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Date Posted:15/07/2008 6:28 PMCopy HTML


Or were the rules withheld.  Perhaps until one became well committed and involved, after witnessing to family and friends and after friendships are established within.  Only then, were some of the blank spaces filled in. Do they I wonder work on the fact that if the blank spaces are filled in after time has elapsed and a commitment made there is less chance of a person leaving.  So, you have become a christian and baptised in a Revival group, but were they up front with information about the organization you were to join?  I think not.  

I read the RCI rules and regulations on the forum, plus the separation policy which I had never read before, and I felt the same dismay as when I first saw the rules long after I and my family joined RCI.   I have in front of me 5 pages of RF rules, oops guidelines.  Most are old RCI, probably penned by Lloyd, but RF have added a few more.

On the recent ABC 4 Corners about Brisbane Christian Fellowship, Helen Pomery was taken unawares when the statement was made by the interviewer "Well, you did freely enter into this church"  Her entry into the organization was probably like mine and many others, not a fully informed consent. 

People wanting to become Anglican or Catholic are given instructions beforehand preparing them in the spiritual and what is required in the church.  In Revival it's instant, get into the tank because "today is the day of salvation and now is the appointed hour" and become spiritfilled as soon possible after, if not in the tank, and the Holy Spirit will do all the rest......but......there are rules hidden away.  They are rules not just guidelines.  Braking some can result in expulsion from the church or being put out for a time.

You are unconsciously joining an order, only orders such as lay Franciscans  or Dominicans etc make sure those wishing to join are fully aware of the rules of the order to enable an informed decision to be made.

Do you know of anyone in a Revival group to have been given the rules on entry?  I certainly wasn't.  I was told it was a group of spiritfilled people meeting in a hired hall who desired to follow the bible pattern exactly, as directed by the Holy Spirit.  As with all new people, I was advised to attend all meetings so as to quickly develop a good vision. After some months of attending every meeting we (our family) missed a Friday evening and were contacted early Saturday morning by an oversight to ask the reason why we were not there.  We were told in future we must advise the oversight if we would not be at a meeting and giving the reason.  Years later this was relaxed.  

It was 9 months before the guidelines came to light, however,  I had gathered that rules did exist but when I asked I was told there would be a guidelines talk in due course.  People should be shown the rules much earlier.

Just wondered if others looking back feel the same way.

Epi
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Re:Were you fully informed of the rules when you joined RCI or other Rev. group?

Date Posted:15/07/2008 10:43 PMCopy HTML

 Hello Epi,

I remember the first Sunday after I had become baptised, I was picked up from my home for the next month by people in the house meeting.  Mainly John Kelly and Graham Rousch.  I must admit that they went through a lot of the guidelines and beleifs in the car on the way to church.  They did in fact advise that certain behaviour was not acceptable - for example touchy feely stuff - and that bad language was not acceptable, etc....

As I had not known anything else to compare all this to - and both Graham and John are such lovely fellows - and I mean that - I accepted it as gospel without asking.

You were not expected or encouraged to think for yourself - you were encouraged to be obedient and NOT think for yourself.  Thinking for yourself was being argumentative and insulent.

So to answer the question, yes I was told some guidelines, but no in as much as told that the guidelines were canonised as gospel.

Regards Mr K.
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Re:Were you fully informed of the rules when you joined RCI or other Rev. group?

Date Posted:06/07/2010 12:13 PMCopy HTML

After I was Baptised I was taken aside by Glen Duker who was my house leader at the time and given a rundown of all the things that I couldn't do. The list of rules from what I can remember was no drinking, no smoking, no drugs, sex outside of marriage etc. etc.

Phil
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Re:Were you fully informed of the rules when you joined RCI or other Rev. group?

Date Posted:07/07/2010 12:51 PMCopy HTML

I grew up there, so I already knew the rules without specific explanation. But yes, whenever you bring anything up as a question, they just don't want to have a bar of your thoughts. They become so threatened by anything different, even if it's valid. Especially if it's questioning the rules of the church. Then they put the guilt trip on you, saying that you are questioning God. Even by making a correct and clear point, it earns you no respect.

Faithful Shadow
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Re:Were you fully informed of the rules when you joined RCI or other Rev. group?

Date Posted:07/07/2010 1:13 PMCopy HTML

Prior to the big split they did not inform people of the rules when they joined. However after this they introduced the policy that people were told of the rules before they were baptised.
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Re:Were you fully informed of the rules when you joined RCI or other Rev. group?

Date Posted:07/07/2010 10:52 PMCopy HTML

 I can't remember if I was told the rules, but I do remember that they all made sense to me for a very long time. I didn't question them at all because I'd been too blown away by the speaking in tongues experience to quibble with the church that had introduced it to me, and also probably because none of them really applied to me at that time in my life.

The point that they shouldn't be called guidelines if there is a punishment for not following them is quite right.

I also remember quite clearly when the fornication/morals split was happening and we were all self-righteously observing that this was a cleanup of the church, because Christ would not want to find fornicators in the church (never mind the gossips, makers of strife, slanderers, violent men etc) ... and I went home and thought to myself that if this was about purifying the church before Christ's return, the only thing left that we really needed to sort out was to love our neighbours as ourselves, and to dwell together in unity. That never happened to the church at large, IMO.

becomingaware
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Re:Were you fully informed of the rules when you joined RCI or other Rev. group?

Date Posted:08/07/2010 1:45 PMCopy HTML

So true! Guidelines are suggestions, not rules. And what right do adults have, punishing other adults? The Lord left us free to choose. He wants us to come to Him willingly. So, if the Almighty has given us this freedom, who are they to try and take people's prerogatives away?

Faithful Shadow
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