From an extended family member

A sad story of exclusion

Much has been documented about the strain the Indianapolis Church puts on married couples and their destructive view of family.

But my testimony is of another aspect to this warped application of selective Scripture. It’s a terrible thing that marriages are being destroyed, but other family relationships are also affected.

This testimony is to help people at Indianapolis see the harm of following the teachings of allathisfeet.com. We are extended family members who are not part of Indy. We are for the most part strong believers. We are not lukewarm or mainstream or dead in our beliefs. We understand that a man must be born again, live an obedient life, and follow Christ in every aspect of life. We have varying levels of obedience, but for the most part are headed in the right direction.

Despite these things, our family members in the Indy group have repeatedly called upon each of us to repent of unspecified sin. We have been exhorted to be “called out,” and live “wholly for Christ.” We don’t have an issue with living sanctified lives. But the bone of contention to our family in Indianapolis is that we meet in buildings. We have pastors. We have church structure and these are huge stumbling blocks – apparently worthy of eternal damnation. When we argue that our faith and our lives are Christ-following, our claims are rejected and we are treated as unbelievers. Essentially, we are “withheld affection” because we haven't forsaken our present lives to swallow Peter's doctrine.

We’ve all been sent the Kingdom Press books -- The Foundations books, Meetings in His Kingdoms and various Mike Peters penned publications. There are some interesting things in the books, but we have all found them to be for the most part sarcastic, cynical, and angry against any church or organization that doesn't subscribe to their view. They see their movement as "God's Way" and everyone else is missing the boat.

Over the years, we have paid less and less attention to the rantings. How many times can you defend your faith and not be listened to? Why should we repent to those who show no love or concern? None of us have ever been allowed to visit the family members of the Indy church. Grandparents have gone a decade without seeing their grandchildren. In fact, newborns have never seen an extended family member. Christmas and Birthdays and Graduations and basic family courtesies are never acknowledged. Family members go to their graves without the love or a concern of a daughter or a son. Mothers are left to cry themselves to sleep. Fathers look out the window in agony. The phone is silent, the mailbox empty. The extended family has been cut off because of our “sin” and “rebellion.”

For a while, we thought it was something we had done. Most of us have undergone a period of self examination, thinking that perhaps the accusations were true. But they were not.

It is actually a comfort to know that the accusations are not personal attacks, but rather a result of the “group think” of the Indy way. The writing: Physical Phamily explains where they are coming from and should help other extended family members who feel the pain of separation.

Mike Peters writes about his own parents:“I can't let them bounce their grandchildren on their knee in some sort of love affair, as grandparents love to do. I can't give that much affection away to them... If you throw them all this love, compassion and sympathy, you're giving them drugs and you're blinding them to what they really need. You might cost them their soul! We're not talking about a cruel judgment and isolation.”

‘Time to Walk it Out” found at http://www.yourkingdomcome.com/allaffection.htm
But it is cruel – and not Christ-honoring -- when born-again, blood-bought believers are withheld affection, treated as infidels, and cut off. The condemnation of Father certainly rains down on teachings such as this. The scripture used to condemn the ‘physical phamily’ is manipulated – as the original intent was to separate believers from nonbelievers. If we are so wrong, then wouldn't a loving family member want to keep some sort of relations with us to bring us back into the truth? If we are so evil, wouldn't the persistent love and interaction of the “righteous” be a tremendous tool? Instead we are forced out of the picture as this new "Indy family” replaces us – and it’s a family that is no where near a godly one.

It is a sad thing and grieves the One who died for us all.

Signed,

Your family