I don’t have a clue about where the upcoming Labor Day Meetings will be this year, or who is on the roster for giving talks. I don’t really think about or care about such things, although I’m always interested when people send me talks they find interesting. The hard part is listening to all the audio, which is usually light on Biblical content. However, if anyone sends me the audio, I will dutifully listen, so the rest of you don’t have to. (OK, I’m just being sarcastic, I’ll actually post the full audio for the world to listen to, whether I agree with it it or not.)
It’s not that I’m opposed to Stanton having a Labor Day Meeting, or Thanksgiving Meeting, or whatever they want to call their various holiday celebrations. I think it’s awesome to get together and fellowship with like-minded believers, and listen to talks from respected speakers. But who gets the privilege of speaking? Why do some, and not others? It seems like a bit of a social club with a whole lot of man-pleasing going on.
For a little bit of history, I grew up preaching, though not in the Stanton group. When my dad took me to a different Church of Christ after being withdrawn from when I was six and a half years old, it was a “mutual edification” sect. This meant that we had no paid preacher. So when I was baptized at 17, I started preaching, like the other men in the congregation who wanted to.
I have to say, I preached some doozies in my younger years. I kept my notes from sermons in a file cabinet, and years later, when moving and going through old files, I remember reading through them and shaking my head in shame at the things I’d said. I actually drafted an email one time and apologized to a few people I know I had offended by my unloving words.
I wonder if this same self-awareness will come upon the speakers at Stanton’s various Labor Day Meetings. My prayer is this: Stop propping up an institution that preaches and teaches unbiblical doctrines of men. Stop lending your name to the cause of Stanton. Some of you have an inkling that you are on the wrong track, and yet you still do it. Others of you don’t yet know it—but you will.
Keep learning. Keep immersing yourself in the scriptures. Contact me (it will be in 100% confidence) if you want to bounce your thoughts off of someone outside of Stanton. And have a good Labor Day Meeting.
Yes, Stanton has a habit of exalting certain preachers, and they have a hard time letting the younger generation take over. The reason why is, because so many of the younger generation see so much of the hypocrisy of Stanton, and will try to change it, which would discredit the older teachers. They see how Merie’s errors were exposed, and aren’t anxious for their own to be exposed as well. As the older generation stifles the younger generation, because the older generation has convinced themselves, as the Pharisees did in Christ’s day, that their experience and learning is superior, and… Read more »
Let me also say, it’s very sad, because Stanton’s older preachers have so much wisdom. HW, TC, GP, DS, TP, CS, HB, MG, JI, GI, SQ, KG, SR, GS, JJ, DJ, BJ, CS, BB, SM, AM, MM, LW, JG, DW, AM, JG, TF, PG, NW, MM. SC, JC, JW, MO, and many more are honestly some of the most virtuous and wise men in America. I will likely never tire of hearing their sermons, and enjoy listening to them still today. They make me smile, they make me examine myself, and they make me a better person. Christ instructed to… Read more »
Ryan, if the ones you mentioned were so wise they would change. They all are engrained in Merie’s rules and teachings which makes them not wise at all. Great you enjoy the lessons they teach. The men I’ve been hearing put them all to shame. Exception SR.
I have to go with Craig on this one. Wisdom is as wisdom does. Continuing to promote the twisted teachings of Stanton doesn’t lend much credibility to these preachers. Not knocking them personally, as my post above points out. But being able to turn out nice sounding, flowery prose for two or three hours straight does not mean you’re Biblically grounded.
Have you ever listened to a pastor from a church outside of Church of Christ? I have and while some are better than others for sure many teach the truth and may I say I have never felt oppressed or depressed for that matter from the teaching. I have felt convicted for sure but also the entire experience with music and mostly a loving congregation (yes there are always a few that are aloof or maybe shy or hurting so badly they seem aloof) and some sleeping . I have also heard evangelists and guest preachers/pastors that their message is… Read more »
When you are in the group, you would never be OK listening to a non-sect sermon, like on the radio, in a podcast, or worse, visiting another church. You are constantly told how everyone else has a one-way ticket to hell—so why would you want to take advice from those heathens? In their minds, no one outside of Stanton has any spiritual wisdom to offer. Those who are courageous enough to listen to outside sermons, podcasts, etc. have to keep it hush hush.
