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Kimberley Tobin
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« Reply #30 on: December 31, 2003, 08:36:51 pm » |
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...But to say we did'nt Celebrate Christmas is not really true we went Carolling which I always Loved .I was in a few Christmas Plays that were fun, but not great by any means and we took food and misc things to some poor familys ... The only thing missing was the Idol Tree...I remember my Mother asking me why I had to be so Burdened that it is all very simple...(She is a confirmed Lutheran and I thought what do Lutherans know about the things of the Lord) His yoke is Easy , his burden is light....Maybe she was right after all....
This is what the assembly programmed us to believe.......We certainly DIDN'T CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS in the assembly. That is not to say that some of us didn't sneek away to be with our families on this wonderful day, but it was usually done with guilt and for even some, the leadership would make it known that this wasn't pleasing to the Lord. We certainly made it known to those family members that we WEREN'T celebrating the way they chose to......we made ourselves separate. GG was so fond of making the distinction........separating us..........he would say "come out from among them and be ye separate..", remember?  ? I think he forgot how Paul became all things to all men that he might win some, huh? And to really see whether it is different for those who are "out" and celebrating with their family members now, ask your family members how they perceive the change. Many family members don't even have to be asked. My mother cried this year over the change. And we had been "celebrating" (assembly style) with my family for all of my 10 years of married life. |
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summer007
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« Reply #31 on: December 31, 2003, 11:07:12 pm » |
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Hi Kimberly, I'm eating a few words with a fork...I do have to admit it was quite different for single sisters then for parents with children...no stocking, no tree, no gifts, no visits with Santa...it is Sad....I would'nt ask my Family now what they thought because its been almost 18 years and some have passed on and my bro and sis would beat me up for even asking...the strangelhold was there but I still got a nice bonus at work and did the gift exchange and Christmas Party with my "worldly co-workers" I never had the selfers prayer??,or the Garden book or the wheel we did have the heavenly ladder on ps 51...Alot of self-denial and reckoning dead to the point that not much life was left to live....Jesus came to give Life and Life more Abundantly!!! This one took a while to apply...I hope you have a Happy New Year!!!!and remember (this helped me alot) Goodness and Mercy are following You...as the years go on the Lord shows you how he's working All Things for Good...sometimes when all the PROPS (assm structure) are removed and its just the Lord....You'll see how he's protected you or the times he tried to...and things start getting resolved and the light at the end of the tunnel is'nt a train ...its his Glory...but I think its hard at first to let yourself Enjoy .We were so used to being Martyrs for the Assembly ....
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editor
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« Reply #32 on: December 31, 2003, 11:18:47 pm » |
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Hi Kimberly, I'm eating a few words with a fork...I do have to admit it was quite different for single sisters then for parents with children...no stocking, no tree, no gifts, no visits with Santa...it is Sad....I would'nt ask my Family now what they thought because its been almost 18 years and some have passed on and my bro and sis would beat me up for even asking...the strangelhold was there but I still got a nice bonus at work and did the gift exchange and Christmas Party with my "worldly co-workers" I never had the selfers prayer??,or the Garden book or the wheel we did have the heavenly ladder on ps 51...Alot of self-denial and reckoning dead to the point that not much life was left to live....Jesus came to give Life and Life more Abundantly!!! This one took a while to apply...I hope you have a Happy New Year!!!!and remember (this helped me alot) Goodness and Mercy are following You...as the years go on the Lord shows you how he's working All Things for Good...sometimes when all the PROPS (assm structure) are removed and its just the Lord....You'll see how he's protected you or the times he tried to...and things start getting resolved and the light at the end of the tunnel is'nt a train ...its his Glory...but I think its hard at first to let yourself Enjoy .We were so used to being Martyrs for the Assembly ....
