Hi Folks Yes, Ifellaway, good point - it's not easy to say who has been advised to look to God instead of medicine and how they were advised in this way. I do believe you are right about targeted sermons though. In particular mental illness of any nature was always viewed as satanic in origin and therefore, very few would admit to having depression or other mental problems but a surpr
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Hi Clive I don't know about aids patients but I have certainly heard of people being advised to look to God instead of medication for various illnesses. I'm led to believe that Mary Black died prematurely precisely because she waited for God to heal her instead of seeking professional medical help when it could have been of benefit to her. So I guess they probably would be advisi
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Hi guys Just to let you know, I finally plucked up the courage to talk to my folks about some of this. It seems that Joan Jewell had a hand in the antics that drove them out of SMC (although I haven't yet asked about details) but my suspicions are that she (JJ) was full of jealousy and desperately wanted the PG platform and all the 'glory and honour' that she thinks goes with t
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Hi folks I have to say that I agree with you, Rensil, with regards to SMC teaching one thing and doing another. They have been doing that forever! What is being taught in bible studies is as different from the actual practices of the leaders as chocolate is from cheese. This is where the hypocrisy has come from all these years. Leaders of SMC are pass-masters at preaching 'Don'
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Hi folks You've all had enough time to think about what's most important when we discuss the kind of un-holy 'teaching' we know goes on in SMC, and indeed many so-called 'holy' places (not just churches). The single most important group of people are the children and young people who have no voice and no free will to disagree with what they are being taught or
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Hi folks Thanks Clive and Rensil, for your supportive words. First, I agree with you, Rensil that reporting such abuse was not common back then but I do believe that if I hadn't been so afraid of the 'demon possession' thing (and Miss T and HB) I wouldn't have been so afraid that my parents would stop loving me if I had talked to them about this back then. I desperate
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Hi folks Ifellaway, thanks for your supportive words. The reason I shared these personal experiences here was to point out that the level of control exerted by those 'in power' in SMC can lead to very harmful situations for children who are taught to respect all adults and do as they are told, without question, or face the wrath of God. We talked before about abuse of children wi
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Hi Ifellaway Yes, I agree that some form of control has to be exerted over technology used in schools to protect kids, however, should that go as far as being able to read their personal emails or text messages? I don't know, I'm not sure what the law is at the moment when it comes to kids' access to email and texting while on school property. Perhaps some of the teachers or s
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Hi all It is true that 'knowledge is power' and while we are capable of learning new things and gaining new understanding, we have not reached 100% brain capacity. What is most interesting to me is that education and gaining knowledge and understanding, beyond the school curriculum and SMC teachings, was never really a part of what SMC taught. In fact, when I attended the church, t
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Hi guys Nice to be back, I was moving hoose and off-line for a wee bit. Clive, just to answer your point about my 'firm belief', I chose to believe 'firmly' that we are capable of a lot more than we actually do at the moment. It's scientific fact that we only use a small percentage of the total capacity of our brains - what do you think the other, unused, 70 odd pe
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Hi Ifellaway OK, you got me, I'm afraid I've had that addiction since the Atari first came out, but I hid behind a cushion during the Omen, so does that mean I'm OK? :-) I'll tell you though how 'such people can sleep at night' - it's because they actually BELIEVE that they are different from everyone else and they have some special anointing that means e
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Hi guys I'm on high alert for the hitmen, Ifellaway, I luved that! On a serious note though, I firmly believe that if enough people around the world prayed for it, they could move Mount Everest to London! We are all spiritually connected and we all have the spiritual power to make things happen through prayer together - God says so in the Bible. We also have evidence of prayers bein
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Hi Wistongirl, Yes I remember that Christmas very well and, although my parents didn't observe the 'new rule', there were those of my family who did and it was a very subdued and quite awkward Christmas for all I think, thankfully I think the 'rule' only lasted for that particular year - I'm not sure if anyone actually observed it beyond that but I may be wrong th
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Hi folks Haven't had a chance to listen to that interview yet Clive, but that's probably due to my lousy internet connection - I'll try again later. Ifellaway, you hit the nail on the head about the possibility of manipulation of any individual. Personally I believe that the reason there are still people on the pews reverently believing is to do with the 'wonderful fe
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Hey Wistongirl, don't stop talking to us please. Sometimes we get a bit caught up and occasionally a raw nerve gets touched but there are some of us who do have mixed memories about various times in SMC and there are others who have more painful memories. The point is that, for the most part, the people we once knew so many years ago are either gone now or, if they've stayed they have
