"Normality"?.....if "nothing controversial" came up and David was in no way challenged over his behaviour....(e.g. the court case with the Johnsons' that David lost and in petty revenge, continues to alienates their son against them, repeatedly misrepresenting the circumstances of the home invasion...)

Yes why I'd imagine in these circumstances that David could steal himself to be "pleasant" enough.....he's set about destroying enough families down the years in the name of God, that maybe he can afford to find the time to pick up a few broken pieces of his own....."time" for reconciliation being clearly no longer on his side, at all...and, knowing that

.......Kevin clearly believes that a non-antagonistic approach can in time, one day "win dear old David over"........


But as you say Zeuszor.....a "development" anyway.....If David can rein in his wider (mis)behaviour, I'll certainly congratulate him, too!

Quote
Malcolm Wesley WREST
.......Kevin clearly believes that a non-antagonistic approach can in time, one day "win dear old David over"........

If that's what Kevin believes, then Kevin is dead wrong. But, I am glad that he got to spend some time with his mother, in any case.

Kevin has "stood up" and "been counted" on a number of occasions, for which I'm very grateful.....Gary, as far as I can see only being conspicuous by his absence (Hence David and Cherry condescend to visit this "grateful" son that they claim still "acknowledges" them)

Kevin would no doubt like to see "normality" for his own children in relation to their grandparents.....he's "juggling" two very different sets of balls here....

....while I have little like for her, as you say Zeuszor it is good to see David and Cherry able to put the cult aside briefly enough to be able to engage with their son....

...I'd feel even more ecstatic if they put the cult aside altogether.....

Me too.

JESUS CHRISTIANS NEWSLETTER #121, MARCH, 2010

A New Target Audience

We experimented this month with outreaches to some of those suburbs which we have tended to avoid in the past, mostly the posher suburbs. It has resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of books going out (by about half), but we are hopeful that we will reach more educated people in this way, and that these people will be more likely to actually read what they have received. One interesting side effect is that some of our members are starting to take more interest in such things as their appearance!

The L.A. team in particular has reported that conversations, in general, have been much more interesting as a result. In one instance, Jesse came across a friend of Sheila Johnson (Joe's mother) who maintained that Joe had been kidnapped. When Jesse tried to explain what happened, pointing out that the Johnsons almost killed Reinhard, they answered by saying that they should have killed us all!

Visits With Friends and Family

There was another enjoyable weekend with Grace and some of her new friends, in L.A., a visit with Bobby and Kirstie in the U.K., and a meal with Glenn in Australia. As well, Simon spent time with his family, Ross had several visits with him mother, and Dave and Cherry got to see some of their grandchildren for the first time in about two years. Ross' mother has kindly sewn new seat covers for the bus that Ross and Barry travel in, as well as letting them store books and DVDs at her place in Melbourne.

As this newsletter goes to press, Paul and Ulrike are about to fly off to New Zealand for a visit with Paul's family, whom he has not seen for many years.

Running on Vegetable Oil

While working in Melbourne, Ross and Barry came across a shop that had 200 litres of used veg oil for them, more than enough to get them back to Sydney when they finish this outreach.

Meanwhile, the U.K. team learned an important lesson when they allowed water to get into the veg oil, which, in turn, ruined their engine. Now they are getting a complete engine rebuild to rectify the damage.

Facelift at Takatifu Gardens

All the rooms have a fresh coat of paint thanks to the efforts of some enthusiastic volunteers. Most of the rooms have had their floors painted as well. The garden is looking particularly attractive at the moment, with hundreds of bananas hanging from the trees, in addition to our orange tree blooming with fruit for the first time.

Unfortunately, the fish we introduced into our pond after giving it a new lick of paint all died. Against better judgment we decided to have a fish dinner that evening: thankfully none of us suffered the same fate as the fish!

Big Move for Fran and Kim

The departure of Fran and Kim after four years in Kenya was a great excuse for a pool party and a big feast in our new BBQ area, followed by several rounds of that highly addictive, role-playing game known as "Werewolf".

On arrival in the U.K., Fran and Kim suffered culture shock at the opulence of the West. Fran is continuing to upgrade the new web site, and Kim is still organising the contact mail, although they are both getting right into distributing books and DVDs as well.

Media Links Open on our Site

A whole new section has gone up on our website. It is called "Media" and it includes some of the more controversial things that we have done over the years. It is still incomplete, but there is plenty to get you started in catching up on some of the highlights of our history as a community.

You can access this exciting new section via the following link: [jesus-teachings.com] or by clicking "MEDIA" on our main menu bar near the top of the page of our website.

A Musical Experience

Jesse and Jeremy were invited by a friend to help with some recording of a musician earlier in the month, and they found the experience pretty rewarding, as they got to meet some pretty good musicians who have played with a number of well known bands in the US.

Volunteers

Volunteers with the teaching program this month came from Finland, Slovakia, Germany, and Kenya. Several made special comments about how good it was to feel part of a "community" when working with us in Kenya. That, along with the fact that we do not make volunteers pay for the privilege of working with us sets us apart from virtually all of the other volunteer programs in the country. Volunteers are such an encouraging cross-section of society, and it is sad to see that there are so many organisations that try to make money at their expense, even after they sacrifice their time to do something for others.

New Articles

We have two new articles this month which can be found on the new articles page: [jesus-teachings.com]

One which is written by Alf is called "Projection" and the Golden Rule, dealing with how people tend to project their own biases onto others. In the other article, 'Exaggerations' of Jesus, Dave challenges a common argument used to discredit most of what Jesus taught.

