Who Really Knows God's Will for You?

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[anonymoustoday]

In the past we talked about how GC elders always say they know God's will for you.  They used to say they could make decisions for you, and could even pick your marriage partner for you because they have a pipeline to God.  Below is blog series that busts that myth wide open.

Introduction to blog series Knowing God’s Will in Advance found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/724889918/knowing-god%e2%80%99s-will-in-advance-the-have%e2%80%99s-and-the-have-not%e2%80%99s/
 
Part 1: What is God’s Will? found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/725362990/part-1-knowing-god%e2%80%99s-will--what-is-god%e2%80%99s-will/
 
Part 2: Knowing God’s Will--A Detailed Personalized Plan? found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/725674089/part-2-knowing-god%e2%80%99s-will--a-detailed-personalized-plan/
 
Part 3: God, Show Me the Right Decision to Make found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/726376151/part-3-god-show-me-the-right-decision-to-make/
 
Part 4: Testing God, Seeking Signs, and Asking Questions found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/726506976/part-4-testing-god-seeking-signs-and-asking-questions/
 
Part 5: Elijah’s Experience with a Gentle Breeze and Hearing Voices found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/726590971/part-5-elijah%e2%80%99s-experience-with-a-gentle-breeze-and-hearing-voices/
 
Part 6: Continued--Elijah’s Experience with a Gentle Breeze and Hearing Voices found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/726870087/part-6-continued--elijah%e2%80%99s-experience-with-a-gentle-breeze-and-hearing-voices/
 
Part 7: Why God Spoke in a Quieter Voice to Elijah found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/727029243/part-7-why-god-spoke-in-a-quieter-voice-to-elijah/
 
Part 8: When Humanity Stopped Hearing God’s Voice found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/727190121/part-8-when-humanity-stopped-hearing-god%e2%80%99s-voice/
 
Part 9: Misinterpreted “Prophetic” Words and Inerrancy found here:  http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/728727399/part-9-misinterpreted-%e2%80%9cprophetic%e2%80%9d-words-and-inerrancy/
 
Part 10: The Conscience--Is it God’s Voice? found here: http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/728813087/part-10-the-conscience--is-it-god%e2%80%99s-voice/
 
Part 11: God Asks, “What ‘Word from the Lord’ Did You Get?” found here:  http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/728825782/part-11-god-asks-%e2%80%9cwhat-%e2%80%98word-from-the-lord%e2%80%99-did-you-get%e2%80%9d/
 
Part 12:  Common Arguments in Favor of Hearing an Unspoken Voice of God found here:  http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/728896223/part-12--common-arguments-in-favor-of-hearing-an-unspoken-voice-of-god/

Part 13: God Changes Humankind found here:  http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/728914866/part-13-god-changes-humankind/ 

[Huldah]

Thanks for those links. I'm looking forward to reading them when I have time.

After I had been at GC for a couple of months, I started wondering whether or not I should drop out of school like most of my GC friends had done. I mentioned to the wife of one of the deacons that I wanted to get counsel from one of the elders. She agreed that it was a good idea, but she also suggested I talk to her husband the deacon, "...because he knows you."

Later she apologized for that remark. After all these years I don't remember her exact words, but the gist was that she had wrongly undermined the elders' authority. The elders, after all, didn't need to know me or anything about me in order to influence one of the most important decisions of my life. God would simply give them the answer because they were His delegated authority.

It still surprises me that I bought into that, because it was so obviously wrong on so many levels.

[G_Prince]

That is the catch isn't it. "God has a will for your life, and it is awesome! ...However if you want to figure it out you had better get a LOT of cousnel."

[jaywalker]

Good blog links!

I don't know if this one applies to GC leaders or not 'cause they all only claimed to be prophets for a few years during the early '80s.    But I still think they think they are prophets:

“How long will you keep listening to these false prophets?  They have been deceived by their own sick hearts; that is where the words come from that they speak.”    -- Jeremiah 23:26 parpaphrase from blog http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/729012008/jeremiah-23---prophecies-of-imagination/

[MidnightRider]

In the past we talked about how GC elders always say they know God's will for you.  They used to say they could make decisions for you, and could even pick your marriage partner for you because they have a pipeline to God. 

