MK forum

You wonderful person. That's a brilliant song. Cat Stevens is one of my favourite singer/songwriters, my favourite being "Father and Son". The Son's part in that song, is how I see my journey.


Father and Son by Cat Stevens

Father:
It's not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Son:
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It's always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

Father:
It's not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
if you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.

Son:
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them you know not me.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

Bemused, how right you are. The Bible can be twisted to suit our fancy. My husband often tells people do what the Bible says and be "Berean Chrisians." They would be those who want to do right and do what the Bible says, not what they want it to say or what others want them to believe. Sounds like your family was more "cult like" than "Christin." Don't mean to offend but how can your dad say, "It is none of our concern." What an unusual statement for someone who reads their Bible daily. As far as I am concerned and surely I would be in the majority (for once), NTM needs to close down. They have lost any semblance of being a "Christian" organization. I just plain don't understand churches that put up with this nonsense, they are the ones who could make NTM responsible, it is their purse strings that keep this organization going. Full stop.

No offence taken. I can look at my family from a distance and you are right my father had all the hallmarks of a cult leader, except he was more annoying than charasmatic, so he never got far.
His comment "it's none of my concern" when being informed of the sexual abuse perpetrated by the man who recruited into NTM, I found deeply offensive and worrying. The alarm bells went off on in my head, that my father is deeply involved in this mess and what I have found out subsequently has me close to being convinced he should have been on that Summary of Abusers.
On the plus side (and it is good to look for a positive), I am pleased that the spilling of the beans on what happened to our family has helped others in their journey. The last thing I want is what happened in the David Bain case, where the family was known to be a bit odd and then one day 5 of them were dead and one in jail for their murder and all their families dirty laundry (they were missionaries in PNG) ended up in the media for the whole world to see.
Yes it's not pretty what happened in my family, but it happened.

One nice spin off of these many interactions with others is that sometimes long forgotten memories come back and some of them are rather interesting.

When one of my siblings and I were about 6 or 7 the church had a fancy dress party. My father, a new Christian, decided that the two of us should dress up as pall bearers and carry this large coffin shaped box with "The wages of sin are death" written on it.
A bit over the top and morbid, but in a way ironic as in PNG I became the local coffin maker and made a nice little business out of it, making 754 in my tenure.

Mrs Bemused asked me recently if I was going to make my own coffin and put it in storage, as seems to becoming fashonable in some circles. I'm still consdering it, hoping it won't be an issue for many decades and will not be putting "The Wages of Sin are Death" on it if I do.

Funny what one remembers .

Not sure if the British comedian Rowan Atkinson is familiar globally, but this is his take on hell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W78SRXRxGs&feature=related

I have a vision of some of the men from my past arriving much to their suprise at the gates of hell and being advised they can make one communictation back to earth and they can do it via e-mail . . .

Dear Supporters,

Have arrived in Eternity and have decided to take a little detour to see how some of the lost souls have fared. Am currently enjoying very warm fellowship at a reunion b-b-q, where have met many old friends.
Please continue to give generously to the cause and of course my loved ones back on earth.
Must go, things are just warming up here.

The very Warmest Regards

Paedophile X

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UbqZ_oN5do&feature=related

This is a better version of the above link and has subtitles .

I had a lovely childhood
Really should not complain
Got off rather lightly
Hardly any physical pain

Oh yes the principal preached
His message of hate by day
Dragged me in for personal ministry
When I ventured unwillingly his way

And I saw the younger kids
Being beaten by frustrated old maids
And one bitter married crone
That memory never fades

Not forgetting pervert Jim
Molesting girls in his dorm
Revealed it to my father
But he just avoided the storm

Almost forgot the neighbour
Goodness knows what he did do
But it earned him a little spell
In a jail for a year or two

As for the supply department
That was run by at least one crook
We were told to turn a blind eye
As for themselves the best they took

Not forgetting the field chairman
Went on to shred evidenence of above
All done in the guise
Of pure christian love

Oh in those long school breaks
I got to spend them with someone mad
You knew him as Mr X
I had the misfortune to call him Dad

I had a lovely childhood, not
I really should complain
Didn't get off that lightly
To much anguish and mental pain

I'm not bitter
That's not my style
I just told the world
What was on my file

And it's been most theraputic
Exposing those who thought they'd hid
Their grubby little deeds
Only to have Bemused now lift the lid

As the Good Book says
"Ye reap what ye sow"
And Bemused is one plant
Thee cannot mow

You are a champion here, Bemused!

Thank you, you are most kind.

I wonder how many MKs grew up like me, never being able to quite get over the high jump bar set by their parents/dormparents/teachers, because it was too high or it kept being moved higher every time it looked like the standard was going to be attained.

My father wanted nothing less than total submission to him. He wanted to be in total control and NTM theology was the vehicle that he used to attempt to do it. And if he didn't get what he wanted, he played foul. Trouble is, nothing has changed.

Some times there is no other option but to walk away from such people. Don't bother trying to reason with them, it is not worth the anguish and will only lead to more destruction.
If you find yourself in shoes that sound similar to mine, walk tall and be true to yourself, there is nothing to be ashamed about.