Gracepoint Berkeley’s Systematic Loop

Mar 4, 2010 11:48 AM

Gracepoint Berkeley’s Systematic Loop

by makestraight

What started off as kind of a rant turned out to be really a summary of the “ministry” at Gracepoint Berkeley. It’s probably what happens in all the sister branches also in Davis and Austin, TX.

This is not really relational Christianity. It’s a system. Not all the components in the system are bad – somemost are good.

What I believe to be wrong is Gracepoint Berkeley’s insistence on the fact that this is Christianity and “ministry” and that once you’re inside, you must be committed first and foremost to upholding this systematic ministry as your main purpose in life.

Anything outside of this Gracepoint loop is secondary:

1. Go after lonely/influenceable college kids.
2. Play with them. Feed them. Be nice to them. Take them grocery shopping.
3. Invite them to go to new student welcome night. Have a big barbeque.
4. Get them to go to the college fellowship groups.
5. Encourage them to take course 101 (basic Christianity course).
6. Get them to come to Sundays.
7. Take them to retreats.
8. Upon salvation, stress the need for the “local church” (and discourage outside ministry with any other fellowship, or even going to another church).
9. Emphasize accountability (voluntary or not).
10. Emphasize organized daily devotions (everyone at GP does the SAME worksheet type form)
11. Keep telling them how sinful they are and how they deserve nothing (overly emphasized).
12. Keep reminding them how much they have been given, and how grateful they should be.
13. Stress listening to leaders (without specifically telling them it’s like obedience to God).
14. Teach them self-denial (again, listen to your leaders about even biblically gray areas).
15. If they question, frame them as doubters who don’t trust.
16. If they still question, remind them again they are sinners deserving nothing, and call them ungrateful
17. Invite them to become staff
18. Get them to write weekly reports (to keep the Kangs abreast of all happenings, and to police one another)
19. Get these people back out on to the college campus to get more people into Gracepoint Berkeley.
20. Go back to step 1

This happens year after year after year. Some people get tired of it, and feel dry and disconnected from God. Others, I don’t know. They will themselves, or they see it as a challenge to overcome perhaps? Maybe they just enjoy the feeling of hard work, I don’t know.

Those of you at Gracepoint Berkeley who really do feel a vibrant relationship with God, I am somewhat amazed. Maybe you can share your views – I ask sincerely, because it seems to me that it would be difficult to experience that in such a rigid system.

Related Post:

• From Grace to Legalism to Spiritual Abuse

Jesus Our Great High Priest

Mar 12, 2010 12:37 PM

Jesus Our Great High Priest

by makestraight

I’m going to use this blog to also post Bible passages that we can meditate on, whether it’s related to Gracepoint or not, just to appreciate God’s word.

I like the following passage in Hebrews 4, because it reminds me that it’s the Word of God directly that can judge our thoughts and attitude [via the Holy Spirit who convicts us]. It’s not the primary role of leaders to do this. We have direct access to God, and God knows us fully.

So even if we do outward acts “correctly” and “righteously”, it does not mean anything without the correct thoughts and attitudes. God knows what’s hidden in our hearts. It’s all uncovered before him. If we are seeking self-righteousness, God knows. If we are seeking our own glory, God knows. If we are seeking to please men, God knows.

But it’s a grand and wonderful thing that Jesus himself is our Great High Priest. He knows we are weak. He knows we are sinful. But he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, and because he is gracious, we can approach him DIRECTLY and with confidence when we repent! And we receive grace and mercy. Jesus himself is our mediator. While church leaders are valuable and necessary, they should never fill the role as some kind of pope figure who has to mediate between God and us. God himself [Jesus] is our mediator!

It is this very thought that allows me to fall in love with my Lord Jesus over and over. This is an experience that became real to me only after I left Gracepoint. For me, because of the culture there, this only remained in my head. I operated my daily life by the fear of leaders, to please their Gracepoint-centric ideas of all that’s acceptable or unacceptable, and their heavy-handed, micromanaging ways. Gracepoint may blame it upon “just me”, but I disagree, and assert that it’s their legalistic, and fear/guilt/debt driven culture.