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Hi folks Yes, we see the damage and the corruption which lies under the better memories and we don't forget those who are still finding it hard to deal with the influences of SMC on their lives. I too regret my wedding, although I had only just left the church I still didn't want to disrespect my parents or God and, after much argument from my intended, I decided not to have a dan
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Hi guys LOL, you guys crack me up - I too remember trying to hide the 'holes' in my ears under one of these wee head-square things that became all the rage after the crocheted berets!! Remember those? We used to tie them at the back of the neck and you could pull the edges down to cover your earlobes. Of course I did eventually get found out and had to let those first holes heal u
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Hi Courage It's not an easy subject to approach with kids and will depend really on how old your kids are. If you are a family who knows the Bible I would suggest that you use a Bible concordance to find all you can about 'False prophets' and how God tells us to deal with such people and relate it to the kind of teaching your relative is receiving in this cult. If your kids ar
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Hi Wistongirl Lovely to hear from you and welcome to the family! I'm so glad you've found a fuller life now and can put the past behind you. You really echo my thoughts about the commercial side of the church but the major fact about that is the commercial ventures have never made enough in profits to warrant continuing in business, in fact a good proportion of the money the congre
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Hi again! I was just reminiscing and thinking about the days when SMC had some semblance of a normal healthy church about them, at least to a greater extent than they seem to have now - before commercialism raddled their spiritual brains. I do remember all the instruments, in the early days... you know, Hugh Gilchrist on the coronet, Hugh McConnachie on the trombone, Bobby Cleary on the oom
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Hi folks Great to see some 'old faces' back in town! Hi guys :-) Yes, Rensil I remember quite a few of the visiting speakers you mentioned and how vastly different they were from the then-leaders of SMC. Particularly Jackie Pullinger and Jean Darnall. I used to love those meetings with visiting speakers because you always went away feeling uplifted instead of beating yourself u
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Ifellaway, refresh your browser - we must've been posting at the same time and I seem to have 'stolen' the post just before the one you just made.. so you can "read all about it" if you refresh your browser and look above your recent post. PS sorry, will try not to mention the BP word again - wouldn't want to be the cause of your backsliding! :-) I can't s
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Hi folks ThePetitor, your complaints procedures seem pretty accurate to me, think we might include them in the rulebook volume 2!! When it's written down like that it does send a chill down the spine and shows the manipulation and control being exerted over people. If a catholic priest was to recount, on the public platform, all the confessions he heard in private he'd be out of a
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Sorry, just to pick up on something else you said, Covlass, "I have heard Diana address young people on the point of marriage and tell them not to expect to get married. In fact to do the opposite. She said that God is big enough to find you a partner and show you who that is, if he wants you to marry." I have to wonder.. if DR thinks that's true, why did she steal someone el
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Hi Covlass, Yes, you are so right and, when you put it that way, I can clearly remember such words and phrases being used by Miss T & Co. back in the day. I can see how the majority of what we were taught were OLD testament teachings interspersed with Miss T's and Mr. B's own versions of Biblical events and teachings. So it's really like they don't believe that Jesus
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PS. I loooove black pudding - I'm obviously demon possessed though! :-)
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Hi folks LOL, you're right Covlass those are some quite important rules that I missed out and I'm sure there must be some more that have escaped my mind just now - but I'll have a think and maybe post a rule book part 2 later. :-) Ifellaway, you crack me up!! Although it's very funny it does also make a complete mockery of the discernment rubbish doesn't it? It&#
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Hi folks Rensil and Ifellaway, ROTFLMFAO (Rolling on the floor laughing my flipping ass off)!! I looooove Stephen King! Anyway, I took it upon myself to help the leaders of SMC out with their rulebook, so they don't even have to lift a finger. Here it is: 1. All women have lesbian tendencies and must be delivered from them. 2. All men are too hilarious and must be silenced 3.
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Hi folks I was just passing through and couldn't believe how similar the postings here are to the postings about the Scottish Church, Struthers Memorial Church in Greenock. They too have leaders who believe they are specially anointed by God and what they say is the same as what God says. In the Struthers thread, we have proved many times how damaging these leaders are and have exposed
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Hi folks Welcome E.Ray, it's so good to hear from you and to have another voice added to the multitude - giving more credence to what we have all been saying for so long. I knew DR while she was still a young woman and I have previously posted my own feelings of apprehension when around her. I was utterly shocked to discover that she is a pastor of SMC. To me it made absolutely no sens
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