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so new	testimonies	Lead	[-]
Posts: 80 (06/13/08 18:11:55) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None i just visited a church that had people stand up and tell how the lord is working in their lives. these stories have not changed in 20 years they are insane interpretation of events to fit the audience they are with at the time with the pastor smiling and says "god sure is great and mighty, amen" i can bearly follow the line of thought in these stories they are so nuts claiming god did this and god did that and if you don't agee you are not a christian i really feel tense listening to these stories because i want to knock the guys block off who is speaking yet i want to be emotionally supportive,
scribe2007		#1	[-]
Posts: 757 (06/13/08 22:18:37) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	so new wrote: i really feel tense listening to these stories because i want to knock the guys block off who is speaking yet i want to be emotionally supportive, Gee, so new... I'd be wanting to be emotionally supportive of myself in that situation, and run as fast as I could outta there!
SilentKnight12		#2	[-]
Posts: 510 (06/14/08 00:10:46) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Ever notice how many "testamonies" are rather racy in nature? It's like the more filth they were in the better the audience likes it. Somehow, I think making ones past into an evangelical peep show defeats the entire purpose of the excercise. There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live.
Taco Fred		#3	[-]
Posts: 821 (06/14/08 01:32:18) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	They also love to talk about great "healings" within their lives. A prime example is a lady my family knows was diagnosed with cancer about 18 months ago. This past November, her pastor had her up in front of the church talking about how "The Great Physician" had healed her. However, this past week her doctor gave her a couple of weeks to live. That is so sad. She was exploited in front of the church for a holy-rolling celebration. This was just off of one positive report from how the chemotherapy was working. They did not look at the big picture that she had many more treatments to go. She and her husband have young children who were taught that gawd will heal. They thought their Mom was healed but now have a very rude awakening.
tylerd		#4	[-]
Posts: 50 (06/14/08 08:10:38) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	In cults--not saying this is a cult--this re-interpretation of one's life history is essential. You basically re-define your entire life through the prism of the sects beliefs and it makes your attachment to the group much deeper. Or as one cult site says-- In some groups, a standard part of every get-together or church service is a session where people "testify", or "witness", or "share", and tell stories of what wonderful things the cult has done for them. That helps to both indoctrinate the newcomers and strengthen the "faith" of the current members. In some groups, members graduate from beginner status to regular membership when they can stand up before the whole group and recite an acceptable speech about the wonderful benefits they have gotten from belonging to the cult.
SilentKnight12		#5	[-]
Posts: 511 (06/14/08 08:25:45) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Or, in the SK version: Perception is everything. Change their perception, and their view of the Universe changes with it. Is that pretty much it? There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live. Last Edited By: SilentKnight12 06/14/08 08:28:02. Edited 1 times.
DeerF		#6	[-]
Posts: 478 (06/14/08 11:16:57) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	This may really irritate some here, but inspite of my disdain for the testimonies recited in the that church (often word-for-word the same everytime, with the voice inflections in just the same "right" place, with the mandatory praise for that church -- by name), I have experienced (not faith-healing, not their healing) but healing. My disdain for the testimonial adoration for the churches does not change this. However, in my last testimony in that church, I did a test. Maybe I mentioned it before here. But I first praised G-d for things, then I praised the church. When I praised the church, the "amen"s were far stronger, more animated. Satisfied that my experiment proved what I had been thinking, but disappointed that it had, I sat down and never testified again there. FreeBee
tylerd		#7	[-]
Posts: 51 (06/14/08 13:37:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Yeah, Silentkinght, that's it I think. You're self-perception gets so mingled with the sects, it's much harder to seperate the two. So many people stay with these groups even after they start to see the cracks because their identity depends on it. Leaving would literally destroy their world. If you change what people are allowed to say--even if simply by approving of certain things they say more than others--you can change the way they behave. Influence their behavior and you influence the way they think. Do both and you've got them. As DeerF illustrates, the pressure to conform your story can be as subtle as praising someone slightly more for required behavior. Who doesn't want to be liked? Last Edited By: tylerd 06/14/08 13:56:08. Edited 1 times.
wario2006		#8	[-]
Posts: 225 (06/14/08 15:15:05) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Taco Fred wrote: They also love to talk about great "healings" within their lives. A prime example is a lady my family knows was diagnosed with cancer about 18 months ago. This past November, her pastor had her up in front of the church talking about how "The Great Physician" had healed her. However, this past week her doctor gave her a couple of weeks to live. That is so sad. She was exploited in front of the church for a holy-rolling celebration. This was just off of one positive report from how the chemotherapy was working. They did not look at the big picture that she had many more treatments to go. She and her husband have young children who were taught that gawd will heal. They thought their Mom was healed but now have a very rude awakening. That's what happened to my aunt back in 2000. The chemo was working, and the pastor got everyone in an orgy of "amen"s and "hallelujah"s when he declared her cancer free. She died a month or so later. I think this began my realizing that Pentecostalism is a fraudulent sham.
