Persecution Today: General Assembly Churches

As you can see God’s son and His church have always been lied on, rumored against, and vehemently persecuted (II Peter 2:1-2). It is with this understanding that we more cheerfully accept our destiny to experience some of the same treatment by individuals who have been misguided and have lost their way. In addition, we expect some people to have negative comments when they are corrected for improper conduct, are mentally unstable, or when something meaningful for God is being done. It is unfortunate that when people hear lies and rumors, they often don’t have a chance to hear the whole story and even assess the credibility of the speaker. Although we have found defending ourselves unnecessary, time would fail us to mention some of the items that we have in our possession listed below:

Documented proof to disprove all accusations made by disgruntled individuals.

Letters of apology from individuals who were convicted by the false things they said against us.

Letters from police departments showing our outstanding record in the communities in which we worship.

Letters on file of the unchristian-like conduct of individuals who when corrected got upset and gave their life to trying to discredit our churches.

Accusers who later went to prison for breaking the law and participating in fraudulent activities.

Accusers with known and medically verified mental conditions.

However, we are amazed by some of the things that we have heard about ourselves from people who have never even attended our churches. Below are some of our favorites:

Lies/Rumors: “Don’t go to that church they have guns on the roof and locks on the doors to prevent you from leaving until service is over.”

Truth: This is just a boldface lie and in fact would be unallowable by the city authorities in the numerous cities that we have churches. Interestingly enough, we have been around for more than 30 years and have never had anything but an excellent relationship with law enforcement and they have always been very responsive to our needs.

Lies/Rumors: “The people who attend General Assembly Churches are too dedicated and therefore must be affected by something the church is putting in their drinks when they serve dinner every Sunday.”

Truth: While the statement about putting something in drinks is ridiculous and almost humorous, it is true that we have faithfully served our people every Sunday with a full course meal. For some of our faithful congregants this may be the best meal their family may have had all week. We have done this free of charge every week and not just on a special day (i.e. Thanksgiving or Christmas) like some churches.

Lies/Rumors: “That church uses mind-controlling tactics to get people to stay dedicated to what they believe. Furthermore, if you go to that church you will get brainwashed.”

Truth: First of all, we must understand that anyone who is not in control of their mind is a dangerous person. If anything, it is best when a person’s mind is under some sort of control. We definitely believe and teach our congregants to let the Lord and His doctrine take control of their mind. Any mind that is absent of the controlling force of the word of God is destined for Christian failure. It is interesting how many people will find it common for a person to allow a profession, a military position, and/or money to control their mind, but get concerned when someone gets too dedicated to God’s word. We believe the word of God is what changes a person’s way of thinking and alters a carnal mindset to a spiritual mindset.

Lies/Rumors: “That church teaches its people to hate their families and doesn’t believe that its congregants should have children.”

Truth: It is unfortunate that lies spread ten times faster than the truth, nevertheless thank God that when you go to the source you can get pure and clean truth. This lie always amazes us since it is so far from everything that we stand for. We do believe that no man or woman should put their biological family, job, hobbies, personal goals and even the desires of their heart before God. We believe that God should be the priority of every Christian, no matter what the sacrifice. However, should someone find themselves in the unfavorable situation in which someone in their family does not wish to serve God they should possess no hate, anger, or malice towards that family member.

Along with the lies regarding family that a few misguided individuals once spread about us, came the lie about how we feel about children. This lie is very easy to address because it is blatantly false. It is a strange paradox for a church who does not care about children to have two multi-million dollar gymnasiums, a thriving sports program, an annual graduates dinner for scores of youth, an annual Disneyland trip for high school graduates, a youth development department dedicated to assisting hundreds of youth, life skills seminars to help youth develop basic survival skills, and a congregation filled with the lively “cry of children” at times even briefly interrupting some of our most powerful sermons. In fact, we would dare to say that our churches are some of the most supportive churches for children both naturally and spiritually, and we are pleased at the outstanding youth and adults that our churches have produced. We are confident that our youth are second to none.

Lies/Rumors: “It is clear that the church is a cult! It must be, look at how dedicated the people are to that church. No one should take church that serious!”

Truth: First of all, we must ask what is a cult? Next, we must ask who is qualified to call someone a cult? What is a cult expert and how do you become one? Disgruntled people as well as self-proclaimed cult experts question the validity of almost every church in the nation, but who questions their credibility to ask questions? Is there a university for cult experts? One man’s cult is another man’s favorite church.

