SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE – PART I

By: Brother Nsubuga Charles

1 Cor. 7:23-24 - You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. [24] Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

I was part of Gospel Assembly Church for more than eight years. Before I joined the GAC, I was a member of the Protestant Church although my father was a Catholic. So my first encounter with the “born again” churches was with GAC. I am still finding it hard to have better words to explain the kind of love I was offered by the members and leaders of Gospel Assembly Church in Uganda.  The members of this church are commonly referred to as Saints. The pastor is referred to as the ”man of God” and those next to him are called elders. Then the church has those in charge of church order who also co-ordinate between the congregation and the “man of God” who are called ushers and usherettes.  All Gospel Assembly local churches everywhere in our fellowship are under one GAC in Des Moines, Iowa U.S.A whose founder was the late Lloyd L. Goodwin. This is a church or movement knowing itself as the" Body of Jesus Christ."    

There was an effort on the part of the “man of God”, elders and some deep founded Saints to let every one of their new converts know that for the very first time he/she has come face to face with the only move of God and people of God on this earth.  They will let you know that every other thing out side GAC is Babylon, devilish, satanic and really dead.  They will do so with a lot of corresponding scriptures to every statement they make.

With these people's love in the church, the knowledge of the written word of God, the smartness and cleanliness, the dressing coordinated together with the boldness of action and speech, it did not take me long before I concluded that these are the real people of God.  I started opening my heart to receive the word of God and also to be trained how to be a servant of the most high God.  I attended every service.   I was staying with some brothers and sisters and we used to have an evening alter where there was reading and expounding of the word of God, singing and praying. I was not working but I was very contented. I was given some books and tapes from Lloyd L. Goodwin to read and listen too.

I remember spending a lot of time reading these books also listening to tapes.  I acquired knowledge from these books, tapes and live sermons from my pastor and elders. I did everything possible to retain this knowledge and also tried as much as I could to do the application of this knowledge by preaching to small fellowships and outsiders. By doing so, my pastor and elders started realizing something good out of me and they started bringing me more closely to themselves and helping me realize my call in the Ministry and also introducing me into leadership positions.  I remember one time we were going out for evangelism and
we got some briefing from the man of God, he told us that in reaching out to evangelize we should know that we as the body of Jesus have the message for both the saved and the unsaved. Meaning that the saved don't have the truth, the unsaved don't have both salvation and the truth.  That was the first time I was being introduced into leadership by giving me twelve people (Saints) to lead into personal evangelism.

We went out preaching and we managed to get some people into church.  This continued for some time until I was one time chosen by the man of God to be among the ushers and also to lead the whole evangelism ministry in our local church.  This is also when my pastor took me from where we were staying to his house where I stayed with him until he left the house for me.

I remember when I was given to lead a big group of Saints from my local church to a convention in Nairobi Kenya. When we came back I was made an assistant head usher and later on head usher.  I served unreserved, with all the commitment and dedication. I was taught how to challenge churches and Christians who were not part of GAC. 

We were instructed not to have any dealing with any other Christian organization simply because the scriptures say; "The people shall dwell alone.......come out of her people.......How can light have fellowship with darkness and that Jesus worked alone outside all these other organization He found around, and He said.....I will build my church......

I remember when we were shown the young prophet who was sent by God and instructed not to have any dealing not even to eat with the old prophet, and when the prophet disobeyed he died.  With many other verses from the bible and technical powerful statements were made to cut us off from other denominations and Christian organizations.

We were made to put all out trust and confidence in "men of God" because if we did so then we were going to succeed as in; II chronicles 20:20B - Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

I remember reaching a point of rejecting my relatives until my father died and I did not even go for a funeral service basing my faith on a part where Jesus' mother and His brethren came to see him and he refused to move and meet them. Matthew 12:48 - But he answered and said unto him that told him, who is my mother? And who are my brethren?

Another verse where we find a man who pleaded with Jesus to let him go and bury his father and Jesus said let the dead go and burry the dead but you go and preach the Kingdom of God. We were made to trust the written word of God as interpreted by man of God. Matthew 8:22 - But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Today I am about 40 years, but this cult movement has worked in my mind, brain and spirit.  Since I was 19 years, those who remember me do remember that I was a very creative enterprising and productive person in the church. But I would like to say that I got no personal gain out of all these.  The church and so-called" men of God" were the ones to benefit. 