I love reading your posts, Summer! I can't agree with you more about how great it is to see how God protected us, even when we were behaving like total A$$es in the Assembly. I notice it in little things. For example, yesterday I Assembled a basketball hoop, which happened to be a Christmas present. No big deal for "normal" people. However, it was our third Christmas as a family----we have been married 18 years----and as such it was a reminder about how different things are now, which caused us to reflect on the past, etc. After assembling the Christmas gift, we 5 neighborhood boys over playing 3 on 3 basketball. Pretty normal stuff, no big deal....but it never happened in the past. Perhaps a few Assembly kids might come over, but not "worldly" kids. These little things often cause me to smile, and make me grateful for freedom. One year ago, things were quite different indeed, for most of the people on this BB. If you haven't done so, go back and skim the Final Weeks section on the main website, and realize how dramatic the changes have been in the last year! God has done great things! Brent PS--have we ever met? |
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Kimberley Tobin
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« Reply #33 on: December 31, 2003, 11:33:42 pm » |
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Summer:
I do enjoy your posts and hope you didn't think I was being hostile in my response to you. The written word (as we've often commented on this BB in the past) is difficult to communicate without facial expression, tone of voice, etc.
I think your experience was quite different back in the early 80' but I think there was still very much wrong with the assembly during those years as well. Having your Baptist past probably enabled you in many ways to have a different experience than others during that time period as well.
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summer007
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« Reply #34 on: January 01, 2004, 03:08:54 am » |
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Kimberly , I did'nt sence any hostility...only truth...i sometimes wonder if the Lords saying oh good they're figuring it out ...I mean how many times do you think abberant christian Groups have risen up over the centuries...Oh I did remember my Dad asking me if I was a JW...now that was hostile....(he taught Jr. high sun school for years) LOL...
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summer007
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« Reply #35 on: January 01, 2004, 03:39:27 am » |
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Brent, No I dont think we ever met ...Although paths might of crossed at my last seminar in aug of '86. Did you ever stay with the Fords??? Nice acommodations and Great hospitality...I think I was in the exit process at the time of your wedding or I probibly would of been invited...BTW my kids have led a few kids to the Lord just in casual settings like the one you described...they rarely miss a youth group and invite friends to Christian Club on Campus..some only go for the Free Lunch but you never know who'll get SAVED I've been surprised a few times...
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editor
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« Reply #36 on: January 01, 2004, 05:18:02 am » |
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Brent, No I dont think we ever met ...Although paths might of crossed at my last seminar in aug of '86. Did you ever stay with the Fords??? Nice acommodations and Great hospitality...I think I was in the exit process at the time of your wedding or I probibly would of been invited...BTW my kids have led a few kids to the Lord just in casual settings like the one you described...they rarely miss a youth group and invite friends to Christian Club on Campus..some only go for the Free Lunch but you never know who'll get SAVED I've been surprised a few times...
If you were in Fullerton or HB during this time, we probably met. I was in Fullerton from fall '85 thru Dec 88. Never missed a seminar until 1999, although I prayed I would be the doorkeeper who was asked to stay back in SLO. The last few seminars we went to we stayed at the Embassy Suites, and missed half the lectures. It was fun, but expensive. Still, it was way better than having to explain to the host family why we were missing a lecture, and didn't go to pre-prayer! HA! Brent |
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Kimberley Tobin
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« Reply #37 on: January 01, 2004, 07:42:31 am » |
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The last few seminars we went to we stayed at the Embassy Suites, and missed half the lectures. It was fun, but expensive. Still, it was way better than having to explain to the host family why we were missing a lecture, and didn't go to pre-prayer! HA!
Brent
That's funny, Brent. The San Fernando Valley saints "had" to start staying in Motels beginning in approximately 1988, and boy was I grateful. Expensive, yes, but the trade-offs were worth every penny. We got to watch t.v., not go to all the lectures, go swimming in the pool, it felt like a mini-vacation. It got to the point towards the end of our involvement that we practically didn't go to any lectures at all!   |
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d3z
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« Reply #38 on: January 01, 2004, 10:16:26 am » |
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One of the last seminars that I went to, I stayed in a nearby hotel. I had a work project that was very critical. Really, the only reason I went at all was because of the interpreting for the Deaf. Although I was personally grateful to miss have of the lectures, I still didn't want to deprive anybody else of those "precious" lectures.
