Karen and I were offered the "Left Foot of Fellowship" from the denomination we had been reared in. The reason was because I was so different from my fellow church members. I was different in that I:
Had a beard like Abe Lincoln (Abe was the last beard they liked.)
I had long hair down to my collar.
I led Inductive not Deductive Bible studies. (We asked the students to interpret what they read instead of me telling them what it said/meant.)
I thought lay members were as important as Preachers
I was an outspoken Bible reader with my own ideas.
So, the Deacons, after a heresy trial, asked me to leave the church. It broke my heart. It was God's way of breaking me out of an antiquated model of the church.
Why did the Serenity House touch me so deeply and bring back those memories? We had a Jesus House on Elberon near where I was this morning. The Jesus House was my first foray into healing, deep meditation, prayer therapy, dealing with drug addicts, living in community, etc. The group sharing today was a strong reminder of those very heady days in 1970.
Blessings,
Gary Sweeten
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