God is Great but the Church is Awful-Part 3

People change and things do get better if you have faith and keep pressing forward. That’s the  big moral of this story. One you’ll hear over and over.

What’s important to remember here is that the church I’m talking about is not the same as it was back then. They’ve come a long long way under their new leadership. So if anyone in the Albany NY area thinks they might know where I’m talking about please keep in mind there’s been a ton of changes since I left.

Back in the day I was way too idealistic.  All that time in the cult church clouded my thinking.

Mind you some idealism is good.  It can give you vision and a sense of purpose.  Too much however can set you up for a big downfall.  Everyone on this side of paradice is still a work in progress.  They’re going to make mistakes.  No matter what cause they believe in.

Meanwhile I was still single and very much unattached.  Issues that should have been dealt with long ago were still a big part of my life even into my 30’s.

That made me a charter member of the nerd club, AKA our church singles group.  We were also known as the guys with serious social issues never gonna get married club.  You see all the eligible guys and gals escaped long before then, leaving the “Singles” group with a bunch of elderly widows and dorky 20 something guys.

Of course it didn’t help that the pastor and assistant pastor squandered a big portion of the churches’ building fund forcing one of the elders to take over.  This guy was a big visionary with lots of great ideas but he was also very dominating.  One by one every elder under him wound up leaving.  Eventually he had to leave too after his family had some big issues to deal with.

However that’s when things turned a corner for that church.  They’re now a thriving satellite church with lots of successful programs

I on the other hand had left long before then.  The nurd club thing had really got to me.  It was time to leave my idealistic bubble and enter the real world.

-to be continued

God is Great but the Church is Awful Part2-Cult Land!

I got saved at a Campus Life meeting right after my high school graduation. And then it wasn’t until I went away to college that I found a real bible believing church.

After school finally ended and I had to return home for good I discovered that for me at least it was easier finding a real job than it was finding a good church.

When I finally found something that looked like the one I went to back at school that one turned out to be a cult.

Of course it’s not like they had a sign on the door,

“We’re a cult suckers welcome.”

It was more like,

“We’re the only one’s who know what’s really wrong with the world and the church so stick with us if you want to be one of God‘s favorites.”

And,

“Don’t criticize our leaders or say anything bad about us or God will get you where it counts.”

Not that people should go around dicing their pastor all the time but there is a balance.  There is a right way to question leadership.  However when it reaches paranoia of pathological proportions because everyone’s afraid to say anything critical it’s time to leave. You’re in cult land.

It’s especially true when a church is drifting further and further from sound biblical doctrine. They seemed to make up stuff as they went along.

But by the time I started seeing the warning signs it was already too late.  I had fallen victim to the lie and the emotional chords were around me.

Cults can come in all shapes and sizes.  Some like this church may only consist of one or two fellowships.

The thing about this group was how  they made me feel special and needed at a time when I was desperate for that.  I may have had a real job but it wasn’t a very fulfilling one.  And with a very low self esteem to begin with this place gave me a major boost.

This church wasn’t evil.  They were a victim of their own ignorance.  They were trying to undo what’s wrong with mainstream churchianity in America today.

But the solution isn’t to cut yourself off from the main vine.  Especially if you look and wait long enough you’ll find people working in the system trying to fix the same issues you’re running from.

As for me when I realized at last that I could no longer stand how closed of a group they were I moved away to get away from them.

The trouble was I was now about to be exposed to the ills they were shielding me from.  Not only that but there were lots of areas in my personal life that never got dealt with while I was in the cult.

All that was about to come crashing in on me.  You see, it took ten years to get me out of the cult, and another twenty years to get the cult out of me.

So how about you?

Were you ever in a cult?

Did it ever feel like the ground would swallow you up if you ever said,

“That group is a cult!”

Go to Part 3