Realistically, I had no business trying to go there. The work project was very important (I think my job might have even been in jeopardy). Soon after, everything came to a head, both work, and in the assembly. I'm grateful now that it happened, but it was certainly one of the most stressful times in my life.
Someone told me recently that Tim G had commented on my working during some of the lectures at the seminar. Something of the effect of "pray for that brother."
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summer007
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« Reply #39 on: January 02, 2004, 01:38:29 am » |
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My heart does go out to you ...Hotels were forbidden when I attended..Guess they had to many people to accomodate...But what I thought of was that even God does'nt trample on our Freewill..isnt amazing that the GG group/movement felt it was OK to do so...
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d3z
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« Reply #40 on: January 02, 2004, 09:12:01 am » |
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I don't believe that the hotel was "allowed" when I went, either. I had already spent at least a year kind of mentally "leaving fellowship." One thing that kept me in for so long was the interpreting for the Deaf. So, at that point in time, I just told the LB that I was staying in a hotel. I didn't ask, because it didn't really matter what he said. I think he could tell that, when I said it, since he didn't even question it.
Interestingly, the LBs never really questioned things about my work. If I had to work through a meeting, they didn't say anything. I still felt guilty, so they didn't have to say anything. In fact, only one younger brother (well, he is older than me, but was less time "in fellowship") did question my moving to this new job. Most of the people in SD were either in college, or didn't really have an idea of what a career was. It was fairly easy to reject the idea of a career "for the Lord", since it wasn't common.
Perhaps the reason I was left alone was because I funded so much of the "work" here. I really don't know, since there isn't a budget to look at.
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jackhutchinson
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« Reply #41 on: January 02, 2004, 12:00:23 pm » |
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Last week in my doctor's office I ran across one of the men who had been part of the SLO assembly. When a nurse asked him what he was doing for Christmas he gave her the full assembly explanation as to why he STILL doesn't celebrate Christmas. He currently attends a very good non-denominational church (as do many of the former assembly members). I'm sure they even have a nice big Christmas tree in the front of this church, but he still hangs on to the indoctrination of the assembly. Before I left the doctor's office I wished everyone a Merry Christmas!
I remember when people used to ask me the same question I would just say that I was just going to enjoy the day hanging out with my friends (which was true since we often had fellowhsips and did cool things). I never did like explaining the issue.
2004 is my first non-assembly year. Happy New Year!!!!
Jack
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al Hartman
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« Reply #42 on: January 03, 2004, 08:58:14 pm » |
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Last week in my doctor's office I ran across one of the men who had been part of the SLO assembly. When a nurse asked him what he was doing for Christmas he gave her the full assembly explanation as to why he STILL doesn't celebrate Christmas. He currently attends a very good non-denominational church (as do many of the former assembly members). I'm sure they even have a nice big Christmas tree in the front of this church, but he still hangs on to the indoctrination of the assembly... There's a fair chance that in "He currently attends a very good non-denominational church (as do many of the former assembly members)," attends translates to infiltrates.al |
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al Hartman
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« Reply #43 on: December 11, 2004, 06:43:30 am » |
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Christmas by itself is no gospel. For the good news is not just that God became man. Rather, the good news is that sin has been dealt with; that Jesus has suffered its penalty for us as our representative, so that we might never have to suffer it.
Any gospel that talks merely of the Christ-event, meaning the incarnation without the atonement, is a false gospel. Any gospel that talks about the love of God without pointing out that his love led Him to pay the ultimate price for sin in the person of his Son on the cross is a false gospel. The only true gospel is of "the one mediator" (1 Tim. 2:5-6), who gave himself for us.
--James Montgomery Boice
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Mark Kisla
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« Reply #44 on: December 12, 2004, 06:41:57 am » |
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Took the kids to see The Polar Express, the animation was incredible, very entertaining.
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