Hi mikewilson Thanks for the reminder, I only vaguley remember Geroge Marshall although I think my parents probably know him quite well. The thing is that many people did receive healing in SMC because God doesn't abandon those who are true to him (regardless of which church they attend or what religion they are). Just because the leaders of the church have questionable practices doesn&
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Hi mikewilson Lovely to see you here! I only have a vague recollection of the healing you're talking about but it does strike a chord with me, I think I may have been too young at the time to be privvy to all the details. Either that, or it may have been around the time when I was rebelling and going to fewer of the Greenock services. Maybe someone else might remember more about
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Hi again Sorry, I know I probably bored you silly with my last looooong post but here's another wee thought. I Googled SMC and there we are, still prominent on the first search page, although there are numerous flikr sites and Cumbernauld sites and sites for all the various churches - we're still at the top - giving anyone who is thinking about joining SMC the chance to make a wel
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PS. I should clarify my point about money being spent wisely. I had left the church BEFORE the vanity publishing, shares, bookshops, coffee shops and schools were even thought of and, in those days, money was collected solely for the upkeep of the church buildings and charitible works. xxx
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Hi guys Well, you may think so Clive, but I stand by my comments on my much loved laptop. My students have no problems with reading, writing and uploading their work and all the software they use, is completely FREE – No charge at all. Anyway, I think you are missing the real point here which is less to do with slating the i-Pad and more to do with the justification for the expense in the
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PS. Just as an after-thought. The iPad costs around £400 for 32GB of memory while I have 600GB of memory on a laptop which cost me £300 with a 2 year guarantee and is WAY MORE powerful than any tablet on the market today.
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Hi Clive I beg to disagree about the downloading of e-Books onto a pc. I use a laptop (windows 7) and all my work is done online. I create e-books for the distance learning market and I read e-books on my laptop with no problems what-so-ever. I've been doing this for years now and wouldn't even think about a tablet since they do nothing more than my laptop already does. The e-boo
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Hi Clive Yes, but whatever you can download to an iPad can also be downloaded to a desk top pc at half the price. For a charity organisation who are already losing money, it would be more sensible to go for the cheaper option, don't you think?
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Hi guys I too had a bit of a hoot at that article, Clive, and I certainly identified with quite a few of the points made but most of them were fairly harmless, if a little mis-guided. Rensil is right about the control over young people in SMC. I've experienced such control in my past and, oh the palavver when I tried to hide my pierced ears from my Mum! In those days the SMC fashion in
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Hi folks I'm reminded of how easily we are blinded by religion. Sometimes, it seems, people who profess to be Christians are the first to cast stones at those who don't follow their particular brand of Christianity and this keeps people apart instead of bringing them together. I think it is great that churches are beginning to get together and share their ideas and experiences; i
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Hi guys Great to see you, MagicCarrot! I agree wholeheartedly with you and have quoted some of these scriptures myself, and similar. There is a very 'elective' and 'selfish' way of presenting the Word of God in SMC. Everything which is taught in the church is directed at the 'Self' and there is no room for distractions of any kind (including spouses, childr
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Hi folks Yes, Rensil I agree that it's a bit strange for a retired man to be going to work with his wife but it makes me wonder 'for what purpose?'. Is it a regular thing? Does he have some particular knowledge which the school-kids need that their own teacher can't give them? The curriculum and they way teachers have to perform has changed so much and so often over
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Hi all Truthseeker9001 - You are very right and I've already had my tuppeny bit's worth with OSCR. However, I believe it won't really matter to SMC leaders even if they do lose their charity status, I doubt if it will change their minds about how they teach God's word. To my mind, the congregation should be giving their hard-earned money to more worthy causes - such as
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Hi Rensil Thanks for that. I really didn't realise the name meant nothing but I vaguely remember books by JP Struthers going around the church at one point and perhaps that's why I thought there was some deeper meaning to the naming of the organisation. Well that clears up one dilema anyway, at least I don't need to bust my brain over that confusion any more :-) It's a
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Hi B4U First I'd like to say "Totally well said, CovLass" and can I just add another thought. QuoteHe wanted us to be at church all the time and influenced by other believers than at home or any where else where we could be influenced by unbelievers. What kind of Christianity do you practice, B4U? Souls are not saved by closeting yourself inside four walls whether a
