tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post5603870123177770582..comments2022-10-29T14:44:52.395-06:00Comments on HeIsSailing: Conversions and De-Conversions - Awake, My Soul, And With The SunHeIsSailinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09154368305822276669noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post-45692169320389652822015-08-29T22:36:27.782-06:002015-08-29T22:36:27.782-06:00Johnzh, I recently drove up to Albuquerque to show...Johnzh, I recently drove up to Albuquerque to show my wife this Calvary Chapel church that I once attended. In the 20 years since I last attended, it has turned from a mega-church into a christian compound. The back lot now has ball courts, a skate park, a coffee shop, a gym, a radio station, and on and on. The money to build these extravagant luxuries came from the extraction of money from the Calvary Chapel congregation, including a very broke waiter and cook who gave everything he could from his meager salary. The general consensus of your British neighbors is absolutely correct. Mega Church pastors are purveyors of ignorance and superstition and are masters of manipulation. Look, I know how charismatic Skip Heitzig is. I sat in his congregation for years, mesmerized by his charm, smile, good looks, youth, message, and yes, his way around the Bible. But I have since discovered that his message is, not only irrational nonsense, but detrimental to my emotional maturity and self esteem. Why do you think it is bizarre that I felt condemned and unworthy in Calvary Chapel, when Skip Heitzig constantly said that my condition as a human was Condemned and Unworthy without Jesus? I could only listen to him tell me how worthless I was, and see the effect that low self-esteem had on his deluded congregation, before I knew I had to get out of that church. I left Calvary Chapel in 1993, and I still remember the relief, the weight of guilt immediately lifting from my suffocated self-esteem. Repent? Change direction? You have got to be kidding.HeIsSailinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09154368305822276669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post-23582203895052251352015-08-24T05:13:45.966-06:002015-08-24T05:13:45.966-06:00I find your comments about your time at Calvary Ch...I find your comments about your time at Calvary Chapel left you feeling condemned, unworthy etc - quite bizarre.<br /><br />I have never attended Calvary Chapel in Alburquerque but I have spent the last couple of weeks listening to Skip Heitzig's bible expositions both in 'The Bible from 30,000 ft and his series on Genesis and having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for the last 33 years it is in my experience some of the most balanced and uplifting teaching I can recall hearing, and especially from an American preacher. (I'm British by the way and the general consensus over here is that many pastors of mega churches spend their lives extracting money from their congregations and TV viewers). <br /><br />if you have heart to receive advice from a perfect stranger, it would be to repent ie change direction, that is provided you haven't hardened your heart to a place where you can't find a place of repentance. If you are finding it impossible to repent then show God you are serious by stopping being a stumbling block to others and remove the plank from your own eye do that you can see clearly to help others get the speck out of theirs. Let me know if I can be of help. John.Johnzhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post-83989252783580841172012-09-02T20:55:38.251-06:002012-09-02T20:55:38.251-06:00Brenda, thanks for your continued interest. There...Brenda, thanks for your continued interest. There is plenty more coming very soon. I am typing the next exciting chapter right now!! HeIsSailinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09154368305822276669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post-30360573060628763202012-09-01T19:03:03.907-06:002012-09-01T19:03:03.907-06:00Thanks for this latest installment to your story. ...Thanks for this latest installment to your story. Loved reading it!Brendahttp://www.leftchristianity.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post-11679893642137941042012-08-29T04:53:54.602-06:002012-08-29T04:53:54.602-06:00Zoe, UnkleE, DoorDoNot, thank you again for your i...Zoe, UnkleE, DoorDoNot, thank you again for your interest. I spent a couple of months away from the computer, but I am now back writing again. Plenty more coming soon!!HeIsSailinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09154368305822276669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post-67851345652045467182012-08-26T21:54:14.626-06:002012-08-26T21:54:14.626-06:00I was just thinking of you and wondering about you...I was just thinking of you and wondering about your next installment. I continue to read with interest. You know, I also have found my curiosity expanding the farther I drift from my fundamentalist beliefs. DoOrDoNothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15775977854913362396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post-81035599838883208762012-08-26T06:34:44.091-06:002012-08-26T06:34:44.091-06:00G'day HiS, just letting you know I'm still...G'day HiS, just letting you know I'm still reading, appreciating and learning from what you write. Thanks. Best wishes.unkleEhttp://www.is-there-a-god.info/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2923191003698738067.post-87757635891846514502012-08-25T17:24:07.155-06:002012-08-25T17:24:07.155-06:00Your story continues to be a very interesting one....Your story continues to be a very interesting one. One I very much relate to, especially the part where one becomes totally weary and worn by the constant reminder of our wretched worminess. <br /><br />I'd like to give B and her father three cheers for their encouragment towards you. :-)... Zoe ~http://secularwings.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com