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Repost by Rita Lady I started going to the Arising church back in 2014. My sister brought wme after great convincing. I finally went and fell in love with the community, the feeling of connection, and momentum in people's faith in God. There was visible change including people filled with the holy spirit, spiritual chains being broken, freedom happening, lots of new commitments, and a meaningful desire to grow and change. Charismatic churches were new to me and I felt like this was the place to advance my faith. I quickly started to get involved with everything that was going on. I wanted to be apart of the change. I made some great connections with people and built some friendships that I didn't know were possible. We were all unified under one belief. I had a few very sensational experiences like altar calls and people laying their hands on me but I always had a check in my spirit. There was always something off but I couldn't put my finger on it. I had to ignore the check in my spirit many times to feel unified. I usually chalked it up to being something wrong with me. The thought "it must be my fault" whenever something was a problem in life became a trend without even knowing it. It makes me sad to say this but I was encouraged to overlook or lay down normal things like obeying my parents, respecting my boss, or taking college classes in the name of honoring God and surrendering my desires to him. Arising was interested in my submission to them and leaned on the side of my family being in the way. For example, when my family asked if I could join them for dinner I was discouraged and felt pressure to deny them because "God was moving and I should stay at church." I was shamed for going on family vacations and I was told it was a distraction from my consecrated time in discipleship (I lived with one of the pastors). As stated in a previous review, check their doctrine if you decide to go. They will use scripture to have you submit and surrender everything including healthy things like your family, your education, your health, your money, and your job. The "pain" of submitting is supposed to reveal your strongholds and be evidence of your need to submit more. This is supposed to bring freedom from those chains and consecrate you even more to God. I never made it. I didn't sacrifice enough or volunteer enough or show up to enough meetings or give enough. Unfortunately, I hurt family relations (thankfully my family is great and forgave me and still loves me), I lost a great job and stunted my college progress. I also experienced night terrors but from feeling destitute to hell - not something I would ever want for anyone. The voice of approval from the pastors was like a carrot dangling in front of my face with maybe a few scraps of affirmation that keep me coming back for more. I wanted to be a good Christian and never succeed. There were a few times I tried to escape but couldn't. I was isolated and alone and brought back to the discipleship house. Today I give myself grace because I was young and didn't know how to put words to the abuse received. I would stay clear of this church. Thankfully I'm back in school! I was able to re-find myself and remember what made me who I was before Arising took that away. I have joy again after years of depression. I'm 3 years clean of that place and I'm pursuing a great future. I wouldn't say I'm out of the woods yet but I have dreams for the future again which is great progress. Please be careful if you decide to visit.
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