An Open Letter to the Redeemed of the Lord. This is my testimony and confession.
Dear Ones,
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and confessed Him as Lord in 1963. After baptism and several years of diversified spiritual searching by trial and error (during which time i married Cathy, who has proved to be infinitely patient and longsuffering) and began a family, i aligned myself with George Geftakys and his religious philosophy. The years from 1969 through the first half of 1980 i spent under his tutelage and, in matters of faith, as his unpaid servant.
In August, 1980, i left Fullerton, CA with my family and returned to my native Ohio. This decision was not made from spiritual conviction, but was pressed upon me by my ouster from the Assembly's Beading brothers' meeting, the meeting of Geftakys' "Workers" and, essentially from all Assembly life. Although it was never explained to me, i have since surmised that my ejection was because i no longer displayed any usefulness or promise of development for the "Work," having therefore become a liability to keep around. Essentially, i ran away to escape my sense of shame.
From that time until the present (June, 2003), i have never been directly associated with any church or gathering, Christian or otherwise, owing primarily to my mistaken belief that i had failed the Lord and been cast out from His one true patterned work: the Assembly. Nothing else seemed good enough. Cathy and i have attended numerous services during that period, and the Lord has graciously and mercifully provided us with consistent support in Christian fellowship and prayer, all praise and thanks be to Him.
Near the end of 2002, both Mark Campbell and Tom Maddux contacted me, urging me to view the Geftakys Assembly website, which led me in turn to the Bulletin Board. Both sites were instrumental in opening my eyes to the falsehood of Geftakysism, and the immensity of God's grace as shed upon us in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This was not instantaneous, but the awakening has been gradual, as was the deception.
When i first began posting on the bulletin board, it was to defend the Geftakys' and their followers against what i believed were too harsh criticism and condemnation. It took some very severe slams at me, a lot of online teaching and preaching, and, i'm certain, a lot of prayer on my behalf before i began to realize the extent of the depravity of Geftakysism and the damage it has caused. Eventually i saw enough of the light to renounce the Geftakys' as cult leaders and their teaching as a false religion.
Between my earliest posts and the most recent, the evolution of my enlightenment and my faith seem plainly evident to me, but apparently not so to some others, hence this document.
The Lord Jesus Christ alone bridges the gap between God and man: there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. The Gospel is the biblical truth of God the Father's sending and sacrificing of His Beloved Son for our sakes, to bring whosoever will to Himself.
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the Law of God and the prophets, having faithfully borne our sins in Himself in His crucifixion, and having been raised up from the dead and seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father. In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and He has made us partakers with Him of that Divine Nature, and granted to us grace, even for the receiving of the grace He has granted us.
This Gospel is worthy of all acceptance, and as such is to be preached and defended: That is, if any other gospel is preached, it is to be vehemently denied and exposed and those who preach a false gospel, if they repeatedly refuse rebuke and counsel, are to be shunned. This is the work that the Holy Spirit of God does in and through His saints: the Comforter, convincing the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
If i have posted or otherwise said anything which has seemed contrary to the above statements, i repent of such saying and ask your forgiveness. i have spoken from my heart, but not always wisely, clearly or well. This letter is sent via email to individuals directly affected, and is posted openly as a thread on the BB.
If both the Lord's return and my home-going are delayed, i will doubtless err again. Please bear with me, correct me, and above all intercede for me in prayer.
Receive this in the love in which it is sent...
Your brother in Jesus Christ our Lord,
Al Hartman
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