I think someone already mentioned the obvious, but here goes again. I was there and NO no one was forbidden to smile, (And yes I DO know you were being facetious) but you must keep in mind that to most of these people the very core that they had built their lives around, The United Pentecostal Church was something that for each individual there , there was an individual reason that they felt absolutely unable to continue with it any longer. And so many of them find themselves in a vacuum, trying desperately to make sense of what has happened.
I have heard people (again I have an official of the UPC as my house guest for a season and he is MOST vocal about his opinion concerning the happenings in the Western District that he is part of) ) and they feel that it was ALL political. That seems rather simplistic to me as while there are undoubtedly those who WERE motivated SOLELY and COMPLETELY by political ambition, (Can YOU say Nate Wilson?) most of the "little" guys were there more from disgust with the organization that had for decades in some cases and lifetimes in others, so completely held their loyalties.
Its really sad, and yet its not and then it is again. because some of us feel so caught between Egypt and the Promised land and feel that we are being held back from really going over EN MASSE into the land that our forefathers only beheld from far off. And so it appears to some of us that God is beginning the business of smashing the boxes that men have built over the past hundred years of this revival, and what happens???? A bunch of people break out of one box and immediately seek to begin construction on another!
Its sad all the way around.
TC, I honestly feel that if there is a chance of anything being reconciled, it will be through people like you. Your genuine concern, convictions, and level-headedness are apparent and refreshing. I am just praying that God will intervene on behalf of all who are sincere and pure in their motives and actions. I also pray that if there are any political or ambitious motivations in anyone, that they will not lead to the harm of any sincere-hearted people.
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There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Houston.
Either the United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States. – W.E.B. DuBois