In GCx, the view is (was?) that God's will is to reach the world with the gospel in this generation. So God's will for your life is to reach the most people possible.

So counseling was often not a matter of understanding your situation or even having some mystic insight. It was just a matter of calculation. Can you reach more people if drop out of college than if you stay in? If yes, then drop out.

Why did it take me 5 years to see what was going on? 

[EverAStudent]

I think Midnight is right that the overarching meaning of "God's will" for GCx was "every nation in our generation." 

However, in our church the elders really seemed to think they had an ear to God's lips and could tell others what was "best" for their lives.  One elder even wrote a paper in which he called the congregation stupid sheep who needed his patoral gift to guide them in daily decisions so that they could receive God's will.  They really did tell people who to marry.  Of course, they did not much like being told by JM what God's will was for their lives, but that is a different story.

From what I have heard, many of the GCx churches were populated with mystic elders who gave the impression that God spoke to them about His secret will for the lives of the individual congregation members. 

[ANobody]

"The elders, after all, didn't need to know me or anything about me in order to influence one of the most important decisions of my life. God would simply give them the answer because they were His delegated authority."

oh yeh, i heard that alot when i was in there

makes me dizzy when i think how dumb i was

hey, doesnt the pope say the same thing, that god tells him the right teachings for the church and what to do with the church?  are gc elders popes?

[newcreature]

In GCx, the view is (was?) that God's will is to reach the world with the gospel in this generation. So God's will for your life is to reach the most people possible.

I wonder how that's working out for them? After all, aren't they the only Christians with real apostles who are serious about reaching people for Christ? The rest of us are mere apostates who are just playing church, right?

Isn't a generation about 40 years? Let's see: 2010 - 1970 = 40.

Weren't they supposed to double every year by "each one reach one" based on II Timothy 2:2?

Therefore, just starting with Jim and Dennis in 1970: 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776 ~ 1 trillion.

Hmmmm...

They should have reached a trillion people by now according to "God's Will" for their lives! At the very least, in 2003 they should have easily reached the current population of 6 or 7 billion people (2^33 = 8,589,934,592 ~ 8.6 billion).

They should be sipping holy water and resting on their laurels by now. After all, according to Jim, et al, back then, "Coca-Cola reaches more people for a quarter than Christians do for Christ!" Shouldn't they have finished the job by now?

Hmmmm...

I wonder where the breakdown could possibly be? Why haven't they accomplished "God's Will" for their lives? Maybe it's inflation. Coke costs more now.

C'est la vie.

[ANobody]

I wonder how that's working out for them? After all, aren't they the only Christians with real apostles who are serious about reaching people for Christ? The rest of us are mere apostates who are just playing church, right?
Isn't a generation about 40 years? Let's see: 2010 - 1970 = 40.
Weren't they supposed to double every year by "each one reach one" based on II Timothy 2:2?
Therefore, just starting with Jim and Dennis in 1970: 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776 ~ 1 trillion.

They should have reached a trillion people by now according to "God's Will" for their lives! At the very least, in 2003 they should have easily reached the current population of 6 or 7 billion people (2^33 = 8,589,934,592 ~ 8.6 billion).

They should be sipping holy water and resting on their laurels by now. After all, according to Jim, et al, back then, "Coca-Cola reaches more people for a quarter than Christians do for Christ!" Shouldn't they have finished the job by now?
I wonder where the breakdown could possibly be? Why haven't they accomplished "God's Will" for their lives? Maybe it's inflation. Coke costs more now.

lol  thing is, jim does seem to be resting on his, ummm... did you call them laurels?...now    lol

[anonymoustoday]

Apparently there is a follow-up to the above blog series here:  http://craigwbooth.xanga.com/729221241/%e2%80%9cif-you-had-been-here--health-wealth-and-prosperity-mysticism-in-jesus%e2%80%99-day/

I think it makes a good point, but it sounds too similar to what some GCx folks used to say, so it makes me feel a bit uneasy.