This will be my last blog post on this particular blog, once again, if you want to know where the new one is, just let me know and I will let you know where it is.

Since I have been reflecting on my last post and the comments that sprang up, and because after all, it is thanksgiving, I thought it was necessary to have this post be about the positive things I experienced while I was involved with GCM. When I first left GCM I didn’t think it was possible that there was anything good that came from my experiences. But I think that was just because for the first time in a quite a while I was giving my mind and heart freedom to vent about things that I had stuffed down. I think deep down I felt victimized. But I should also add, that I was a willing victim. This has been something that has been hard for me to admit. I really just want to blame other people for all my baggage and issues. But really, I put myself in those situations. I could have decided to leave at any time, but I chose to stay. I still think there are unhealthy conditions, but if I’m honest with myself, I chose to stay in those conditions. So, really, if I’m going to point my finger at someone or some entity, I might as well start with myself, because a lot of of the pain I experienced was in some way self-inflicted. This really has to do more with my last post, but I thought it was an important clarification that I needed to make. Ok, on to the good stuff…

Paul in Romans tells us that “all things work together for the good of those that love Him…”. And so I found myself feeling convicted because from that passage its clear that nothing in life can be all bad. God will use any situation and bring some good out of it, so surely there were some good things about GCM and so I began to ponder that and at least try and come up with a few. So here goes!

Ok, the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the positive experiences I had with GCM are the people I met. I seriously have met so many people who genuinely love God and others. I don’t know if I’ve ever consistently seen so many people who are ready and willing to sacrifice their time, energy and resources for those around them. Nate voluntarily gave me a significant financial gift to me when I was in desperate need of financial help. Tony and Kirsten let me stay with them for a semester even though they knew that I was coming out of a pretty hectic time spiritually and did not have totally steady income. Even beyond those experiences that directly affected me, seeing the generosity of others in the Rock was really inspiring. I worked with Dan Cox for awhile, Dan’s servant heart and his generosity amaze me. Unfortunately, I think those types of sacrificial hearts are rare today, but I found it in abundance in Ames.

I think there are a lot of things that GCM champions that are good things. One of those is loyalty. I do think its true that in our fast-moving modern world, the Church has become affected by a lack of commitment from its members. It was cool to see a church who was trying to build strong families and communities. I think there is a balance to everything in the spiritual life. And I think that most of the time when I disagreed with GCM, it wasn’t over what they were doing (generally) but about how they were going about it. But I honestly really did appreciate the emphasis GCM put on having strong families and communities. It was refreshing.

I also really liked GCM’s approach to picking pastors and other church leaders. The idea of picking someone from within the church that the congregation knows makes so much sense! Once again, I think this is a balance issue as well, because all though I think it is good to train pastors up from within, I also think seminary training can be a good thing and can be really helpful in giving church leaders a strong foundation. But nonetheless, I think GCM got it right in this area.

I don’t think you could ever accuse GCM of being idle. I think thats one of the things that attracted me to GCM in the first place. It just seemed like there was such a strong push to be putting your faith to good use. I think that is really evident in the strong desire to be sending off church plants. I’ve been a part of churches in the past where the extent of missions work was when our church had a week long missions conference. But GCM really wanted to be on the front lines! And thats where I think the church should be. There were some things I disagreed with in how they went about planting churches, but as far as their desire to plant churches and to spread the gospel, I think they are right on the money.

So, to wrap this up, Yah, its clear to me that GCM is just not a good fit for me. I need a place where I feel free to be who Christ has made me to be. But my experience wasn’t all bad. And I know it has grown me up in ways that other churches wouldn’t have. I’ve met some amazing people that I hope to remain friends with. I hope that if your a part of GCM or if you aren’t, you experience the fullness of God’s love and mercy.

goodbye friends