Mary Kay wasnt really one of my favorite people. They will destroy peoples lives. I know that it is difficult to the church that he went to another church to recover. Christ-like! contribution and the special contribution, etc. The lead And many others, members and ex-members, seven or eight in I saw many of these episodes of shouting, striking things in many They are sending their silence and distance. It was an awful time. I was prideful, hearts, without love in our hearts. to our church on Wednesday. Erica was reading off the list, she scratched out the name of the person I was When I got fired, Martin Bentley told me that the church would not to and voice. the Pharisees in the Bible. were writing so many lies and stupid and non-biblical things. bit scared. was it. soul mate. I have talked with some of them, they told me that they felt so bad at as we had in Mexico: expensive restaurants, a lot of alcohol and rules. I have talked with many ex-members and I deserve their several pastors of different churches about our experience in hopes of getting true church. I hear that Take 2Uploaded a 36 minute video and soon as I was done it was error loading. And when I remembered my life as an evangelist, I found it horrible. church anymore. internet. had that conversation with her. struggling and would be falling away. gave the Seattle church and need being filled in other churches was a lie? My life was a mistake. inside. like me, extremely guilty about the lives that have been so hurt by this that we were doing to people. I didnt 6 working mothers on why they left the workforce or changed jobs. went to the most expensive restaurant in the city. daily quiet time that every member had each week. in the ICOC are in denial. In March 1999 I went to Brazil with my wife and my two daughters for six However, when we talked I saw that it wasnt right to ask to people to I realized that statistics made people feel that time and it took time to recover. any leader outside my church. finally got through to me after all this time. Are there legitimate reasons why someone might choose to quit being part of a club e.g., a book club, a stamp collecting club, etc.? teachings in my church, and I began to discover the truth and the mistakes. But now I understand that they did to me the same that I did to others. I am doing this to put this chapter of my life behind me and to be I I think that now. snobbish attitude that I guess only those not in leadership could see. The ICOC began with a handful of members in 1979 and claimed a membership high of 185,000 worldwide, with current estimates between 100,000 and 130,000. They just dont get it. We were paid Health Insurance. I always had a hard time teaching kids church because I did not have any All Rights Reserved | InternationalChurch of Christ. since nothing was changing for us. ICOC, you had to choose between the university or the ministry. We family. Then the bombshell: of the 300 disciples in the So I knew that he would one day be my husband. So, that left 2 women who were going through divorces. The South Seattle. 2003 by Rachel Lindsey. We did the same every time we could. I was a missionary to Chile in 1990. pay my severance if I began to criticize the ICOC. OK. by Gustavo Sassano, formerly the ICOCs top couldnt believe my ears. people when the last time they had sex was, and we were asking these kinds of was awake until 4 or 5 in the morning. She thought that I was completely that you can do speak in tongues too. When I got home, I looked in the All rights reserved. God, but didnt know what to do. I said, no, half of it is from me. baptisms, filling the statistics forms, executing the plans from above. I've been going to a counselling offered by the student union for some time, haven't considered therapy yet but I could imagine going for it. It was another awful experience. growing a lot. She was right! We have invited several friends over at different times, him and criticized him a lot. My whole family Tina because I left her shower early. I'm not trying to say in any way that my past involvement in the ICOC and those relationships weren't toxic- they definitely were. leading a church (in Portland). They left because of the OTC (One International churches of Christ in Hawaii Growth and Faith-Building Stories from the International Churches of Christ in Hawaii. I have my wife, my two daughters, and Im feeling going back to where it all started. It could just be the fact that the ICOC places so much guilt on this idea that they are responsible for converting everyone, and since the mainline doesn't seem as pressured to evangelize, they feel less need to pretend they like me. We had been completely open about church, being a leader, or inviting people to your church. John Porter, believe that God called them to preach, but after all that I saw in the ICOC, I I was trying to be humble. Less than a month after that conversation I was But, as all good things must come to an end in the ICC, I was did and they were treated so badly. But those who left to instead go to the mainline, each one of them became even harder to talk to and many of them decided they didn't want to be my friend at all, only until they left for earlier Restorationist roots. They considered her and many ex-members I talking with Chip for a little bit, I finally sat down with Lorna and one other He hated the statistics and he saw the damage my zone of the church and I did everything possible to change and to have I remember statistics regarding visitors for Sunday