Or "The Great Commission".

Grace Community Church is one of NC State's many churches, which is a part of a network of other churches at other colleges blanketed under "The Great Commission", run by Tom Short.

It's not a cult per se, but if you try to leave, then they hunt you down like a deserted Marine. It has been accused of being a cult in the past.

Just an FYI for the future freshies or those taking summer classes.

7/12/2009 12:15:53 AM

ok I won't

7/12/2009 12:16:09 AM

List of users who will not join Grace Community Church:
BubbleBobble

7/12/2009 12:16:43 AM

oh shit

are they going to hunt down users on this list?

7/12/2009 12:17:21 AM

Quote :

"Do NOT join Grace Community Church."

I agree.

7/12/2009 12:17:23 AM

i used to hang out with a bunch of them and they tried to hunt me down when i stopped hanging out even though i never once went to their services.

7/12/2009 12:17:46 AM

Quote :

"oh shit are they going to hunt down users on this list?"

FUCK.

Quote :

"DO NOT POST"

7/12/2009 12:22:30 AM

atheism ftw

7/12/2009 1:37:01 AM

athiests are snobs. agnostics are where its at

7/12/2009 1:37:39 AM

agnostics are pussies that don't want to admit they're atheists because they don't want to be shunned by all the christians in the country

7/12/2009 1:38:27 AM

MY IMAGINARY FRIEND, OR LACK THEREOF, IS BETTER THAN YOURS!

7/12/2009 1:38:54 AM

I had a friend in high school that got mixed up with them. He's turned his back on all of us who were his friends because we won't go that church

7/12/2009 1:40:02 AM

my first roommate freshman year went to grace. he tried to get me to go once, but i told him how much i don't like religion and he never said anything ever again

7/12/2009 4:11:34 AM

Quote :

"agnostics are pussies that don't want to admit they're atheists because they don't want to be shunned by all the christians in the country"

7/12/2009 4:25:49 AM

i, too, agree with shawna

7/12/2009 4:27:39 AM

a bunch of my friends that use to like to get fucked up started going to that church and then no longer wanted to get fucked up. that's fucked up.

7/12/2009 4:31:52 AM

I'm a closet atheist

7/12/2009 7:35:44 AM

I went to Grace my freshman year. It was a good group of people, but didn't fit in with my set of beliefs in Christianity. So, I left, and I haven't had any problems with being "hunt down." I'm still friends with a lot of the people there, I just don't go to the church functions anymore.

7/12/2009 8:15:12 AM

Um, they're all cults son. Some are just worse than others son.

FUCK YOU SON.

7/12/2009 8:16:02 AM

They just can't accept that they're a college-oriented church, so when you leave, you leave the church. BFD. Last church I left, the lady emailed me that it really wasn't a loss because I was leaving for another church, and that's what's important...

7/12/2009 8:23:43 AM

religion = cult
cult = religion
Neither are necessarily bigoted, xenophobic, or controlling -- although most of both, are.

Quote :

"atheism ftw"

Indeed.... Although, there are atheist churches popping up. I'm not convinced that churches, in and of themselves, are necessarily a bad thing. Like I said, most are fucking horrible examples of bigotry, xenophobia, and undue social control, but that could just be because those religions are [old].

Quote :

"Grace Community Church is one of NC State's many churches,"

What do you mean "one of NC State's many churches". NCSU is a public school. It would be immoral and despicable (and should be illegal,) for a public entity to have churches -- as in "These are our NCSU churches, but these others aren't because we say so." 100% separate and unsanctioned private religious bodies that some students choose to affiliate with is fine -- just as with any other group, but clear this up for me: Does NCSU actually have official "churches"?

[Edited on July 12, 2009 at 8:35 AM. Reason : ]

7/12/2009 8:34:21 AM

No, he's just talking about people who congregate and worship on campus. There's a number of groups in that regard, I'm sure.

7/12/2009 8:36:30 AM

Quote :

"a bunch of my friends that use to like to get fucked up started going to that church and then no longer wanted to get fucked up. that's fucked up."

Yeah, I lost these same friends to that cult.

