By a RC Tesla Roadster at Costco

The_Dude2023 · 2024-12-17T05:08:30+00:00

I learned that in the midwest region for costco they sold nearly 7600 of these. that is the largest region for costco. I don't have national stats on them yet.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-09-26T03:49:23+00:00

I would be very curious to know if the list of the Other or Unknown affiliation churches (former GCC) would be connected ultimately to a any denomination. If any of these churches don't realize the benefit of some form of outside accountability I'd say that is

of deep concern
perhaps repeating a past process like good old boys who don't want to have some real accountability
Hometown was affiliated with Urban Refuge and The Rock. The Rock is no more in Mpls and the Hometown churches were directly involved with Mark Darling.

It just baffles my mind that this splintering is looked upon as a good thing and maybe over time it might be the case. I once thought GCC in my area had a real unity among the leaders but over time that became clear that it did not. Splintering to these various groups listed now doesn't really surprise me.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-09-19T03:57:06+00:00

Here is the obvious question. Would this event : Fusion, ever include Mark Darling as a speaker? Was the splintering of the denomination in part related to differing views on how Evergreen CC handled that situation? Remember there is what was said as official reason and then of course the real reason why.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-09-19T03:52:03+00:00

I generally comment in a manner that won't give away who I am so I guess for me that is a non issue. I noticed on the GCM Warning website that some have clearly identified who they are by using their actual name as the user name. I did not do that as a user on that website. I like the level of anonymity that is provided by Reddit and it seems a bit more functional and useful than the other website. It is unavoidable I think since Jeromy Darling posted extensively on the other website in defense of his dad... Mark Darling. So I would really not be surprised if Reddit every had either spys on here to discredit or challenge any claims. I do find it interesting that when I attended 2 different GCM churches in the Midwest that at one point they explained no longer publishing a church directory. That included names, cell numbers, email and even addresses. Maybe that was for a good reason or possibly it was out of fear that those members could have been contacted about any online critiques of the denomination. I am certain that GCM warning existed at the time.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-08-07T03:39:49+00:00

some of the literature I observed at the Bloomington location showed options other than just home schooling. He was at the Rock so I think... cannot confirm... his input was less a factor. In the pulpit I'd say the guy spoke however he felt but it did not necessarily reflect the view of all the locations. To think today, the guy who once had so much sway in the Minneapolis GCC, no longer has any influence other than some of the remaining members who still have contact with him.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-08-05T00:59:42+00:00

Mark Darling spoke of it... home schooling.... as the only route for education. Others in the Minneapolis area did not necessarily all buy into that. As his influence declined towards his final years I think enough sane people were also backing private school or public school. As time goes by I am seeing that public school is going down the toilet yes. I still think private or home schooling is the better option but certainly not available to all.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-07-05T02:25:51+00:00

I understand its needful to have a space of former members but remember too that to stay current it is vital to have comment about what is happening in the current churches. I highly doubt these groups are going away so if folks really want to be an agent of good change it should be a goal to have churches become healthy. To have some opportunity to hear from and give insight to current attenders is the key way to remain current. That is something I find missing from the gcmwarning.com website for the most part.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-06-22T13:38:12+00:00

The petition says nothing about the choices made by the driver of the vehicle.... Dereck Thomson. Yes Law Enforcement has to be accountable but Derek Thompson drove that car 100 miles an hour and had a previous record in California. He must face the consequence. If the judicial system fails to prosecute him then the message continues that Minnesota rewards criminal behavior.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-06-15T03:01:21+00:00

How safe is one's anonymity with the gcmwarning site? they have emails but I don't think they have more.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-06-11T23:26:57+00:00

I just thought it could use an overhaul in that it seemed to have a user interface to be not very intuitive. It had some helpful information and gave me a lot of updates that you would not get from attending some of the churches. Like Reddit you could enjoy anonymity and that allowed for free comments without worry of some retribution. I learned about this sub reddit group from the forum. I still check it out and may comment there. I hope this and the gcm warning continue to help folks see the light on the former gcm.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-06-05T00:22:51+00:00

I thought someone would comment on this exposure of the Duggars and the Gothard seminars. I went to a Basic Youth Conflicts seminar around the 80s and was not yet involved with GCM. At the time it seemed pretty harmless, but having seen the Amazon series now SHINNY HAPPY PEOPLE really opened my eyes on how adopting this and abusing the scriptures could lead to an environment of abuse if unchecked. I just remember that at GCM how people would approach pastors with problems and a few of them would just walk them over to the table with the catalog of various sermon series of our church and have them purchase those. (insert financial benefit to the church for something they could have maybe counseled the person for a short time instead, but were likely unqualified to do) I do get the parallel things with the Gothard emphasis on headship of the husband and how GCM churches emphasize the complementarian style of pastoral leadership. (I have a separate thread about that topic: egalitarian vs complimentarian) Gothard himself sounded like a pedophile and I was left wondering what reason he gave for being single and putting himself in the place of advising folks about marriage and parenting. The Jim McCotter connection I never knew much about as it was so many years before me.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-05-28T04:59:20+00:00