The pure gospel is much simpler, I’ve discovered. And it’s more full of joy and freedom. It’s amazing!
Hebrews 4:

12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[e] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Romans 10:1-4

Mar 17, 2010 2:40 PM

Romans 10:1-4

by makestraight

Romans 10:1-4

1Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Great Article on Servant Leadership

Mar 19, 2010 12:42 PM

Great Article on Servant Leadership

by makestraight

I came across this great article on Christian Servant Leadership. You should all read it.

Here are some good excerpts:

Most Christian leaders are aware of the principles, values, and methods that have been accepted in the bustling marketplace of diverse leadership practices and theories. We must not forget, however, that Scripture offers a leadership model that should be the linchpin for leadership within the body of Christ. This biblical brand of leadership is uniquely expressed through what is called the servant attitude of the leader—the desire to enrich and enhance the lives of those being led through unselfish servanthood. This overarching model of biblical leadership is expressed through an authentic humility that serves others and leads them to become servants as well.

…

Leadership models that are oriented toward power and control continue to be problematic for the church.

…

Attitudes of the Servant Leader

Positions of leadership often confer upon servant leaders more power over others than warranted. The subtle temptations of power and position led first-century leaders to challenge emerging leaders to live lives of humility and service. Addressing his fellow pastors, the apostle Peter outlined the pristine attitudes that characterize servant leaders. Often ignoring the inherent power of a position, a biblically based leader focuses on demonstrating a genuine concern for people through tenderly serving them, modeling the spirit and attitudes of Christ. In essence, servant leaders are caring shepherds who lovingly protect and nurture those under their care. And if required, would bleed and die for the welfare of their flock (1 Peter 5:2–4).

Servant Leaders Empower Others

Unselfish servant leadership refuses to rest on the inherent power of a position and desires to empower and release others for ministry. The servant leader does not hold back gifted people in a spirit of insecurity. Born aloft by the unselfish spirit of Christ, the servant leader is not happy unless others are soaring. Fired by the vision of creating other servants, the servant leader is dedicated to equipping and liberating others to fulfill God’s purposes in their lives and find meaningful expressions of Christian ministry through servanthood.

Note that servant leadership is not about CONTROLLING others to do what you want them to do, even in gray areas.

In my opinion, it’s rather about serving and equipping, and ultimately empowering others to live their calling with God, whether or not it’s practically beneficial to your own immediate church. It’s teaching others to live as Jesus did, and teaching them how to live practically for God, while also teaching them how to listen to the Spirit, and live by the Spirit to glorify God.

Gracepoint’s leadership is centralized around increasing their own numbers, and placing a Gracepoint Christian template around others to fit their mold, with no regard to an individual’s personal calling to serve God. They say such things as, “You were saved here, why would you want to go anywhere else???”

I pray that they can change and abide by true servant leadership in their church, because it’s God’s church, not theirs. Jesus Christ is the Head.

The Bentness of Human Nature

Mar 25, 2010 2:22 PM

The Bentness of Human Nature

by makestraight

Another great article from Chuck Colson on The Bentness of Human Nature.

An excerpt:

In Milgrams experiments, a volunteer was told to administer electric shocks to another volunteer when he answered a question incorrectly. The victim was an actor there was no electricity. But with each failure, a more powerful the shock was ordered.

When volunteers hesitated, an authority figure prodded them, starting with please continue and escalating to you have no other choice, you must go on.

These words were enough for two-thirds of the volunteers to administer what they believed was a fatal shock.

I believe it gives some insight into how people who read the Bible themselves cannot call out the things that are wrong in an overly authoritarian structure, such as Gracepoint Berkeley Church.

Related Post:

• Psychological Tests on Conformity

Another Church with Similar Issues as Gracepoint Berkeley

Mar 29, 2010 2:59 PM

Another Church with Similar Issues as Gracepoint Berkeley

by makestraight

I came across another site that tries to expose the spiritual abuse of their former church. Read the “How the Honeymoon Became a Nightmare” section – it sounds just like Gracepoint Berkeley.

http://daviswiki.org/Recovering_From_Spiritual_Abuse

Also, read the allegations section – again, almost just like our own against Gracepoint.

Interestingly, they are in Davis, CA, just like Gracepoint Davis.