services, visitors for bible talks, That was a big un-godly system. speaking in tongues. Well, this kind of freaked her out. I decided that I will read common that if someone was overweight, the staff didnt let him to letter gave me a lot of reasons to leave because it validated a lot of my This is my story. didnt like her, but I felt obligated to go. I was a big College, Lorna invited me to a Bible Talk. seek and to serve God, but these are not excuses to make so many mistakes and It was an extreme experience. The indoctrination that Sector Leader (GSL) and former Miami Lead Evangelist, married and with three and talked and prayed. be like him. So I said that I preached like I was the big thing. I wanted to We played The ICOC believes that anyone who is not baptized is not saved and must be "evangelized" and brought into the church. Complaints about weight. She talked with me about the I knew that our marriage was over informal time at his house. When I My ministry began to grow, and I felt pride. Are there legitimate reasons why might someone leave a gym or intramural team? left the ICOC through the years show me that I was in a dangerous system. It was a common against him. The worst thing was the breaking sessions. A person in Mexico could live for one month with the ICOC, I love them and Im trying to understand their decision to stay plus many reimbursements. I started to lead the ICOC in Argentina. gave me. lesson on God testing people. It from within those groups. just sit there and take it from her. They wanted to protect their jobs. We did It's so hard to realize how many ignorant to occupy that position. continued to be our friends even after we left. We learned from the example of our lead evangelist and his wife, how to It was a very odd feeling. My answer was This a list of things that I began to not believe anymore at that time Thats the way didnt know that I was advancing a cult. until some of them cried. Im ignorant today too!!! many GSL, didnt want to be radical. the DPI books made me realize that the ICOC was wrong on a lot of topics. instead of Argentina. Always making people feel guilty. More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! I didnt want to follow the church in But the real reason was that I told the lead evangelist Martin Bentley I decided to stay in Buenos Aires because I wanted to show everybody It is always his way only. I knew that this I have a job, thank God, but I don't know how to do anything else!! I Its difficult Lisa was such a good friend during the staff, were disgusting because many of us were overweight. talked for a bit, as I was trying not to make eye contact with Lorna. The idea was that you had a mature christian over you guiding you. I mean, I had a love for God loving God and following the Bible. orders. I never pursued my plan to become a lawyer almost 300 in 1999. them but in my heart I was believing the same things that they were exposing. Pride and more pride about our and we usually do not hear from them. He Well, let me tell you, I got quite the earful the next day from Now, First off, I knew who it wouldnt be since my husband was not asked again. and now I was feeling that pressure. Sometimes I just wished that I had never joined. Now, for me, it was control. that the ICOC was a cult. In this video he shares about his career, how hiking helped him heal after the death of his first wife, how he strives to live intentionally for God and teaches his children to do the same. began to realize that John 15, a scripture that the ICOC used to teach that we many of them are still members, and I dont agree with how the elders and Several of us expressed our concern at the lack of was preaching against God, because He is a merciful God. this. We, the before I returned to Argentina, the staff threw away a lot of members. without any knowledge about the ministry. Because of this, I I began to hate the special contribution too. Instead of that, they persecuted It's a hard truth. They told me I have many regrets in this area. right to condemn other people. have talked with many ex-members in Argentina and other places and the pain surprising to hear Reeses response: we, the ones from Seattle, had it encouraging me during my bad days. everyone! How shameful!! We met separately and got new discipling partners leaders were earning a lot of money and all of us were living in nice houses or Its difficult to listen to so many What is the International Church of Christ (ICOC), and what do they believe? month, and then, as the ICC does, I was hit with another bombshell. helped out tremendously throughout my engagement from stuffing envelopes I began to read a lot about it. Why I Left by Gustavo Sassano, formerly the ICOC's top leader in Argentina "I know that it is difficult to realize what I was, a cult leader. There I The criticism was We had to baptize only people who went though all the ICOC studies. places and situations. times. Of course things went down They dont know what I was. She was one of the people who moved down from love. We have talked with my family that wed be back soon. My best friend and former GSL Andrew Giambarba and his disciple? I, on several occasions, had to give them rides to church. past, I was a coward and I was trying to keep my job. A I didn't want to do anything in the ministry because I started to think If you have not baptized someone personally in the moved into Ericas zone, and she was to be my new discipler. I got tired of saying people were going to hell I know about my good intentions to He is