me describe my first visit home was APPALLED! She couldn't believe the audacity of her intrusion into my private home life and even spending the night there. I absorbed her shocked reaction to this control. I hadn't really processed before how strange and audacious those family visits were, especially to people brought up in normal healthy churches. Former GCx folks, our experience there was far worse than it first appeared when we left. But, God was still with us and planning to use this abuse for his glory LIKE HE DID WITH JOSEPH (and his abusive brothers)!!

Let me also say (with tears) that I also practiced this "director of other's personal lives" relationship (modeled by many there) just as brazenly with other newcomers. I was not sensitive to them as individuals, but only concerned with the success of my keeping them in the GCx church. That was the highest calling for those in GCx, not the care or support of a believer's personal journey with God. It was indeed the number of disciples they could get captive to GCx. Whoa!!