SciScience Experiment Finds that Powerful People Don’t Practice What They Preach

Apr 22, 2010 5:51 PM

Science Experiment Finds that Powerful People Don’t Practice What They Preach

by makestraight

An excerpt from an article from Sciencedaily.com “Why Powerful People — Many of Whom Take a Moral High Ground — Don’t Practice What They Preach”:

Researchers sought to determine whether power inspires hypocrisy, the tendency to hold high standards for others while performing morally suspect behaviors oneself. The research finds that power makes people stricter in moral judgment of others – while being less strict of their own behavior.

…

According to our research, power and influence can cause a severe disconnect between public judgment and private behavior, and as a result, the powerful are stricter in their judgment of others while being more lenient toward their own actions.

I am asking for the same accountability over Pastor Ed Kang and Kelly Kang as they did of Becky Kim of Berkland. I’m asking for this because so far, it has led to spiritual abuse by all 3 people mentioned upon their members, and it has been indoctrinated to staff members below them.

And such accountability is biblical, because we’re all sinners, and power corrupts us.

Your Immediate Family IS Ministry

Apr 23, 2010 10:28 AM

Your Immediate Family IS Ministry – According to William Wilberforce

by makestraight

Today’s Breakpoint commentary is entitled “Parental Priorities - William Wilberforce, Amazing Dad“

Gracepoint Berkeley often frames immediate family as secondary to what their own definition of ministry is. Parents can often be seen dropping off their kids over and over again at babysitting while the parents go to staff meetings, church activities, etc.

Family-night is designated as one night a week [at least when I used to be there], and otherwise, you are expected to do Gracepoint ministry the other days.

While I understand that too many Americans may be living Christian life as defined by only their nuclear family, I believe Gracepoint Berkeley has swung too far the other way.

Jesus said in Luke 8:

19Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

21He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Note that Jesus is not stating that now the immediate family no longer matters nor that it’s secondary. Rather, it’s in INCLUSIVE statement meaning that family is anyone who follows God, and that we’re essentially all children of God and thus siblings.

Wilberforce, as busy as he was, made his children a priority. Here’s an excerpt:

Wilberforce and his wife, Barbara, had four sons and two daughters. Despite the overwhelming weight of his religious and political duties, Wilberforce made his children a priority. And when they were away at school, he showered them with letters. Those letters tell the story of a father who was loving, encouraging, and always anxious for their spiritual welfare.

I believe in strong Christian families making for strong churches.

It was odd in Gracepoint, where I would rarely even see married couples enjoy one another – they were so task oriented that they were more like business associates, and not people that genuinely cherished each other in Christ. Children seemed to be raised more by the babysitters and children’s ministry teachers than the parents themselves.

Related Post: Healthy Marriages, Healthy Society

From My Utmost for His Highest: Liberty and the Standards of Jesus

May 5, 2010 11:57 PM

From My Utmost for His Highest: Liberty and the Standards of Jesus

by makestraight

I recommend that you read today’s “Liberty and the Standards of Jesus” reading from My Utmost for His Highest.

I liked this excerpt:

Always measure your life solely by the standards of Jesus. Submit yourself to His yoke, and His alone; and always be careful never to place a yoke on others that is not of Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us to stop thinking that unless everyone sees things exactly as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only one true liberty— the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.

…

Jesus said, “Go . . . and make disciples. . .” ( Matthew 28:19 ), not, “Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions.”

Toxic Faith Blog has been Hacked

Jun 1, 2010 10:36 AM

Toxic Faith Blog has been Hacked

by makestraight

UPDATE 6/2/2010: 1vois’ Toxic Faith Gracepoint site has been hacked, and all its contents removed by the hacker.

I’m not sure if it’s some tech-savvy Gracepoint staff member that has done this, but 1vois/isurvived has reported that his/her Toxic Faith Gracepoint blog has been hacked.

Here’s his/her comment on it.

If this was mandated by Ed or Kelly Kang, this is really really low. I will for now give them the benefit of the doubt, but I see no other reason why anyone else would have interest in hacking the Toxic Faith Gracepoint blog.

