My Testimony

My Testimony After 1500 years and at least 50 generation of my family being actively involved in Christianity I now need to confess to you that I am Not A Christian; Cannot be a Christian; and I guess the succeeding generations will work this out! So what happened? Well it was at our City Impact Church Conference 5th Feb 2011 at Mutukaroa (End of Long) and I was down on my knees interceding with heaven. And my Pastor- (we both went to the same Pastor training facility 30 years previously)- he said- God Bless Him- for us to stand and clap. And I being in communication with Yahweh just ignored him and kept down on my knees praying. But- BUT- Carefully watching me from rows behind was our elder Paul Adams and so the next morning- Sunday 6th Waitangi Day when I turned up for a service at the same place he informed me that I could no longer attend because of my rebellion in disobeying what our Pastor had told us to do- And being in no mood to repent of that- Well the words of Jesus giving authority to His Church in Matthew 19 apply and so I am an outcast. So on this issue- Idolatry in the worship; and Obedience of a man; Such as Our Leader I am as stupid as Daniel’s three friends in Daniel chapter three who intensely annoying Supreme Leader get themselves unrepentantly thrown into a fire where they met with another person who walked around with them in that fire. My testimony is that while I have deep genuine and ongoing respect for my Pastor and regret for him his effectively bringing to an end over 50 generations/1500 years of our being part of the Christian Tradition- I do respect his timing and divine wisdom in having me cast out- And the authority of my elder to ensure that continues- Beyond idolatry there is something else? ‘Thomas J Watson opens New Orleans Office.’ The ever-present equating of his name with the word THINK was more an Orwellian exercise, it was a true-life indoctrination. The Watson mystique was never confined to the four walls of IBM. His aura was only magnified by his autocratic style, barking orders, demanding everywhere the pinnacle of service and action at a moments notice…Watson made hundreds of appearances every year at banquets, university commencements, the opening of art exhibitions and similar. Fortune (magazine) referred to Watson as ‘the Leader’ with a capital L. So conscious was Watson of his mythic quality that he eyed porters on trains and waiters as potential legend makers. He tossed them big tips… By giving liberally to charities and universities, by towering as a patron of the arts, by arranging scores of memberships, honorary degrees and awards he cultivated the man-myth for himself and IBM. Slogans were endlessly drilled into the extended IBM family….And the songs. They began the very first day a man entered the IBM culture. They never ended during one’s tenure. More than 100 songs were sung at various company functions… Revival style meetings enthralled men of IBM. Swaying as they chanted harmonies of adulation for the Leader, their palms brought together in fervent applause in hero worship, fully accepting that their families and their destinies were intertwined with the family and destiny of the corporation, legions of company men incessantly rededicated themselves to the ‘Ever Onward’ glory of IBM. All of it swirled around the irrestob;e magnetism, the intoxicating command, the charismatic cultic control of one man; Thomas J Watson, the Leader. P53-55.