Some examples:

- Nobody is supposed to be richer than the pastor.

- No body should buy land or a plot and build a personal house before the man of God And the Church does.

- Brothers were not to dress smarter than the pastor.

- Sisters were not to dress smarter than the pastor's wife.

- There must be everything good at the pastor's house before it can ever be at your house.

- Every business to be started with the approval of the "man of God"

- No personal long journeys without notifying the man of God.  (The man of God     reserved the right of stopping or allowing your journey)

- Any visit to any sister Assembly was to be with an introduction letter.

- Gifts to one another in church were to be in presence of church leaders.

- Personal businesses were to be opened to the man of God for inspection and advice. One was to buy a shirt recommended by the man of God.

It is so amazing that scriptures were twisted and used to back up every one of these statements, which made many to believe that for sure this is the only work of God. I also wonder how we used to enjoy this kind of strictness in the prison sort of life? I remember trusting the man of God so much that I could not do any thing without consulting him, and I would only do what the man of God approved.  Little did I know that by now I was slowly giving up my power of choice and decision and surrendering my brain to somebody else who will have to do the thinking and making of decisions for me.

We were guided into how to stand up and give a testimony in church. A testimony was supposed to go with what the church and man of God has done into your life, until we reached a time and I realized that we were now lifting and praising the man of God more than Jesus in the church.  And when somebody tried to resist that kind of trend, then he/she was an enemy of the church. We started receiving messages of fear.

The time came that we were more controlled by fear than of the love we started with. If any one ever left the church on his own or was excommunicated, we were not to talk to that person. We were not even to respond if that person ever tried to greet us.

I had already started up a small business of bread bakery at least to earn a living as I go on serving God.   And for sure God blessed this business and it provided employment to so many Saints in the church. It also catered for so many financial needs of the church.  We deprived our selves of the opportunity of developing our selves for the sake of building the house of God. Any big amount of money to be drawn from my business was either to expand the business or to sponsor a certain church program or to be put in one of these accounts.

(1) Free will offering account.

(2) Tithe account.

(3) Building fund account.

(4) Pastor's missionary journeys account etc….

It is difficult to tell you how much we pumped into these accounts, but one thing I know is that so many saints failed to develop simply because of these accounts.  I know of some saints that sold their cows and other properties and brought the money to sponsor some church programs latter on they were excommunicated after having been made poorer than when they came and some of them developed mental problems.

I would like to say that GAC worked on our mind and got us to be slaves of men. To the extent that even after we had left GAC we continued being our own slaves. 1 Cor. 7:23 - You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. We were bought at a price and we should not again become any man's slave.  

For instance when we came out of G.A.C and started up a church, there are certain things we held on thinking that they were right.  In fact it was after visiting the Internet web sites that I found out we still had something we inherited from G.A.C that we cannot biblically defend. Yet we had made them doctrinal Issues, and they were binding us spiritually, mentally, economically, and socially. We bound our selves with certain styles that made us differ from other born again Christians; some of these things have put us in some kind of isolation.

I don't know what happened somewhere a long the way, because I would not like to believe that things were like that right from the beginning of G.A.C, because if it was so then we or some other people in the church could have been able to detect that there was something wrong around the church.

But I think there was such a nice spirit, very refreshing and encouraging which gave some of us a very good start and move on in God.  Just like the bible says "they crept in unawares".  But if not so, some body should allow me to think that this was a cult that had one of the highest way of initiating people into something that was terrible on earth.

For instance; I remember my first five years in the church that I always felt very good, happy and real Joyful and inspired whenever it was time to go for a service. And the convention times were other beautiful moments of inspiration, exhibiting the spirit of unity, fellowship and oneness of the people of God from different assemblies.  I remember one time in Nairobi convention; it was the first of its kind to me. The entrance of the spirit and power-packed men of God into the convention hall, and a sadden start of the praise and worship of the general assembly followed by the rejoicing in the house of God moved me so much to the extent that instead of laughing for Joy I just cried for Joy, and so were some other brethren. 

