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rrmoderator
radaph:
Your response here is very telling.
Like many members of destructive churches with authoritarian leaders that have little if any meaningful accountability, you seem willing to rationalize almost anything.
You are essentially accepting a dictatorship rather than democratic church government, which is the standard means of accountability in the overwhelming majority of Protestant churches today.
And saying that "bible makes it clear" and that anyone who disagrees with you somehow has a "problem...with the bible" is another example of how people in destructive churches speak.
That is, anyone who disputes the proof-texting of scripture per their interpretation is somehow against God and/or the bible.
You make Bob Thieme look pretty bad.
The New Testament provides accountability for deacons, elders and evangelists--even apostles (read Paul's criticism of Peter in Acts).
Evangelists would be today's pastors.
So because my opinion differs from your I am rationalizing? What do you base this statement on?
You act as though it is an established fact that Berachah was a cult, and I am just in denial. But it seems to me there are just as many on this forum who defend Berachah as there are those who attack it. So an objective person would listen to both sides of the argument. You seem to be listening through a filter, only hearing things that convict the colonel.
I don't even attend Berachah anymore. Colonel Thieme doesn't even teach anymore. Why would I defend him?
I will tell you why. Because what I learned from him has had a extremely positive influence on my life. Not COLONEL THIEME, but what he taught me. It is not the colonel who affected my life, but his message. And his message is the truth of the word of God, taken from the bible, sliced up and served on a silver platter, and freely given out for 50 years. God's word has power. The colonel's words have no power.
Why is it that the majority of his congregation were able to figure that out, and a few others couldn't?
It's not the man, but the message that matters. Heck even Jesus stated this about Himself. And the colonel stated it too.
You ask what he did to discourage people from idolizing him? Well first of all, it wasn't as common as these few people make it out to be. But secondly, I have heard him address this problem quite a few times from the pulpit, and I've also heard his son address it. That is where I got the phrase "it's not the man but the message that matters." Those were his words. He did not seek all this supposed idolizing. He did not welcome it. He did not entertain it. He was a very humble man. And I'm sorry "rrmoderator" but before you tell me he wasn't humble man, I would ask you this. Have you ever met him? Or are you just parrotting what someone has told you about him?
First hand experience is the only way to make an objective opinion. And I don't mean listening to 10 second sound clips or cut-out sections of articles made to make him look like a cult leader. I mean actually listen to an entire series of his. Pick any doctrine that takes your fancy, and listen from start to finish, and see if it sound cultish to you. Just like reading one or two verses out of context in the bible will give you a distorted view of God. Listening to little clips here and there from Thieme will give you a distorted view of his ministry.
I can tell from what certain people have said about some of his doctrines that they either haven't heard the whole story or they are extremely biased. Right man Right woman, is a perfect example. I believe whole-heartedly in that doctrine, and it hasn't destroyed my marriage. It has made it stronger. And guess, what. I believe I didn't marry my right woman. But it doesn't matter. Grace trumps all. When you are studying His word, and seeking His will, He can and will always turn a bad situation into a good one, cursing into blessing. Right man/right woman is the ideal situation. But Thieme never once implied that marriage can't work outside of that scenario, or that divorce is ever a viable alternative.
This is just one example, of people getting their dander up at a somewhat shocking remark, and not listening to the rest of the message.
rrmoderator, why is it that some of my posts don't get posted?
I was almost certain I had already responded to this, but I don't see my comment anywhere.