And that is why it is called a cult. If only they would open their minds and read about cults.
I see these meetings have an added purpose. First November and May meetings. Then 4th of July meetings. Then December meetings. And also Labor Day meetings. Hmmm So all year long people who want to visit family and can’t because of their weekly commitments would at least get to visit them during some of these holidays. Now you have to hang out with Stanton during these added times. They’re not gonna be happy until they completely disconnect people from their non-cult family members. This entirely makes sense for those who have already cut off their families. They need to see… Read more »
You are absolutely right. Praise God we were never cut off but had family dinners weekly with Craig and family. It is called brainwashing.
I mean the meetings are called brainwashing not our weekly dinners.
I think you nailed the dual purpose of so many meetings. I think it’s part of the searing of the conscience, actually. The mind is constantly diverted from feeling any love for non-sect family members, spending any time with them, etc. Then spend hours listening to talks reinforcing and justifying their choices. Eventually, you become so calloused you turn your own daughter away when she and her baby are in need—and worse, justify it and try to explain it away. Shameful.
MLong-you hit the nail square on the head! For some reason, Merie’s group believes that it has to keep everyone super busy. I remember that in Tampa we were doing home studies, so we were “free” on Thursday nights. Some of the younger Christians would take the opportunity to visit relatives who were in the Greenville congregation. They would leave after work on Thursday and return sometime on Saturday. The problem that some, if not all, of the “older ones” found themselves being asked questions that they didn’t want to answer. Questions about the differences in the way that matters… Read more »
I agree with a lot of this. They know and repeat what the scriptures say and teach it, but their applications are where they fail. I asked CS (the preacher from the south) is I am to follow scripture or example as they are not the same in Tacoma. I have learned a lot from a lot of people in Stanton group, but their exercising has a lot to be desired. I have heard a lot of good things in the meetings and in the talks. I say this because I do prove all things as they need to be… Read more »
Yes, while there are lots of good things shared and taught in a lot of the talks, as Lynn pointed out, they fall short in the execution of it big time. Even though we are all a work in progress, the SCOC puffs themselves up and think they are better than everyone else. In listening to sermons or different talks from meetings I hear things like: “No one loves like us!” “No one teaches like us!” “No one evangelizes like us!” The reason they don’t share their teachings is because when tested under public scrutiny, a lot of their claims… Read more »
Those are all excellent points AFP!
I agree!
Very true. They constantly praise themselves for being better than every one else. Deriding others and praising oneself. That reminds me of someone in the Bible. Yet, Stanton will constantly use this to call those they don’t agree with, Pharisees. Including yours truly. Yet, I never denied my faults and never said I was better than them. Yet, Stanton’s leaders admit to few or no faults, but constantly call out others faults. Luke 18:10-14 King James Version (KJV) 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee… Read more »
AFP, great points. I also used to think they were unique in the way the organization runs. But it’s actually quite similar to a ton of other groups! A man I know recently told me about a cult group here in SA and I honestly thought it was Merie’s church! But no, when we got into the details, I realized it was not. But a lot of the same things. distancing people from families, keeping them very busy, saying they are the only ones, over-loving people who are their followers, acting as if the world is against them, etc. He… Read more »
Wore my MAGA hat into Stanton, on purpose. First because Stanton does not understand it’s own Founder, Alexander Campbell was involved in politics, and second, because we wouldn’t have our nation if men who were Christians did not get involved in politics. Of course, I was called out by a younger preacher, who does not appreciate church or America’s history at all. He said we aren’t here to Make America Great Again. Apparently, he’s just fine with the current state of America. $22 trillion of debt. 110 million Americans with an STD. $740 billion a year for drug, tobacco, and… Read more »
Man, you are a glutton for punishment, but I can appreciate how you continue to push the envelope with Stanton. The whole MAGA hat thing is funny. It would have been better for him to not make a big deal of it. By not allowing you to wear it and commenting about it tells everyone that he is into politics and which side he is on. JS here in SA talks politics often and he was a libertarian, leaned republican, from what I could tell. So for all their talk of how they don’t do politics, trust me, when the… Read more »