But that was not so during my last 3 years in church. Sunday and some other service days turned into Judgement days and there would be no alarm if such Judgment was of Justice and for right and good causes. I remember entering church like somebody already guilty entering a Judgment Court for a capital offence. Saints had been turned into spies of and unto one another causing insecurity spirits looming around the church.

I cannot forget the days when I started noticing that either things have already gone bad and are going on bad or were soon going bad. When certain quotations of the bible were brought forward and twisted and followed by certain interpretations directed into a very unclear direction. Like this day when a roaring jumping, "man of God," racing up and down the platform and shouting at the top of his voice, quoted Hosea 1:2; The Lord said to Hosea "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry.” (Now, I am not against all the Jumping racing and shouting, but against the way a quotation was handled.) Then a question was put before the assembly as to whether they believed Hosea was a man of God, and went on to ask; “What would you do, if you were in the days of Hosea and you caught him one day coming out a harlot's bedroom fixing his shirt and trouser?”  And many other words followed that kept the whole congregation on tension the whole service.  I could not believe my ears when a statement come out that when "a man of God" tells you to do something "seemingly" evil just go a head because God will turn it around for good! In his conclusion, he remarked that Solomon was quoted to have been a product of an evil act between David and Bath Sheba who was somebody's wife.

At the end you could not fail to hear some saints say; "This was a wonderful service." But in my heart I could say this was an indicating service.

It was not long before we started hearing of possible sexual scandals and adulteries in Gospel Assembly Church, imposed marriages, moreover from saints of high credibility.  Believe me, that was very dangerous to a people whose minds, spirits and brain are fixed on that one assembly as the only regarded true church in the world for God.

With many other strange things that kept on happening in the "Body' so many people's minds, spirits and thinking were put in a certain state that needed God's intervention and good counseling.

Like there are a few things that have kept on bothering me in this small ministry for all these years I have stayed away from GAC.  After receiving many messages that showed us that outside GAC with its leader being “Apostle Goodwin,” everything is Babylon and devilish, satanic and habitations of evil spirits.  In some of my last days in GAC, the late Brother Thomas Oundo, Pastor of Nairobi assembly, the one we were told was Leading Goodwin's work in Africa, used to preach and say that; “no one will leave the church and survive spiritually economically, socially and even physically”. He went on to give examples of those who left and are now either dead or are at the grave's entrance. "As for me”, he said; “if I left the church today, I would not even bother entering any other church or starting up any other grave via the bar." I think that was very dangerous for someone's future spiritual survival.

If we were once in these cult movements and we suffered under their manipulation power and God helped us, we did not die there, like some of our brothers and sisters have died there.  We have come out believing that we are delivered and also having a feeling, a conviction and a calling to deliver others that are still trapped under these cult movements, including their leaders, then why conceal our identity in fear that they will do harm to us?  I am not condemning my brothers and sisters who have concealed their identity while declaring the wickedness that was and is still being done under these cult movements.  I just want to encourage them come out openly like Jesus came out and attacked the dark forces, to deliver you and me from the grip of Satan without concealing his identity.

I have a faith, a feeling and a belief that if we have discovered these people to be evil, and that they are not of God as they claim, then they do not have the power to harm any man or woman outside their jurisdiction. They were only able to do us harm as long as we continued under their power. But once we came out, the chains were broken. We crossed far deep beyond the no man's land to directly under the power of protection of Jesus.  He is the only one I know having all authority in heaven and on earth.  These people we want to hear can never have any power above, equal or anywhere near the power of Jesus.  

Their power is limited to just a few who avail themselves to them to make a mind controlled manipulation of them and to rule them by fear.  I can never forget their evil prophetic utterances against our future should we dare leave what they call the "body of Christ".

The time came that circumstances dictated that we left their church.  There was nothing to do; they had won our hearts, our minds, our spirits and our everything. I am sure we were unable to save ourselves from their power.  They were more powerful than their captives, but I do not know how it happened - God worked out a way and He got us out.

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