In Reply to: Re: Fear of "backsliding" posted by Chris on July 01, 2006 at 03:52:21:
After seeing the article about backsliding my opinion from having left the Family twice is this, it's in the mind 'as a man thinketh in his heart so is he'.
As the scripture says let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
When I left the Family the first time I was a young teenager and through out the next 6 years was convinced I had failed God.
[I rejoined when I was 25 yrs old]
When I left this time 2 years ago it was because I felt led to by the Lord and in fact the easiest thing for me to do at this time would to have been to stay in the Family.
I left with the full conviction that what I was doing was the right thing.
The Family has become such a strong indoctrination religion and belief system that it virtually takes a revelation, a spiritual awakening from God if you will, to show someone to leave. [Paricularly the F.G.A.s].
It's a bit like when a moslem converts to Christianity, it often takes some kind of a vision or personal visitation from the Lord to convince them to do so, as their own belief and indoctrination system is so strong.
All the best
Steve Matheson
P.S.
You might find my writing 'Voice in the Wilderness' posted at http://steve1.wordpress.com
an interesting read.