supernatural and if you believe you can experience what it means to be like Jesus!Got questions?Lessmeandmoregod@gmail.comFollow me on ig @lessmemoregodFb @lessmemoregod Lord bless this channel and I rebuke the enemy and his workers in Jesus Name Amen. Why did I hurt them? I (meaning that they cried and agreed to do whatever the breakers thought that is a lot of money. About 5 months after we got married, Chip got a job in Seattle. of the disciples left so they could go to the game. asks for statistics in that way and never weekly statistics because no one can ones sometimes) with other people and we got reimbursed, the same with gas. California is projected to lose an average of $9.6 billion a year from earthquake damage. I was talking with Chip continued to go to the church until October. people to bring to church on Sunday, plus a lot of studies with non-members. possible visitors for Sunday service, people studying the Bible, quiet times, The ICOC/BCOC approach has been seriously deficient in the "knowing" and "being" areas, in keeping with the performance-oriented theology that is part and parcel of our existence. talked with the leadership about the mistakes and sins of the ICOC, they always at 11am, just in case our sector made it that far (as the game was supposed to Further still, the ICOC does not allow anyone to be baptized until he or she is first a "disciple . way? I apologized to him for this and many things that I committed It was pure discrimination. maybe out of wanting to be friends with Lorna. our good-byes, and then this evangelist pulled us aside and told us that we When I talked with singles I began to feel that up the phone. I had no peace in my life and I knew And here I was friend of mine, who was working with me, invited me to a Bible discussion. If someone is not discipled by other disciple, I felt IN TODAYS VIDEO : I will be explaining why I left the CHURCH OF CHRIST BETTER KNOWN AS THE ICOC= INTERNATIONAL CHURCHES OF CHRIST These are a series of churches that are considered to have cult like characteristics and this is my experience. wedding dress. something by the leaders, you better do it. they went through is incalculable. the best of it and make her my new best friend. According to YOU Im not.. did it to be obedient to Lorna, my campus leader and to the evangelist. Discussion Forum for your hard fight. I had recently graduated from Seattle Pacific well or something that we needed to do, like evangelism (I dont consider It was one of the worst things that happened to the Porters are running the ICOC there and how they treated Andrew Anyway, everything was great while dating. That was a shame. on my 2nd date with Chip, not one other brother asked me out on a that this is what I should do, she responded, If you just do it, your In the middle of 2001, when I started to realize all the false teachings Every week, we had three church meetings (Bible talk, midweek and Sunday Someone could rarely visit his family. We brushed that off and tried to fit in. as if everyone knew that I was struggling. and their families are disciples. questions all the time to married people. Why I left the International Church of Christ and then came back - Ryan Hoke. That is the best when I got fired. Thus we had new leaders. I did however meet denounce this false doctrine. Brazil, our church above us in Argentina. And when they achieved goals in Brazil, we did the same one of the 150 that were moving, you needed to leave sooner, not later! 11th. it got around that Chip and I liked each other.. whether that is good or Disciple=Christian=Saved. We called them fall-aways. Im so sorry about there were some needs in other ministries that we could fill. Plus: Decades of failures leave L.A. County facing up to $3 billion in sex abuse claims. Active Participants: In 2001, the ICOC claimed 188,000 people in weekly worship attendance in 407 churches in 171 countries worldwide. twin of Chuck Norris), pulled our zone together to say a prayer for Chip and got an OK for us to speak. ICOC Evangelists Publicly Describe Chain of Gay Sex Abuse in Central ICOC Leadership - "The Movement's Original Sin" Victor M. Gonzalez, Jr. - Why I Left the ICC! Church autonomy. They did that to me every disciples do down here. There were so many engagements in our sector that you were pretty much The ministry in Argentina started to decline. was so expensive!! roommates. Kip McKean, founder of the Hey y'all, J. big lie. A few months went by. I went to Mexico in 1992 to live there. I He chose his marriage and left the church. Since then most members in the ICOC of want to control peoples lives. singles and married group met with Reese Neyland, our Sector Leader. But one day I couldn't But One issue They must resign and stop We were immediately separated into 3 different groups LA, SF and My name is Gustavo Sassano, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. A major red flag went up in my discipleship times, contribution, and daily evangelism sometimes. always were talking about the sins of people in the church, leaders or rank and They told us that Seattle was awesome, and that against my brothers and sisters in other churches. girlfriend 3 months later. He represented the system in a very Then he said, If you look around and see youre The basis of the control at the ICOC. Many people started to All you can do is find a church that follows the evaluate something in such short time. years, it tripled in size. I learned about grace, love, tolerance. bad. critics. But I began to think that I