Dear Toxic Faith Blog Hackers

Jun 2, 2010 1:18 PM

Dear Toxic Faith Blog Hackers

by makestraight

I was prepared the write a long commentary on your illegal and devious actions, but I have decided for now to write something simple and to the point, in language that you Gracepoint members understand:

You’re hurting

Dear Toxic Faith Blog Hackers - Part 2

Jun 3, 2010 12:15 AM

Dear Toxic Faith Blog Hackers – Part 2

by makestraight

[As a disclaimer, I will say that the following is a rant, and I could be completely wrong. But based on the sequence of events that have occurred, it is my opinion that most of what I've written below is probably very similar to the true accounts behind the hacking and deletion of 1vois' Toxic Faith Gracepoint blog]

Dear Toxic Faith Gracepoint Blog hackers – Congratulations!

You have successfully removed a high-ranking blog about the true stories of Gracepoint Berkeley Church byILLEGALLY hacking into 1vois’ gmail account and deleting it. Not only did you do so, you DECEITFULLY tried to present another blog [gracepointhorrorstories1.blogspot.com] as a backup site for our “benefit”. You obviously wanted the readers to go to your site, and build up trust, and gather email addresses and ip addresses to try to identify who the main readers/contributors must be.

Well – You succeeded in the hacking part, but you failed in trying to deceive us.

At first, I wanted to blow off the whole situation, that it’s only some mere coincidence, or that 1vois temporarily forgot his/her password. But then I thought again and I realized what was going on. I’m sure I won’t get this 100% correct, but I’m fairly certain that the following is what must have occurred:

Gracepoint Berkeley is trying to plant new churches in different cities as commenters have mentioned. And GP wants to keep the Gracepoint name, so you can have Gracepoint San Diego, Minneapolis, etc.

However, GP hit a snag, a big one. When you google “Gracepoint Berkeley”, The Toxic Faith Gracepoint site comes up. And on that site, there are many stories that shed your church in a “negative” light with its true stories. What a problem that would be in trying to establish new churches under that name.

So most likely, Kelly Kang was bothered, and she discussed it with her husband Pastor Ed, who then probably called a meeting of some of the nerdiest staff members among you – that being you. With a deep frown and a concerned look, he probably presented the situation to you, and probably presented it as a challenge. Most likely, Ed Kang didn’t tell you directly to hack it and to delete it, but he probably told you to resolve it somehow.

Pastor Ed Kang, being the lawyer that he is, probably at one point considered filing some kind of lawsuit against any of us bloggers for slander or libel or whatever. But oh, the unwanted attention that would being to the Christian network that he’s tied to. And the possibility that so many witnesses might show up and the days of trials and written testimonies that would generate. So of course, he called upon your tech-savvy wizardry.

Obviously, it wasn’t a one person job. A few of you probably saw this as a way to prove your loyalty and to “fight the good fight”. Maybe if you are single, you could earn some brownie points for yourself and get higher on that marriage candidate list that your leaders have in mind, since your leaders are the ones that recommend your name to the ladies.

You probably got together some chips and packs of Red Bull, and stayed up several late nights. You fancied yourselves as some kind of ”ethical hackers” out to do something grand and noble for Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang, since to you, serving them is serving Gracepoint, and serving Gracepoint is serving God. You probably considered it a bonding time. Maybe you felt cool like Neo from Matrix. Did you have your sunglasses and leather jacket on while hacking away?

You must have checked out your brain and conscience at the door however, because it must not have hit you that what you were doing is AGAINST THE LAW. Or maybe you thought it was a necessary evil. Or maybe you figured that you would not get caught at all. You definitely were concerned about getting caught, which is why you leveraged a domain in Singapore to do this. The truth always has a way of surfacing to the top, as I’m sure in this case it did.

You didn’t just want to take the blog down. You also wanted to find out who was behind it all. So you tried to go the extra mile perhaps. You exported the contents of the Toxic Faith Gracepoint blog and then imported it back in to a new url that you Gracepoint staff members would own. It doesn’t take rocket science to know this. If you have a blog, that’s just a built in feature.

So you took down the blog, and then tried to present yourself as an anonymous “helper” who just “happened” to immediately in the span of less than one day create a clone of the original blog to a new url.