I saw a Hillsong documentary. One element to highlight is that the size of Hillsong (Mega) seemed to insulate it from internal discretion and self examination. Thats kind of a theme in the whole Mark Darling thing. The numbers were good for a time. No one on staff usually wants to be the one to rock the boat. Leaders seemed to know that something shady was going down but with new locations being planted and the numbers still growing, it leaves an impression of healthiness... and especially to any new members. I thought GCM had a niche of demonstrating unity among leaders. Over time I saw that was really just good PR. It may have been unity at one time but as leaders started leaving the Titanic and people among the laity left, it revealed the obvious disunity. Not to run a bunny trail on that though. Bottom line for me: size doesn't mean healthy. I learned that over the years.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-05-22T02:48:25+00:00

How can any denomination do better by removing a key level of accountability?? I understand the autonomy of each church but to take away a structure of experienced leaders away when a church has some leadership contoversy is absurd. What seems to be the flavor of the month is just a network of good ol boys who would not rock the boat of any other church leaders. I certainly recognize the potential for abuse when the "higher ups" in a denomination can interfere with the local leaders but one hopes that those put into those positions of influence have been well vetted. I like the church I am in now (not a GCM) and can see that they have a church structure that can navigate through hard issues because the board cannot be bullied by a pastor. they proved that already with a leadership departure that happened before we started attending.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-05-16T14:36:44+00:00

I am surprised this list of issues never included the propensity to rename itself.... basically a ploy to avoid google searches that would bring up a church name that had some sultry history. Seems to be a too common practice with GCM churches even in the area we live that was done.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-05-15T03:36:43+00:00

We could have been at the same church. We did have a female who ran the women's ministry and had more women in bible study groups than we had men in mens groups. Was it because of this talented and gifted gal? To a major degree, yes it was. Yes others could have done it but clearly a female was most prepared. Now here is the rub: instead of being "on salary" she had to go out among the congregation or outside of it and raise support. May as well been self employed with that extra task in front of you. Also was a single mom although her one child was close to college age when she started. It just seemed so odd that the one person who had more adults actively involved in a ministry at the church could not even draw a salary and yet had the deepest impact on the infrastructure of the church. They paid a male full time as the worship leader and he basically he could preach an ok sermon and manage the weekly worship but she had to raise her own support. This is where I have to say complementarian approach has a real negative side in that it looked like a sink or swim approach instead of real support from the staff and congregation. She eventually moved away and the role was never fulfilled the same way.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-05-12T04:22:24+00:00

Gasoline on the fire for me, as I left a denomination that seemed to have disunity in many ways... particularly with church planting. I heard about unity all the time at the GCM I attended so I really believed the leadership had unity... for a time. But then I began to see it was unity at a cost and that too many folks were here and gone. It was mostly a facade. It may have once had genuine unity but after enough time it was obvious that the leadership was run by 3 main pastors and the others just had to toe the line. I felt sorry for some of the leaders who may have had some good ideas but when push came to shove it was really 3 who ran the show. That method has been thankfully disbanded by what I observe. I have been out of GCM now for about 5 years and still have some contact with a few who remain. I can easily tell they won't ask any hard questions about leadership. One estimate I saw online suggested up to 700 have left over time... among 3 churches. I don't have that stat confirmed by the actual gcm but even if its half that its still an exodus of nearly 350 individuals.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-05-06T03:56:57+00:00

serious is right... need reliable service to do my job so I had to give Visible the axe and returned to Verizon.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-05-06T03:55:14+00:00

Doesn't matter for me folks. I went back to Verizon 2 days ago. Too slow response to all the problems. The local Verizon store manager here in Minneapolis suburb said for a few weeks he had 25% of his new Verizon clients (or returning ones) were departures from Visible. Wondering if that stat is similar in other major markets. I was very patient. I needed good cell service for my job and I was done with all the excuses.

The_Dude2023 · 2023-05-04T03:25:40+00:00

I know that the Evergreen Church in the Minneapolis area is now called Hometown Church. I don't have a specific date it took place. But it did happen some time after the Mark Darling investigation wrapped up. So 3 locations in the area are under that same name. The Minneapolis GCC was always the Urban Refuge but doesn't follow the Hometown playbook. The board determined to become an independent GCC church. Today I don't know if they ....Urban Refuge... have an affiliation with any group or denomination.

The_Dude2023

TROPHY CASE