Taco Fred		#9	[-]
Posts: 826 (06/14/08 17:01:01) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	wario2006 wrote: She died a month or so later. I think this began my realizing that Pentecostalism is a fraudulent sham. Sorry to hear about your aunt. The healings that never happened were what got me to start drifting away also
johny2001		#10	[-]
Posts: 542 (06/15/08 15:14:44) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	For me, my miracles have been just what I needed, when I needed them, right at the very time I needed them, and brought by just the right people. From times of economic uncertainty, all the way up to Hurricane Katrina, I can't help but think that God got involved through various ways in helping me not only through that crisis, but in certain others in my life.
lozza		#11	[-]
Posts: 2764 (06/16/08 00:20:59) Musical Mantric Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	They also love to talk about great "healings" within their lives. A prime example is a lady my family knows was diagnosed with cancer about 18 months ago. This past November, her pastor had her up in front of the church talking about how "The Great Physician" had healed her. However, this past week her doctor gave her a couple of weeks to live. That is so sad. She was exploited in front of the church for a holy-rolling celebration. This was just off of one positive report from how the chemotherapy was working. They did not look at the big picture that she had many more treatments to go. She and her husband have young children who were taught that gawd will heal. They thought their Mom was healed but now have a very rude awakening. It sounds awful. I wonder how people can stay in groups like these. On a lesser note, I saw a girl attempt to walk without crutches while the congregation shouted and cheered. Eventually, her legs gave way and she fell. As she sat on the floor, she started to praise with her hands in the air. I couldn't understand how anyone would want to praise after going through such a humiliating experience. The congregation seemed to lap it all up, but I was furious, of course.
Taco Fred		#12	[-]
Posts: 831 (06/16/08 01:43:18) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	lozza wrote: On a lesser note, I saw a girl attempt to walk without crutches while the congregation shouted and cheered. Eventually, her legs gave way and she fell. As she sat on the floor, she started to praise with her hands in the air. I couldn't understand how anyone would want to praise after going through such a humiliating experience. The congregation seemed to lap it all up, but I was furious, of course. I have seen stuff like that happen several times. The worst was when they took a guy in a wheel chair outside to the parking lot so the entire world could witness the miracle that was about to happen. They stood him up and tried to get him to walk on his own. He ended up falling and hitting his head on the pavement. He got a nasty cut on the back of his head. Guess what happened next? He got rebuked for falling because he was not trusting gawd. Half of the crowd was jumping for joy and the other half was screaming telling him to "trust jebus'. I think that was the maddest I ever was at a church service. I could not believe how stupid some of these people were.
tandc90		#13	[-]
Posts: 370 (06/16/08 13:45:15) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	SilentKnight12 wrote: Ever notice how many "testamonies" are rather racy in nature? It's like the more filth they were in the better the audience likes it. Somehow, I think making ones past into an evangelical peep show defeats the entire purpose of the excercise. I've heard them referred to as christian porn on more than one occasion.
lozza		#14	[-]
Posts: 2768 (06/17/08 00:20:17) Musical Mantric Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The worst was when they took a guy in a wheel chair outside to the parking lot so the entire world could witness the miracle that was about to happen. They stood him up and tried to get him to walk on his own. He ended up falling and hitting his head on the pavement. He got a nasty cut on the back of his head. Guess what happened next? He got rebuked for falling because he was not trusting gawd. Half of the crowd was jumping for joy and the other half was screaming telling him to "trust jebus'. Those people have to be the meanest, nastiest people around.
SilentKnight12		#15	[-]
Posts: 516 (06/17/08 07:23:19) exPc Fan Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	" I've heard them referred to as christian porn on more than one occasion." yep, pretty much. There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live.

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