28
March
23
March
Where are all the radical Jesus followers?
Merie relished the word "militant." Perhaps she was militant, but I think in all the wrong ways. She wasn't afraid to refuse mentoring from older and wiser Christians her entire life, for instance. She fearlessly split churches (the only legitimate reason for Biblical withdrawal). She was even withdrawn from for her divisiveness in 1958 and never "made herself right" (Stanton's lingo). She attacked the elders and preachers of her day relentlessly in her open letters, militantly and publicly. This is also something the modern SCOC withdraws for. She attacked and separated herself from friends and family, dividing marriages (including her own) and separating fathers and mothers from each other and from their kids. All this was in pursuit of her little experiment in "militancy." As [...]
21
March
Taping fruit to a dead tree
Someone told me a few years ago that there's an expression in the SCOC that "dead churches" are just taping dead fruit to the tree, or taping fruit to a dead tree. I'm not sure now which expression they use, but I really like the latter. It's the equivalent of saying someone is just photoshopping their results, or astroturfing them. It's a very colorful phrase that is packed with a lot of meaning. Ironically, though, taping fruit to a dead tree is precisely what Stanton does. In fact, it's the only thing a legalistic church, Stanton or otherwise, can do. There is no better metaphor for legalism (law-keeping as a means to justification before God) than taping fruit to a dead tree. Our human will [...]
20
March
My Story, by Craig Cusick
I apologize that I've had this article in the queue for quite some time. I finally got it processed and uploaded—Craig, thank you for your patience and the time you spent writing this. Craig, whom many of you have seen in the comments here, preached for many years at the Portland congregation of SCOC, but increasingly saw areas of disagreement with other teachers and evangelists. He stopped preaching eventually, and it was mutually decided with "counsel" (advice from a teacher) that his baptism wasn't good; he was declared "not" a member anymore. He continued to attend on Sundays without taking the Lord's supper, just to spend time with his family. But after May Week 2017, a preacher returned and told him that his baptism was [...]
20
March
Marriage, sex, and submission
That title should get your attention. :-) My wife and I have been enormously blessed in our marriage. It's not a perfect marriage—no marriage is, because it's made up of two imperfect people. Things cannot be greater than the sum of their parts. Or can they? We have had highs and lows in our 29 years. But just as the highs get higher, so do the lows—they get higher as well. Higher highs and higher lows is good in investing, but it's a spiritual experience in marriage. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm not saying you have to be a Christian to have a good marriage. I'd like to say you did, because I would love for all of you to be believers [...]
14
March
Donna Bennum – Part III
Thanks Donna for taking the time to do these videos!