Then you as an anonymous commenter, left numerous links to your new url. Here’s where you failed. You probably couldn’t get yourself to lie, being the Christian that you are. You couldn’t tell a story about how you backed up that information and you couldn’t say that you were trying to help out. Rather you just posted the link. Maybe you felt guilty? Maybe your conscience was trying to work? Or maybe you’re such a techy nerd guy with low EQ that you didn’t know what story to make up. So you just posted numerous links as comments. Secondly, the ip address was clearly from Alameda [again, just a feature in wordpress, you don't have to be a tech whiz]. I doubt there are many leavers that still live in Alameda or work there. And these comments were left during the day time. So perhaps you are an unemployed technonerd who did this from your new building in Alameda. Or *gasp* – did you take the day off to devote yourself to this? Or maybe you are a “director” level staff who doesn’t work and is a full time staff hanging around in the church building in Alameda?

In any case, your intent was to DECEIVE and to lead people into going to the new site so that you can gather ip addresses and email addresses.

In addition, you know what else you did that was suspicious, you Gracepoint staff member technonerd? You created some additional urls very similar to the original one. You created “gracepointhorrorstories2″ which was a clone of the other blog by 1vois about commenting honestly on Kelly Kang’s blog posts. You also for some reason, created “gracepointhorrorstories3″ which is entitled “BITTERATCHRISTIANS”. Now why would you create a blog like that? I have no idea. Maybe you just wanted to reserve that spot, and in the meantime, you named it something funny, some thought you had about 1vois and the commenters on that blog.

The story doesn’t end there.

What you did first was that you created the copy of my blog in wordpress under “gracepointhorrorstories.wordpress.com”, maybe in preparation to hack my site and then back it up to that wordpress.com site like you did for 1vois’ blogspot site.

But you probably didn’t know the wordpress functionality enough to know that it would generate a link in my comments section – lots of them. Then when I grew suspicious from these many linkbacks [or whatever they are called] you changed the website and wrote a story to try to convince me that you were on “our side” and that you did it so that the truth can be exposed. But the fact that the url shares the same name “gracepointhorrorstories” makes those wordpress sites very clearly tied to the same person(s) who created the ones for blogger.

And again, to me, the silver bullet is that the Toxic Faith Gracepoint Blog’s content was somehow fully exported and imported into a new url in such a short span of time, with just numerous comments with just the url. Maybe you were busy at work and just did quick copy and pastes?

I don’t think Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang will be happy with how you carried out your “Christian duty” for them. Now it’s all out in the open. I wonder if you were involved in the flooding of the web with all these identities for Kelly Kang in social sites. Because that person wrote “Kelly Kang” almost every other word, clearly revealing the intent behind the setup of those sites.

Now you have a choice. You can all repent and confess the truth, or you can go back to your Gracepoint bubble where they define for you what truth is. And that truth isn’t Jesus. It’s just “Gracepoint-convenient truth”.

2 Tim 2
2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

If you aren’t going to repent, I suppose I can expect you to keep hacking away. Just know that I’ve backed up this whole site, and that if you do succeed in hacking this wordpress account [which you most likely will], it will only further validate the truth of my rant.

Even if you can hide the truth or deny it, God knows, and that’s what matters. He is the All-Knowing Judge.

I have one request to make to any current Gracepoint members out there who have any kind of spine left. I challenge you to ask Pastor Ed Kang, or any of the tech-savvy older staff members if they know ANYTHING about this event, and if any Gracepointer, or Gracepoint-hired help has done this.

If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But I have a sneaky suspicion that I’m not.

Comments from Ex-Berklander blog about what happened to 1vois blog and makestraight's blog

Anonymous said...

any idea what makestraight's blog was shut down?

June 3, 2010 11:42 PM

Anonymous said...

any idea *why* makestraight's blog was shut down?

June 3, 2010 11:42 PM

makestraight said...

1vois and I discussed our effort, and decided to call it quits in light of what happened yesterday.

We have ample reasons and some evidence to believe that Gracepoint Berkeley staff members were the ones responsible for illegally hacking and deleting 1vois' Toxic Faith Gracepoint blogger site. Obviously, I was going to be next.

