No Greater Joy Ministries

[rjy9343]

My cousin likes NGJ for whatever reason and shares their little nuggets of wisdom on her facebook feed almost daily. I now understand how people get sucked into it. The latest one she shared could have very easily come from here. It talked about how children cannot love, respect, care, lead or be kind if their parents are not doing those things to their children first. It made a big deal out of cherishing your children and why it matters so much. I can get onboard with respecting and being gentle to your children, I am on GCM after all.
It is taking everything I have not to point out the irony in those words coming from such harsh and ungentle parents who advocate spanking babies among other things. It is taking a lot out of me not to say and that is why we never punish Ivy. So that she can learn to solve problems with logic, reason and compassion. :shifty
I think I need to really pray for parents getting into NGJ. If you just read snippets like that and like what you see, then it would be so easy to get sucked into their methods. Especially if you see their children who seem to be functioning adults that have a loving relationship with their parents.

[Hermana Linda]

Exactly. :yes3

Posted from my mobile phone by Tapatalk

[3PeasInAPod]

Imagine them sending out memes like "a child properly and timely spanked is healed in the soul and restored to wholeness of spirit. "
Or "a child can be turned back from the road to hell thru proper spankings" or "a spanking, whipping, switching, Or belting is indispensable to the removal of guilt in your child"
Or " if you have to sit on him to spank him, then do not hesitate. And hold him there until he has surrendered. . Defeat him totally."

They'd probably lose a lot of followers if they did that. They want to wrap up their sick theology in a sweet little bow with grace on top. So we can't see what they're really saying until we're in love with their ministry so much that we're blinded by the truth of what they're really saying.

[rjy9343]

Imagine them sending out memes like "a child properly and timely spanked is healed in the soul and restored to wholeness of spirit. "
Or "a child can be turned back from the road to hell thru proper spankings" or "a spanking, whipping, switching, Or belting is indispensable to the removal of guilt in your child"
Or " if you have to sit on him to spank him, then do not hesitate. And hold him there until he has surrendered. . Defeat him totally."

They'd probably lose a lot of followers if they did that. They want to wrap up their sick theology in a sweet little bow with grace on top. So we can't see what they're really saying until we're in love with their ministry so much that we're blinded by the truth of what they're really saying.
I think you are right. If I had not found here first, I could have very easily been sucked into their ways. They endorse so many things that I do or that my mother did and then they talk about the importance of making your children feel loved. What is not like? Seriously, if not for GCM, that very easily could have been the path I took. They seem so loving and gentle.

[Hermana Linda]

The Old Schoolhouse is just the same. So many of my friends, even ones who are devoted to gentle parenting, share their memes. :sigh

[rjy9343]

3PeasInAPod nailed when she said they cover their evil in sweetness and grace to deceive you into buying their bill of goods. It makes me think of the Petra song Angel of Light. Especially the part where it says if it wasn't for the real Light I might have never known. :cry

[Soliloquy]

Yes, it is sickening. :bheart What if their snippets and memes talked about leaving loaded weapons within reach of toddlers and training babies not to touch things out of curiosity?

[3PeasInAPod]

I talked with someone once who said "oh surely they don't say that! " i mean I first heard about the Pearls at gcm and then when I started to encounter Christians talking about their great book I had to go buy it for myself to make sure what I heard at gcm was true. Sure enough it's even sicker when you read the whole book !! I felt angry for days about it. It seems even when it's there in black and white people excuse it or lie to themselves about it(or just agree with it).

---------- Post added at 12:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:19 AM ----------

I looked at their fb page and seeing Michael pearl with his grandchildren make me want to barf. I pray to God he isn't spanking them but sadly i doubt it

[rjy9343]

I know what you mean. I am seriously considering linking a few of the not so gentle things to that meme. And possibly Angel of Light. :shifty I know it won't change her mind, but maybe others. The only thing that stops me is that I just don't want the drama. Anyone that is sharing their memes is too invested to want the truth.
I think the Pearls bother more than the others because I would have been sucked into their brand of parenting. I really would be able to relate to so much of what they do and teach. It would have broken Ivy and made her afraid to trust anyone.
My marriage would have likely been a casualty of their teachings as well. James would not have stood by while I hit his baby and I would not have stood by and let him send her to h3ll because he was too weak to punish her.
All I can do is pray for others and be thankful God was able to reach me in time. I really do not believe anyone wants to do the things that pass for Christian parenting, they just don't know any better.

[Hermana Linda]

I talked with someone once who said "oh surely they don't say that! " i mean I first heard about the Pearls at gcm and then when I started to encounter Christians talking about their great book I had to go buy it for myself to make sure what I heard at gcm was true. Sure enough it's even sicker when you read the whole book !! I felt angry for days about it. It seems even when it's there in black and white people excuse it or lie to themselves about it(or just agree with it).

I have encountered this a lot. :yes2 They seem hypnotized by his rhetoric and don't even recognize the quotes. They then insist that we have taken them out of context, no matter how large a quote we give.


I write about that phenomenon here (http://whynottrainachild.com/category/the-pearls-teachings/counter-arguments/).

[Soliloquy]

I read NGJ, too. And Babywise and GKGW. I wanted to know for myself. It was horrid. :shiver

[Redeemed]

My stepmother tried shoving that garbage down my throat. You wonder why my half-brother is so passive-aggressive. . .

[MariJo7]

They are really awful, just sugar-coated poison. If you see a chance to say something about NGJ and you feel prompted to do it, by all means, use the opportunity (pray first). Perhaps your cousin will not listen, but perhaps some of his Facebook friends will.

And Petra is a great band!

[MariJo7]

By the way, what is the Old Schoolhouse that Hermana Linda mentioned?

[Hermana Linda]

By the way, what is the Old Schoolhouse that Hermana Linda mentioned?
https://m.facebook.com/theoldschoolhouse

http://whynottrainachild.com/tag/old-schoolhouse/

Posted from my mobile phone by Tapatalk

[JoEllen]

Out of curiosity, a few years back I went to the NGJ website just to check it out.

Big mistake. The first article I read was written by one of the Pearl kids and I just about had a heart attack. :sick

[Rose5000]

JoEllen- why? What did it say?

[TenderLovingWillow]

JoEllen- why? What did it say?

She's not a member here anymore, and I can't answer for her, but some of the pearls worst stuff is articles on their website. :sick

[Hermana Linda]

Probably because of how their adult children discuss their "perfect" childhoods. :think

Sent by Tapatalk from my phone

[Rose5000]

She's not a member here anymore, and I can't answer for her, but some of the pearls worst stuff is articles on their website. :sick

Oh ..... I didn't realize this was an older thread

[Hermana Linda]

It's not all that old... But nevertheless, she is no longer here.

Sent by Tapatalk from my phone