We lost a lotta good men to that group.

7/12/2009 8:44:07 AM

Hmmm, I've been to Grace a few times, but never heard anything about it being part of the Great Commission Movement. Also, I have been hunted down somewhat by a few members there, but my being "hunted down" kinda relates to my personality: I don't like people crowding me before I get out the church door...not my thing. I understand that churches teach their congregations to do this and I'm fine with the friendliness, but there are some people (like me) who don't like being flooded with invitations the first time I show up.


I stand corrected: If you go here: http://www.gccweb.org/about/find-a-church it lists grace as one of the 4 NC GC churches.

Don't know how I feel about this...

[Edited on July 12, 2009 at 9:54 AM. Reason : link]

7/12/2009 9:42:29 AM

a lot of info on tom short
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Short

ordained without formal education

Quote :

" One outreach effort in 1996 at Texas A&M resulted in accusations of anti-semitism, stemming from a report in The Texas A&M Battalion that Short had told Jewish students that "Hitler didn't go far enough"."

Quote :

" In 1986, Short became involved in a "shouting match", where Republicans, Democrats, and the local chapter of the (pre-Scientology) Cult Awareness Network united against an apparent attempt by Great Commission International to strategically enter the political arena. At a Montgomery County bi-partisan press conference, Tom Short responded by saying he believed his church had been unfairly "labeled as a cult by innuendo..."[16] CAN had classified GCI as a shepherding cult based on criteria including procedures, use of mind control and thought-stopping techniques, and the degree of member consent; they said that "Great Commission discouraged its members from listening to outside criticism... [and members were] being manipulated into a deepening commitment to the church and of turning control of their lives over to church leaders ..." [17] "

7/12/2009 9:44:04 AM

^

7/12/2009 10:10:56 AM

Quote :

"Although, there are atheist churches popping up"

Wait, how does that work? When they sing hymns do they say "baby" instead of "Jesus" and/or "God"?


seriously though, i'm not sure where i'm at regarding religion. I was raised in a southern baptist church and my folks had the best of intentions. That being said, I don't think I've set foot in a church in the last 10 years, with exception of maybe a couple obligatory holidays, weddings, funerals, etc. I don't think my parents attend regularly any more. In fact, my dad told me a while back he'd rather spend Sunday morning on his motorcycle.

ibtfroshrant

7/12/2009 10:13:49 AM

Quote :

"athiests are snobs. agnostics are where its at"

LOL

Quote :

"agnostics are pussies that don't want to admit they're atheists because they don't want to be shunned by all the christians in the country"

LOLOL


both so true.

Quote :

"there are atheist churches popping up. I'm not convinced that churches, in and of themselves, are necessarily a bad thing."

Religion isn't the enemy. Much good has been done in the name of Christ and a plethora of other assorted imaginary deities. The enemy is fanaticism, be it religious, political, or atheist. When one group becomes so convinced that their way is right, that those who disagree must be punished at the tip of a sword, then you have the seeds which wreck great humanitarian disasters.

As an technical agnostic (practically atheist), I somewhat fear the replacement of religion with science. Why? Because when science is elevated to a religion, we'll lose the one great thing that makes science what it is; the freedom to question orthodoxy.

7/12/2009 10:19:57 AM

^
I agree.

Quote :

"Wait, how does that work? When they sing hymns do they say "baby" instead of "Jesus" and/or "God"?"

lol... good question. I mean, they wouldn't have hymns, in the traditional sense. Hymns are generally addressed to god(s) -- atheists would probably have something more like paeans.

7/12/2009 10:29:37 AM

Quote :

"agnostics are pussies that don't want to admit they're atheists because they don't want to be shunned by all the christians in the country"

except the common american is too stupid to recognize the difference so we get shunned just the same. YOU EITHER BELIEVE IN GOD OR DONT. GITERRDONE.

7/12/2009 10:48:27 AM

7/12/2009 10:54:49 AM

Grace people scare me.

7/12/2009 10:59:55 AM

"agnostics" are sometimes just atheists that don't want to be associated with douche bags like willy nilly

7/12/2009 11:12:04 AM

7/12/2009 11:12:23 AM

I met some people from Grace my freshman year, got talked into going to one service, hated every minute of it, and got hunted down by their douchebag disciples for the next month or so.

