85-1????
?Those who have a critical eye must discipline
themselves in this way so that they do not lie, by injecting
their own opinions, standards, and expectations into what
God is saying, especially about someone else's life. Woe
to those who mix man's opinion with God's word and man's
effort with God's work." Lack of Overweening Self Confidence,
undated, p. 4.
To
get the sense of the teaching as when it was taught (a
good exegetical principle), the sentence preceding it
in the teaching should be included:
We
must respond in love, seeing the needs of others and seeing
their heart, not in reaction against their faults.
85-3????
?Nobody decides to join a cult. They just prolong
the decision to leave." Source unknown.
Well,
it may ultimately be unknown, but the source is Mr. Hassan's
book.
85-5 ???
?... some people have a psychological flaw to control."
Yoneq
does not have it in his nature to control everyone within
his environment. This is the clear testimony of those
who actually know and live with him. We don't sense that
from him at all, that he has some need to control us.
On the contrary, we have always seen him giving tremendous
amounts of liberty to people ? more and more as time goes
on.
85-5????
Messianic Communities, under the leadership of
Spriggs, has tended towards an extreme authoritarianism.
The
authors are not connected to the reality of our life if
they can say that the Communities have tended towards
an extreme authoritarianism. It is just not true. The
very notion is antithetical to our belief and hope in
Yahshua's coming Kingdom. As we go on, responsibility
is being shared by many more people, and Yoneq now functions
kind of like an advisor to people in government. He really
doesn't tell them what to do. You can't get him to tell
people in government what to do. He only makes suggestions
because He knows God's government has to be raised up
on the earth. One man is not the Kingdom. God will not
cooperate with that.
Very
rarely now does he express himself strongly about anything.
He allows us to learn from our mistakes. He allows us
to find out. He acts this way because of the faith he
has in our God's ability to hold it together. We teach
not steadying the cart (1 Chr 13) as Uzzah did. It's the
arm of the flesh. This has been taught from the very beginning.
It is Yoneq's own words and that's what he practices in
his own life.
85-f1???
A short time later Edwards did visit for an afternoon
and commented that ?people looked like they were living
in terror."
It
is funny that Gene Edwards would say this. We used to
go to Quebec City all the time. Not one time ever did
Gene Edwards say anything to Yoneq, Hakam, or anyone else
to the effect that people looked like they lived in terror.
If he did really feel that, he made no effort to try and
help us to understand. The whole thing is a lie on his
part.
86-1????
It is our conclusion that had the Messianic Communities
truly been led by a ?Responsible Ten" who were accountable
to one another and shared in all decision making the group
would be radically different and far less controlling.
This
? the responsible ten ? is exactly what happens
in every single community. It's exactly what Yoneq has
established. There are brothers who work together in every
community. The reality of brothers functioning governmentally
in every community, and tribally in the apostolic workers'
meeting, undoes everything said about a domineering authority.
Their characters, their schedules, and the love they have
for the sheep under their care give them the authority
from God they are to have as elders and the respect of
the people they live with.
86-f2???
And when a person leaves the group, they have not
left the Kingdom of God, having only the ?Lake of Fire"
awaiting them.
We
don't teach that when someone leaves us they have nothing
left but the Lake of Fire awaiting them. This has already
been explained to the authors both personally and in the
preceding pages of the Analysis.
87-1????
Major concerns for Communities members now consist
of the ?correct" name of Jesus, beards, ponytails, Sus
pants, head coverings, complete obedience to authority,
establishing the 12 tribes, dietary restrictions, name
changes, Sabbath keeping, etc. This appears to be Phariseeism.
To
say that these are major concerns is grossly misleading.
It implies that a majority of our conscious effort goes
into ?obeying the rules" in these areas. But most of the
subjects mentioned describe the culture of our
tribal people. These are mostly external details which
give outward expression to our identity as a holy nation
of priests. Our major concern is by loving one another
to earnestly serve our God night and day out of gratitude
for sending His Son. It is He who has made us what we
are, and when by His divine power he gets a twelve-tribed
nation who will be a light to the world, the end of this
age will come.
87-3????
This (Phariseeism) is all managed with the greatest
sincerity."
Many
statements in the Sociological Section and the Conclusion
effectively hedge us and our motives in as evil
just as thoroughly as we allegedly hedge the world and
all critical contact out as evil. This closes the circle
of judgment around us, and makes into totalistic mind-control
any concern of the shepherds for the state of the souls
they will be called to account for one day (Heb 13:7 and
Acts 20:26-28). The effect of such a view is to place
us beyond the pale of human decency. What has happened
to groups placed there in the past makes for grim reading,
however.
87-3????
The devastation in most ex-members lives ...
There
is a great difference between what ex-members have to
say and what people in the Community have to say. The
fruit is going to bear itself out ? it already does. It
would be wise for Mr. Pardon and Ms. Barba to pay attention
to their colleagues and not put so much emphasis on the
interpretation of the people who leave. They had better
judge the fruit, and not forget the love they said they
saw in the beginning. I think that is what the world is
going to see. That's what we are going to strive to demonstrate
wherever we go.
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