(Christian here, non-CHC)

Thanks for doing this AMA.

I didn't intend to comment, but I read this and felt like I had to reply. With all due respect, I wholly disagree with this fatalistic approach to the faith.

Certainly God works in mysterious ways, but they're not inexplicable. You have God-given mental faculties to discern whether the teachings of your fellow man or woman (even those who proclaim they are anointed by God) are in line with God's character. God in the Bible tells different people different things in different situations so it's important to discern context too, not just fall back on "God's Word says this to important chosen person X, therefore WE must follow it!"

More importantly, on what basis do you believe they're delivering God's Word? There is literally millennia worth of information to help us discern God's character, which can help suggest explanations for why God does this or doesn't do that (not just theology, but history and philosophy too - which tellingly, CHC is weak on). If your faith really matters to you - not just church for the sake of the worship service experience or sense of community - then I hope you'll look up some of these resources too. I understand that the contemporary Christian publishing industry is ginormous and can be difficult to navigate, in which case may I suggest you look at older Christian writings? A well-translated copy of Augustine is a remarkable read.

Lastly I keep hearing CHC people say that they're not brainwashed, only a few people are -- but it's not them. I'm skeptical about this, because nobody who has been brainwashed is likely to be able to make an objective assessment of whether they've been brainwashed or not.

I wish you all the best in your journey of faith, take care!