The Forum

As usual, there have been a lot of interesting conversations going on which have involved contributors to our forum. Here are a few of them, which you may like to have a look at. (And while you're at it, why not contribute some of your own thoughts!)

What is your opinion of Islam? (started by Damien)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]-

How to be a "great writer" (started by Ross)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

How to recognise sincerity (started by Dave)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

Love mean ALWAYS saying sorry (started by Kim)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

"Cash is dead" update (started by Paul)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

Satanism (started by Kitty)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

The real Mt. Sinai discovered in Saudi Arabia (started by Ross)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

Substitutionary Punishment (started by Joe)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

Left-wing Christians and Bible prophecy (started by Ross)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

Forsaking All (started by Joy)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

Faithful to Whom? (started by Casey)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

"Projection" and the Golden Rule (started by Alf)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

Ash Wednesday (started by Ulrike)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

The Golden Rule (started by Karlos)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

Fathers (started by Paul)
[www.jesus-teachings.com]

OK, Kevin, if you want to discuss with me what (with respect to your father's past) it is I am accusing you of obscuring; why, I'd love to, then here is my only condition. Either you come over here to RR's to discuss the matter with me, or else allow me to come over there and post on "your turf" at XJCs. But, I will not do this three-way cross-forum discussion thing. Either me over there, or you over here. Can we agree to that?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2010 07:36AM by zeuszor.

You said you wanted quotes, evidence, Kevin, and I'll show you my evidence and provide you with the quotes. Just not between forums, that's all I ask. I hate this cross-forum communication thing. Either you might want to come over here for me to provide it to you, or I can present it there. Or is that more "free discussion" than you can tolerate?

Dear Zueszor,

...with respect to "David's past".....while this could of course just be my "overworked imagination", I'm starting to wonder just a little if David "slept around" a little during his years in the COG's....naturally this is not a subject he would likely discuss over the dinner table with Cherry and the kids...however that odd comment in amongst one of his other rants that "pedophilia" is really just a "victimless crime" (Do you still have a copy of this, Zeuszor....there was a link to the article off one of the quotes that head the JC Web page....) was in fact David subconsciously attempting to "rationalize away" earlier behaviour of his (...and NOT simply "slipshod" logic on his part...)

Can you remind me again.....(lest I tell the truth too "clumsily")....David first met up with the COG's in Canberra?....and then joined them in Broken Hill (where he usually lies about his "three week membership"...those three weeks possibly being only the time David required to steal what he could of Bergs theology and operating practises, for his own devices)....until Cherry (NOT David according to the testimony of other members of the Children of God, who were at that time also in the cult with him) protested against the "flirty fishing " practices that were being progressively introduced into COG recruiting and lifestyle.....

(Cherry then personally, saving her children from a childhood of abuse....I can remember David lying to me when I first joined the JC's how HE left the COG's in protest against the sexual perversion of the COG's...What a bald faced lie to "save face" for himself.....!!)

More's a pity for Cherry herself that that Uniting Church Minister was unable to persuade her to dump David (and abandon him to the COG's altogether...)!

David spending the next few YEARS as an official "family" of the COG's appearing in newsletters, openly describing himself as a member of the COG's and organizing huge page advertisements for the Children of God in the local newspaper, where he was employed....

I personally believe that David only began"drifting" away from the COG's as his own "show" started to take off....say with the recruitment of Neville,.....then Ross and I, a little later!



Over those years of association with them, there certainly would have been opportunity for him to discreetly sleep around.....hence I just can't help but wonder if the "take" on pedophilia is not David "justifying" himself to himself, by "explaining away"......such behaviour. What do you think?


I find it amusing that those who presently are in servitude to him, know NOTHING of his history....nor have they ever thought to question what David tells them of himself....how ironically moronic!!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2010 10:37AM by Malcolm Wesley WREST.

Soon, Malcolm, I am off to bed. I will give a detailed reply this weekend. The bottom line is this.

DM both was, and he wasn't, a shepherd. He was living too far from anyone else at the time. He claimed 6 members -- his family -- and they couldn't dispute that. Based on this claim -- 6 members -- he received the leadership material regularly for at least a decade, and probably for far longer than that. This is how he churned out all the COG-like material. How'd he continue to get the GP and DO publications? I do not know. My guess is through financial contributions.

The important thing is NOT whether he was or wasn't officially a shepherd. The important thing is that he learned how to run a cult from the material.

I think one hand didn't know what the other was doing. It wasn't like now, where you can email, etc and the distances in Australia are incredible; it was the 70s. No records, loose connections. Inefficient communications. It would have been easy for DM to weasel his way into COG circles.

As you are aware there were full page ads appearing in the Broken Hill newspaper for weeks advertising the COG. As far as where he met them; I'll have to check my records for that.

There is no evidence that DM engaged in any pedophilic acts during the time of his direct involvement with the COG.


"But a better example is paedophilia. Kids are not FORCED to have sex, and yet society says it is wrong. I know, I know, they are not adults. But you see, we each have our restrictions that we think makes it wrong or doesn't make it wrong. And so what we decided to experiment with is just trying to follow the rules as we honestly and humbly think God wrote them."

And another thing: while he's having coffee and playing cards with dear old dad, the cult that his dad leads is out trying to recruit (read: mentally kidnap) other people's kids. Didn't he ever consider that? What really gets me is that if you search XJCs, then you'll find that the word "cult" NEVER occurs; nobody ever uses that word there. See for yourselves.

More later.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2010 11:20AM by zeuszor.

[jesuschristians.net]

Look at that..."little clique of ex-members" is right.