If they are going to go through such illegal, immoral measures to deal with the truths about their spiritual abusive ways, then we surrender.

The top leaders at Gracepoint Berkeley win.

Oldernwiser, I you may want to follow suit, but it's up to you. I suspect they may have used someone on the inside at Google, and yours is a Google blog site.

I believe this will be the last of my presence on the web regarding anything about Gracepoint Berkeley.

It's now completely in God's hands, and God is a God of Truth.

Signing off.

June 4, 2010 1:37 AM

Older N Wiser said...

Thanks for the update, Makestraight.

June 4, 2010 2:21 AM

Anonymous said...

this is 1vois. i am publicly signing off, as makestraight says. i hope enough people were witness to what happened last week.

anybody can personally contact me at 1vois [at] anonymousspeech.com if they have issues and/or concerns about gracepoint church or berkland church.

getting away from gmail (a hard lesson).

June 7, 2010 12:00 PM

discontent said...

THIS IS SAD.

They are such a huge group, have humongous amounts of propaganda and have their 'one and only truth' anyways... Why be SO SCARED of just a FEW blogs that gives them bad reputation? It just adds up to their pursuit of a well polished surface, a mask they loath so much in their sermons... Hypocrites.

It probably has been mentioned, but it just reminds me of Big Brother in Orwell's 1984... Flawless leader, impeccable hierarchy, even the language is 'perfected and simplified' so that everyone can avoid being 'hurting'.

SAD. I really hope some of these sites remains.... It's an enormous source of consolation for those who has survived the storm in 'GracePoint'.

June 8, 2010 1:35 AM

Anonymous said...

I finally found this information after searching the web for hours. I am SO SAD that your guys (1vois and makestraight) have decided to discontinue your blogs... i hope you will reconsider.

- left a long time ago

June 8, 2010 1:58 AM

just1vois said...

hi,
i don't know who that poster is, but it's not me.

anybody can create an email or username using 1vois. i wouldn't be surprised if it was gracepoint. anyway, you can find me at just1vois@gmail.com.

if makestraight is reading this, then please confirm my identity.

thanks

June 8, 2010 9:19 AM

discontent said...

"Annonymous June 7, 2010 12:00 PM" is not the original 1vois??

That's creepy. Identity theft, much? gees...

June 8, 2010 10:43 PM

Anonymous said...

@discontent, I think it just shows how desperate the Gracepoint staff hackers are to try to gather the identities of the bloggers and their supporters.

I'd say a safe thing to do right now is not to try to email or contact anyone. But we can still pray.

June 9, 2010 1:03 AM

Anonymous said...

WHAT the HELL dude. This is so maddening. I guess GP's strategy is to confuse us and use the anonymity to our advantage.

- left a long time ago

June 11, 2010 5:00 PM

From Inside Gracepoint - Kelly Kang & Ed Kang's Response to Blogs

From Inside Gracepoint - Kelly Kang & Ed Kang's Response to Blogs

by 1vois

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/

Join the discussion: Pastor Ed Kang on truth

Join the discussion: Pastor Ed Kang on truth

by 1vois

Please read Pastor Ed Kang's preaching on truth.
In his own words:

http://twistedgracepoint.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/the-transcript-of-truthhaters-mp3-from-pastor-ed-kang/

Venting

Venting...

by 1vois

berkland leaders are just hypocrites.

"live humble lives -- move out of that condo, it looks too fancy"
- Rebekah Kim JDSN, HeeChin, David Um, Ed Kang, Y.B. -- just a few who live in million dollar homes.

"quit this job because you have to work a few sundays"
- Pastor HeeChin works on Sundays.

i could go on.
but why...

i hope someday they see what kind of hypocrites they are. seems they have grown completely blind to themselves.

http://berkland-berkeley.blogspot.com/

Berkland/Gracepoint: Where are They Now?

Berkland/Gracepoint: Where Are They Now?

by 1vois

I'm hoping that the more articulate blogs can take this topic and run with it. I do not position myself as a blog that systematically deconstructs Gracepoint/Berkland -- this is simply a thought that has been occupying my brainspace.