Since many unlearned individuals today are lured in by so many who claim to know about churches and seek to judge one church to be normal and another to be a cult, we would like to define what a cult is. Webster defines a cult as “a quasi-religious group, often living in a colony, with a charismatic leader who indoctrinates members with unorthodox or extremist views. A devoted attachment to, or extravagant admiration for, a person, principle, or lifestyle...” According to this definition was Jesus Christ a cult leader? Was Jesus Christ a charismatic person? Did Apostle Paul indoctrinate people with extremist views in the time that he lived? Did people admire the twelve apostles and seek to live by their principles and lifestyle? What is an extremist view? Was it an extreme view when the early Europeans decided to overthrow the Native Americans and start a new America? Was it an extremist view when Dr. King proclaimed his dream to see children of all races joining hands in the 60s? Was it an extremist view when Mahatma Gandhi sought to bring peace between the Hindus and the Muslims of his time? Was it an extremist view when John F. Kennedy so eloquently asked America to “ask what they could do for their country,” instead of what their country could do for them? As you can see by Webster’s definition there could be, and could have been many defined as a cult. In fact, our government, our military, and even our local social clubs may be in danger of being a cult by this definition

Our churches have been around for more than 30 years and are filled with common people of all walks of life and from almost every nation, ethnicity, and social status. From top-notch executives, to common, hardworking truck drivers, we are honored to have such a diverse cross-section of “free thinking” people. Our church emphasizes receiving a personal revelation and often admonishes our congregants to not attempt to convince or be convinced by anyone to come or stay in our churches. It is our opinion that if someone can talk you into coming or staying in our churches then someone can talk you into leaving. However, if God shows you that this church is where you need to be to grow as a spiritual Christian, there is nothing that anyone can do to take that away from you.

Our churches have a solid leadership of elders in several states and multiple cities throughout America. These elders work together to care for the needs of the people in distinct harmony with the pattern and example left by the Early Church. We have been taught that “a one man rule” is a “dangerous rule,” and as a result our churches are operated by a unified brotherhood of elders with a united vision; the churches desire to do all things according to the scriptures. Unlike so many churches of the past that were built into one man, our assemblies are built into Christ and because of this, there is great safety and comfort. As Paul stated in II Corinthians 3:17, “… and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Finally, we are no different than the Corinthian Church. We teach divine order, but we have people that are common and face the problems of all humans bound by gravity and dependent on oxygen. We face the same problems that the rest of society faces. Nevertheless, the church of God was created to address these problems not to only celebrate past solutions. Like the church at Corinth, we are confronted with new challenges all of the time and are thankful that we have a leadership and a team of dedicated saints that have been able to rise above challenges and persevere through life’s obstacles. In the Church of Corinth there was a mixture of everything. There was envy, jealousy, division and confusion present in the Corinthian Church. Not only that, when we take a detailed trip through the book of I Corinthians we see troubles on every side. Below are just some of the problems that were evident:

Chapter 1: Paul begs the brethren to work in unity and have no division among them.
Chapter 3: Paul addressed the church’s growth level and called them carnal. He went on to mention that the church had envy, strife, and division among them. Some went as far as choosing who was their favorite minister between Paul and Apollos.
Chapter 4: Individuals tried to judge Paul and as a result he stated, “it is a small thing that I be judged of you…”
Chapter 5: Paul had to address a situation where a man had his father’s wife and as a result had to be disfellowshipped.
Chapter 6: Paul had to address saints in the church who were going to law against each other because they could not resolve things amongst themselves.
Chapter 7: Paul addressed the laws of marriage because of marital problems that had increased in the church.
Chapter 8: Paul had to address people who had differences about eating various types of meat.
Chapter 9: Paul had to address people who questioned his Apostleship.
Chapter 10: Paul addressed people who were eating things that were offered to idols.
Chapter 11: Paul had to address problems of people taking the Lord’s supper lightly, while not being spiritual enough to understand what it really meant.
Chapter 12: Paul had to teach the church to think as a body because there was too much separation amongst them.
Chapter 13: Paul had to emphasize the importance of charity to keep the church focused.
Chapter 14: Paul had to address church order because people were being disorderly in the church services at Corinth.
Chapter 15: Paul had to address the subject of the resurrection because there were men who were promoting that Paul’s teachings on the resurrection were invalid.

Despite all of these challenges, the Corinthian church was still the true Body of Christ and they were deeply rooted in the order of God. Many have asked if we feel that we are the only church. We often like to emphasize some things to them. First, we must come to see that the Lord only has one church, which is the Body of Christ. Our churches are dedicated to operating in an order that would qualify us to call ourselves a part of the Body of Christ. Just because a church calls itself a church or even the Body of Christ, doesn’t mean it is recognized by God. In fact, there were many religious denominations in existence while Jesus was establishing the Body of Christ. With this in mind, we must ask if you could not be in a religious denomination in the days of Jesus and still be in the Body of Christ; then, how could you be in a religious denomination and still be in the Body of Christ today?

If you came to the Corinthian Church looking for problems, you would have definitely found them. However, Jesus forewarned the twelve, years before the Corinthian Church, that “the pure in heart” would see God. If you came to the Corinthian Church with a pure heart you would have seen the manifestations of God. Likewise, when you come to the Body of Christ today you will see God working mightily and yet there will be some who don’t receive the truth, and will manifest this in their conduct and behavior. Nevertheless, the true Body of Christ will continue to persevere through all of its trials, tribulations and persecutions. There are many counterfeit churches that exist today, however wherever there is “a counterfeit” there must be “a real”. Although there will be intense persecutions someone must still ask the question, “will the real Body of Christ please stand up!”