Their sermons seemed like something straight out of an MK-ULTRA experiment.

7/12/2009 11:34:51 AM

college freshies are easy prey for scum like this

7/12/2009 11:40:40 AM

Quote :

"I somewhat fear the replacement of religion with science. Why? Because when science is elevated to a religion, we'll lose the one great thing that makes science what it is; the freedom to question orthodoxy."

i totally disagree. scientists themselves question orthodoxy all the time. it's pretty much their jobs.

this sounds like a typical argument your hear from ID folks and anti-AGW folks trying to argue away science that doesn't suit their arguments.

7/12/2009 11:46:43 AM

^
You missed the point. Science, as a non-religious entity, is good.... but if it were to become a religion, it would assume dogma and no longer be real science. If this happened, scientists wouldn't be able to question orthodoxy, because that would be blasphemous. The ID and anti-AGW people would be the ones that want science to be elevated to a religion. I'm pretty sure that's what he fears....

7/12/2009 11:52:17 AM

^^you just validated his statement. science doesn't even support AGW, yet people who question it are shunned by the masses.

[Edited on July 12, 2009 at 11:56 AM. Reason : along with a hundred other scientific topics that are still debatable.]

7/12/2009 11:55:21 AM

Quote :

"agnostics are pussies that don't want to admit they're atheists because they don't want to be shunned by all the christians in the country"

no, they're actually taking the most sensible route

no evidence either way, no decision

[Edited on July 12, 2009 at 12:09 PM. Reason : I'm not scared of anyone's religious beliefs on either side... not even yours]

7/12/2009 12:08:14 PM

Quote :

"What do you mean "one of NC State's many churches". NCSU is a public school. It would be immoral and despicable (and should be illegal,) for a public entity to have churches -- as in "These are our NCSU churches, but these others aren't because we say so." 100% separate and unsanctioned private religious bodies that some students choose to affiliate with is fine -- just as with any other group, but clear this up for me: Does NCSU actually have official "churches"?"

I'm sorry. Grace is one of the churches that operates on or around NC State's campus and caters mostly to college kids.

7/12/2009 12:14:33 PM

Quote :

"no, they're actually taking the most sensible route"

Truth.

7/12/2009 12:15:03 PM

^^willy nilly is a little dense

7/12/2009 12:33:08 PM

Oh okay. That sucks.

7/12/2009 12:49:23 PM

Quote :

"willy nilly is a little dense"

Yeah.... I'm dense for interpreting the words used as they are actually meant to be used. The phrase was, "Grace Community Church is one of NC State's many churches". You see right there where "NC State" has an apostrophe "s" on it? That's a possessive -- meaning that the churches are NC State's. That is not so, and I was just making sure. It's okay though that you have to resort to calling others dense, when in fact you are the dense one. I'm sure it makes you feel better about yourself. (you fucking loser.)

7/12/2009 1:26:39 PM

grammar nazi

7/12/2009 1:31:03 PM

I'm fine with Grace. None of my Grace friends ever tried to convert me.

Its Campus Crusade you have to be weary of.

7/12/2009 1:34:27 PM

Wel it was relatively easy for the rest of us to interpret "N.C. State's" to mean "the communuty of N.C. State"

When people mention "NC State's party scene" do you start thinking about Talley Student Center??

7/12/2009 1:36:13 PM

I once spoke with Mr. Short. He seemed like a pretty cool guy. He spoke about the bible and doesn't afraid of anything.

7/12/2009 1:36:26 PM

Quote :

"grammar nazi"

Not exactly. The grammar wasn't wrong -- the statement was.

Quote :

"When people mention "NC State's party scene" do you start thinking about Talley Student Center??"

A party scene is intangible -- not ownable or possessable. A church is.
If every single NCSU student was christian, you still wouldn't say that christianity is NCSU's religion.

[Edited on July 12, 2009 at 1:40 PM. Reason : ]

7/12/2009 1:36:35 PM