It's been several years since "the Letter," Ed Kang's Martin Luther-esque indictment of Rebekah Kim & Berkland. In it, he argued that Rebekah Kim was a narcissist and was not the spiritual giant Ed had trained under. He said that he could no longer agree with the way Becky was directing the church. So, he broke off to move forward with (an implied) a new, different kind of church than the old style, deceptive, Korean, (and more or less) secular ways of Berkland.

So where are they now?

Gracepoint seems to be continuing on in the ways of Berkland albeit with a glitzier and more contemporary face. The pressure/stress tactics, legalism, leader-worship/narcissism & focus on performance are still the parts that make up Gracepoint's anatomy. And people still leave spiritually damaged, angry, lonely & confused about church/faith.

What about Berkland (Boston) and the Baby Berklands?
Seems they have all been paralyzed by the break-up. The churches in Boston, Irvine, LA, DC don't seem to know what to do with their members/ministry. Instead of moving forward and trying to figure out a direction for their church, most of these "ex"-Berklands seem to want to err on the side of caution than to try and repeat the mistakes of history. And for the most part, the issues of the break-up still haven't been discussed.

What a sad, broken picture...





http://berkland-berkeley.blogspot.com/

Ed Kang: Jekyll & Hide Pastor

Ed Kang: Jekyll & Hide Pastor

by 1vois

Why am I posting after such a long time away? Good question.

Another blog recently surfaced about Gracepoint Fellowship Church. I felt this blog --http://twistedgracepoint.wordpress.com/ -- more accurately and Biblically explained the dysfunctional & twisted methods/environment than my more stream-of-consciousness, ranting style did.

However, I felt it necessary to comment on Twisted Teaching's observation of the overpopulation of glowingly positive Ed Kang search results on Google (see http://twistedgracepoint.wordpress.com/2009/07/29/ed-kang-and-kelly-kangs-presence-on-the-web/). Though there's no way to prove what Ed Kang is doing, I remember first starting my blog and finding absolutely no results for "Ed Kang" or "Ed Kang Gracepoint" or anything about the man. I was either THE top search result or in the top 3. Now, Ed Kang, the Wonder Pastor, is everywhere. This is the man who pretty adamantly claims to be counter-culture & technology -- but now he can be found on (yes, believe it) LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, & PLAXO. Pastor Ed, aren't those sites used for sad, non face-to-face networking, much like the Facebook phenomemon that you find so pathetic (http://edkang.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/sense-of-place-gracepoint-berkeley/)? Ed Kang is a shrewd, shrewd man. Only his wife, Kelly, outdoes Ed's very cold and calculated gift of manipulation. What a team!

As I browsed through the different bios and profiles that were posted about Ed Kang, Kelly Kang and Gracepoint Fellowship Church, the picture that's painted is quite lovely:

"Warm, inviting, contemporary, honest, sincere -- EMPATHETIC(??!)"

I mean, WHO WRITES THIS STUFF?

For those of you who are searching for churches in the Bay Area, please know that you WILL get a warm reception; the band really DOES try to be hip; the greeters WILL smile at you; you WILL feel INSTANTLY liked, if not loved. But it's a ruse. It's a veneer of community that you will find leaves you emotionally, spiritually and even physically damaged.

College Season starts soon. Prime time for Gracepoint Fellowship Church on the Berkeley, Davis, UCSF & Stanford campuses. I pray that students & young professionals might be able to wade through the flood of fake Ed Kang/Kelly Kang profiles and be able to harvest truth.

http://berkland-berkeley.blogspot.com/

The Gospel According to Ed and Kelly Kang

The Gospel According to Ed and Kelly Kang

by 1vois

The Gospel
According to Ed and Kelly Kang

Kang 1:1
Do not disagree with your leaders, since they are always right. If you disagree, go to Golden Gate Theological Seminary and pray until you realize you are deadly wrong. Your leaders love you. And love covers over a multitude of wrong decisions, incomplete facts, narrow-mindedness, personality disorders and authoritarianism .

Kang 1:2
For who is your authority? If you say the Word of God, you only kid yourself since you are unable to decipher the depths of the Word on your own. So do not think you are standing firm unless you are pleasing Ed and Kelly.



http://berkland-berkeley.blogspot.com/