From Inside Gracepoint - Kelly Kang & Ed Kang's Response to Blogs
In case you missed this:
Posted by nyoron, on January 25th, 2010 at 5:52 pm on Twisted Teachings
Said:
As is proper on the internet, I will put a warning about the ensuing wall of text.
Gracepoint just had its annual winter retreat this weekend. There were many testimonies from the leaders about the struggles they face and how they overcame them, and Kelly-SMN gave a testimony about all of her fears and how God overcame them. For the first time, I actually feel a little guilty about my role as a “double agent.” After hearing all of their testimonies, I was able to respect this church’s directors, including Ed and Kelly, and their vision. But Pastor Ed also said at the retreat that a Christian must dwell in the truth. I think that I can show him the greatest respect by honoring those words.
As I mentioned before, Kelly-SMN gave a long testimony about all of the struggles that she and Pastor Ed went through as the leaders of this church. I can see that they’ve been through a lot, including the death of a staff member, breaking away from Berkland, removing a pastor for an affair, and even many personal struggles, such as Kelly’s health problem’s and the near blindness of their children. I can’t help but notice how she portrayed herself and Ed as guardians of God’s truth in the church. She said that when they returned from Boston, the church was in bad shape, and they had the unfortunate task of removing leaders who should not have been placed in those positions. If we take this belief into account, I can understand their reasons for the strict control they place over the church members. They believe that without such a culture, the church will fall into sin, and so they establish their absolute authority within the church to maintain its integrity.
Kelly-SMN had some rather unpleasant things to say about the ring of anti-Gracepoint bloggers. In her exact words, you “received a lot of love while causing great heartaches” and have “revisionist memories,” and you “slandered and demonized” Gracepoint. Your blogs are composed of “groundless slander.” Moreover, she cited a Matthew 24:9-13:
” 9″Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
She compared the bloggers to the people who hate and persecute Christians and the false prophets who deceive others, and Gracepoint to those who stand firm and are saved.
Pastor Ed gave a message about the church described in Acts 2:42-47:
42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
He explained that, though not perfect, Gracepoint is an attempt to emulate the early church as closely as possible. When we consider this statement, a lot of Gracepoint’s culture makes sense. I’ve noticed that most of the testimonies heard at Gracepoint involve people’s struggles not just to commit their lives to God but to Gracepoint specifically, as if this is the only church where there are true Christians. Since our church is supposed to mirror the early church, we are the way churches are supposed to be, and any church that does things differently is compromising with the world. The leaders were raised under this culture, and so they believe that this is the proper way to raise Christians. They impose the same kind of control over their sheep as was imposed on them. Anyone who can’t handle the culture is someone who couldn’t handle being a committed Christian.
While Gracepoint’s vision is certainly admirable, I think the leaders have become blind to the pain this culture can cause. One of the tenets of the Christian faith is that all have sinned. While the pains caused by leaving and these blogs may have been caused by both parties, I think Pastor Ed and Kelly-SMN must acknowledge that their own sins have contributed to the problem. In his messages, Pastor Ed always exhorts us not to listen to ourselves, because we can so easily delude ourselves. He warns us not to respond to those who tell us the truth about ourselves in anger, but to accept that we are not perfect and work to improve ourselves instead. It is ironic that Pastor Ed and Kelly-SMN would respond to these blogs with denial and hostility when they have encouraged us to seek the truth. I pray that the scales will fall out of the eyes of Pastor Ed and Kelly-SMN and that they would see their own sins and repent of them.
http://berkland-berkeley.blogspot.com/
http://twistedgracepoint.wordpress.com/about/
Posted by nyoron, on January 25th, 2010 at 5:52 pm on Twisted Teachings
Said:
As is proper on the internet, I will put a warning about the ensuing wall of text.
Gracepoint just had its annual winter retreat this weekend. There were many testimonies from the leaders about the struggles they face and how they overcame them, and Kelly-SMN gave a testimony about all of her fears and how God overcame them. For the first time, I actually feel a little guilty about my role as a “double agent.” After hearing all of their testimonies, I was able to respect this church’s directors, including Ed and Kelly, and their vision. But Pastor Ed also said at the retreat that a Christian must dwell in the truth. I think that I can show him the greatest respect by honoring those words.
As I mentioned before, Kelly-SMN gave a long testimony about all of the struggles that she and Pastor Ed went through as the leaders of this church. I can see that they’ve been through a lot, including the death of a staff member, breaking away from Berkland, removing a pastor for an affair, and even many personal struggles, such as Kelly’s health problem’s and the near blindness of their children. I can’t help but notice how she portrayed herself and Ed as guardians of God’s truth in the church. She said that when they returned from Boston, the church was in bad shape, and they had the unfortunate task of removing leaders who should not have been placed in those positions. If we take this belief into account, I can understand their reasons for the strict control they place over the church members. They believe that without such a culture, the church will fall into sin, and so they establish their absolute authority within the church to maintain its integrity.
Kelly-SMN had some rather unpleasant things to say about the ring of anti-Gracepoint bloggers. In her exact words, you “received a lot of love while causing great heartaches” and have “revisionist memories,” and you “slandered and demonized” Gracepoint. Your blogs are composed of “groundless slander.” Moreover, she cited a Matthew 24:9-13:
” 9″Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
She compared the bloggers to the people who hate and persecute Christians and the false prophets who deceive others, and Gracepoint to those who stand firm and are saved.
Pastor Ed gave a message about the church described in Acts 2:42-47:
42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
He explained that, though not perfect, Gracepoint is an attempt to emulate the early church as closely as possible. When we consider this statement, a lot of Gracepoint’s culture makes sense. I’ve noticed that most of the testimonies heard at Gracepoint involve people’s struggles not just to commit their lives to God but to Gracepoint specifically, as if this is the only church where there are true Christians. Since our church is supposed to mirror the early church, we are the way churches are supposed to be, and any church that does things differently is compromising with the world. The leaders were raised under this culture, and so they believe that this is the proper way to raise Christians. They impose the same kind of control over their sheep as was imposed on them. Anyone who can’t handle the culture is someone who couldn’t handle being a committed Christian.
While Gracepoint’s vision is certainly admirable, I think the leaders have become blind to the pain this culture can cause. One of the tenets of the Christian faith is that all have sinned. While the pains caused by leaving and these blogs may have been caused by both parties, I think Pastor Ed and Kelly-SMN must acknowledge that their own sins have contributed to the problem. In his messages, Pastor Ed always exhorts us not to listen to ourselves, because we can so easily delude ourselves. He warns us not to respond to those who tell us the truth about ourselves in anger, but to accept that we are not perfect and work to improve ourselves instead. It is ironic that Pastor Ed and Kelly-SMN would respond to these blogs with denial and hostility when they have encouraged us to seek the truth. I pray that the scales will fall out of the eyes of Pastor Ed and Kelly-SMN and that they would see their own sins and repent of them.
http://berkland-berkeley.blogspot.com/
http://twistedgracepoint.wordpress.com/about/
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