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Hi guys Yes, Covlass I believe you are so right. You'll be pleased to note that if you google 'Struthers memorial church' just now, we're still top of the first page! (Rock ON!) I was reading up on JP Struthers (for whom the church is named) and, would you believe it - JP Struthers was a theologian. Yes he studied theology at Glasgow and even won a few prizes. So h
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Hi guys Let me be first to wish you all the bestest New Year ever! I wanted to also point out that what SMC teaches is actually no different from the majority of independent churches around the world. They all have pastors who claim to have some holy insight and anointing and many even refer to having the 'mantle' of the pastor before them. Sound familiar? You see SMC are not
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Hi Clare Good to see you. You are so right, you have hit the nail smack bang on the head. I can't say for sure but I think the majority of the current leaders are school teachers. I also have to add that I have been amazed, while visiting other churches, at the tolerance for families with small children (who can't always stay quiet). It is so much different from the way we were
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Hi guys On the point about the child being dragged out of the meeting hall. I too witnessed such occassions and was in fact on the receiving end a couple of times when I was young myself. It's not just young kids who are treated in this way, I remember as a teenager at one of the camps, where some of the services were being held in the barn. My friend and I were sitting somewhere
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Hi Clive Point taken. Hi Kelvin My sincere apologies, I should not have identified you. I meant no harm but only wished to make a general point. Biiig love and hugggs to you and I'm deeply sorry for any harm caused. God bless xxx
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Hppy Sunday guys CovLass I agree with you. Abuse doesn't have to be physical to be abuse and, having been brought up in the church myself, I know the tactics used to 'condition' young people in the church. The constant assertions that we are all somehow un-holy and unworthy of God's love, even as Christians, and that we are all susceptible to demon-possession is enough
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Hi guys Just to get back to the whole point of this forum and maybe even get some answers from someone 'in the know'. These are the very succinct points which Chesterk55 summarised beautifully and are the burning questions which we all have regarding SMC and the teachings and actions of the pastors there: Chesterk55: Have exorcisms on children ever been performed in Struthers
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Hi guys Thanks Clive, yes you got me on that one :-). When the jug is full I just have to keep pouring till it's empty! The Curse of the Wordsmith - could be a new horror movie? On the issue of 'Child abuse' hopefully we're not alluding to sexual abuse here because I firmly believe that certainly DOES NOT go on in SMC. However, it could be argued that there are some m
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Hi guys I think some hackles have been drawn up and it might be worth just taking a deep breath and having a cup of tea :-) Everyone who posts here is entitled to an opinion but not everyone holds the same opinions and that's a good thing because it keeps our feet on the ground and hopefully makes the debate more balanced. It's difficult to be objective through pain and hurt an
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Hi guys Thanks for your comments Rensil my folks would be very happy to hear that and I appreciate your support. I'd also like to qualify my invitation to SMC leaders to contact me, for a chat, by excluding the leader of Cumbernauld church (got it right this time, Rensil :-)) from that invitation because I firmly believe she is a very dangerous person and could probably take the place
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Happy Sunday everyone! I've got just a couple of things to say today. @cbarb Based on what you have said, I wonder if your problem is actually with a few individuals? Thanks for that one Kelvin, it gave me a great belly laugh and shows that you really haven't read that many of my posts; most of which are regarding the TEACHING of SMC leaders, the lack of LOVE and RESPECT f
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Hi guys Another burning question. We all know that SMC stands alone and mixing with other churches was stopped about 40 odd years ago because they believed that SMC and only SMC had all the answers to living a holy life and didn't need to be mixing with 'less holy' people. Why then is the leader of the Glasgow church's own husband visiting and attending other meeting
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Hi guys Kelvin, I read your posts with interest and can see that you believe rather differently from those who have had more long-term contact with the church. You see I remember the days when the church was 'on a roll' and the membership was so huge they had to run two different camps in summer. In those days the people on the pulpits were really blessed and on fire for God... and
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Hi guys Financial mis-management is one thing but emotional and spiritual damage is something else entirely. I agree wholeheartedly that the figures in the recent accounts are questiionable when taken together with the ending balances of the previous years' accounts. I have an accounting degree and currently write courses and exams for budding accountants, so I do know what properly
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Hi guys Some interesting reading on Latigo214 regarding the recently filed annual accounts. Particularly interesting is the sudden change in the number of 'employees' between 2010 and 2011 with no explanation for the difference reported on both sets of accounts? Most disturbing is how a charity with debts of around a quarter of a million pounds can increase their staff by about 60%
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