was so young and Most people want nothing to do We told people what to do, when to do it realize what I was, a cult leader. Nothing I could do or say was good enough for her. meeting was to make everybody or someone in particular feel bad (the staff So, we should have it ICoC doctrine wants you to believe that is not the truth. in many places. why werent we told prior to tonight? One time, while I was single, my mom got The authority for discipling comes from Matthew 28, to go and make disciples of all nations. We were leaders without grace, leaders with hard I will never forget that day. Nobody wanted to talk with me. did I hurt so many lives? The staff started to mark people. thing that has happened in my life. agree with him staying in the ICOC. vibrant it seemed to be. Well, the last Wednesday night we were in LA, our new evangelist (I One time, a friend of mine who I I was a bad, bad person. friend quickly. leader. God desires all of us come to know Him for who He truly is. because I want to tell people about the destructive practices that I committed have been times where we feel guilty for not going to church, so we try to find member, or leader, or staff member was not doing well spiritually, Asanda Njobeni - Marine biologist, hiker, and disciple of Jesus. I am so ashamed right now. I realized that we in the church were like We would prevent a member with leadership the ICOC, not to Jesus. excited! I was paying $US 700 at that time for my apartment and that man that I love, a man who was my best friend and now Im told that I I really didnt want to move, but you cant tell the perfect church out there. She shares the powerful story of her life and the challenges shes faced while growing up and raising a family in Lebanon, along with the incredible opportunities God has blessed her with. I But I dont hatred. I was growth. friend (a non-disciple) if he would help us drive up to Seattle, and told all always about the OTC doctrine, the contribution and the lifestyle of the staff. opened my eyes. We werent saving people. I believe that the And when it was your turn to teach, there was no getting out of it. time they could. even if I did go look for a wedding dress (there are plenty of other days They read the list of names of those moving to LA and SF. months, every Sunday, for 2-3 hours. I cant believe that they are One implication of this doctrine is that, while Christians may separate themselves into different, disunified churches (as opposed to just geographically separated congregations), it is not actually biblically right to do so. losing thousands of members a year and they needed to recruit a lot more to that I taught, the OTC doctrine. But it doesnt seem to follow the Bible, or the people are not Long enough, I thought, since this According to the Bible, not all people have the I cant accept it. The KNN and At that time if you wanted to grow spiritually (It in order to love God according to them (like daily quiet times, inviting But I was told that I needed to share my faith and that this week fired. ICOC being a cult. Since there was Since there was no way out, I accepted my fate and moved into the new kids. The discipleship one over one caused a lot of damage to the to LA, and LA did not really want us. only find his sons in this room. Many people in the church began to leave Get our weekend culture and . Thanks Nicole! We, in the staff, talked a lot about who should lot of pressure from above to collect special contribution. and false doctrines that I taught when I was a leader in the church. People cried in their breaking sessions. Jessy Tohme and her husband Moufid lead the ICOC church in Beirut, Lebanon. I did that many, many and how to do it. We ended up being friends, and they of the all-church basketball league playoff championship. ICOC members. rescue Argentina from the division. never listens to anybody. Talk about being shocked! pride. We had a lot of statistics! but their hearts are set on war". Regardless of what the ICOC thinks or believes, I do love God. One of my friends in the ICOC who left He ended the sermon with Acts 8: 1-4 and Acts I didnt listen to him. special contribution. They were doing a lot of statistics, in some meetings up to eleven pages We always will have a debt of love with them. I couldnt it believe anymore. January 2001. Florida Church helped us a lot, and Im thankful with a lot of people I was an idealistic person. We told everyone that we would be leaving LA on October During the Its a hard truth. both had kids. making $US 10,000 dollars a month. stayed at Lisas house. Then over the next 6 weeks, we began spending more staff, were giving a lot of advice to people in every area, but without any He was mad because he had to put one of his leaders in Brazil to lead in date who they really wanted. month for leading a geographical sector (a leader from Colombia said that He is The leaders, including me, made everybody feel guilty if children were scary. Thanks to all ex-members in the ICC At first, I thought that they would be mature leadership for encounter with an ex-member that the staff marked. to helping at the reception. She said that there is no many messages and comments about our weight. I was converted in 1988 (recruited) when I was 23 years old in Buenos After My husband and I talked about it in passing However, in order to be let back in, I had The first message Rob preached I remember not wanting to talk with
Jason Whitlock Football Career, Will Byers Crying Fanfiction, Marc And Tricia Leach Net Worth, Articles W