Christian Cult Childhood
From about the ages of 4/6 until I was a teenager I grew up in a Christian cult. I remember Jesus before the cult. This little girl used to sing, dance and talk to Him all the time. That is one of the primary things a Christian cult does; it changes the interpretation of the Bible to suit it's own desires, it removes the diety of Jesus in one way or another (whether by accident or on purpose), It operates along the lines of Christianity well enough to earn the specialized title of Christian Cult rather than just Cult.
A Christian cult often changes the interpretation of the Bible to suit thier own desires, sometimes this can even appear as a need to the primary persons doing so (or at least it can be a very real revelation to them). When someone changes the Bible to suit thier own desires -they are setting up a false god (an idol). For example, some churches have taken the scriptures about snakes so literally that they dance around with them -forgetting the scriptures about not tempting/testing God. The cult that I was in practiced deception a bit better than that. Some say that this particular cult did not do this early on, mainly the elders who have based thier entire lives on and around the founder's teachings. But upon interview very recently -I've been told he taught that reincarnation was in the Bible. The founder (JRS) passed away when I was pretty young, then there was a change in leadership -amongst exmembers this leaves room for a lot of differing opinions. I did not take this concept of reincarnation to be about passing on and going to live with Jesus at all. In my understanding of it -they were talking about coming back to the earth to live again. Though there are some scriptures which can be interpreted that way if one wanted to -how would that effect salvation and the message of it? Most legitimate churches we have found say that it is the reincarnation of the ministry -not the person. That actually makes sense. Besides, even if it really were true to some who choose to believe it: Why would they dwell on it? That is the bait of many a cult or a cult leader's personality -to have grand revelations that the ordinary men and women of God just don't seem to have. At any rate these types of revelations came again and again. They were Bible based enough to be believable to those who really went there to learn about the Bible and Jesus. Unfortunately by now many of these revalations have made thier way into mainstream Christianity as well, you could be practicing some of them now and not even realize it. They weren't all as obvious as reincarnation.
A Christian cult removes the diety of Jesus one way or another. They often add other dieties to pray to or through, this is a way of keeping Jesus but tearing small pieces of His diety away -little by little. They can have many a good reason -usually based upon the importance of the other person or people they are praying to or through or that person's connection to Jesus. Of course it sounds ridiculous to think that one day you might be praying to or through your neighbor. But many cults find it perfectly acceptable with thier beloved leaders, after all there are many churches which are considered legitimate but they pray through saints and to them, and this is considered normal, acceptable, merely mainstream -its been taught and done for many years. So why wouldn't cult members elevate thier beloved deceased leaders to the position of a Saint? We are talking about a person who was supposed to have just as great of a connection to Jesus as the disciples, and not to mention his personality and popularity.
The great irony of this particular cult is that orginally everything was done in the name of not being religious -not being like all the other churches, in order to be very real and attractive to those who actually needed Jesus. It was a very successful approach. Many people came who wouldn't normally go to a church. The population of members grew and grew.
Sometime in the 1970s John's wife divorced him on the grounds that his congregation was praying for her death. Sometimes this era is reffered to with the key words of "The sons of God and the nephelim" (if I misspelled nephelim -sorry). His congregation did pray for her death and they were having these sort of revelations, or rather I should say delussions about what God wanted and what He was revealing to them -and they were sharing them. Thank God she divorced him lest someone could have acted out thier personal revelations. That is why they're not on prime time news or anything, they haven't yet gone completely over the edge like the the Jim Jones cult -thank God they reeled it back a bit since then. We did not know all of this when my mother was originally attracted to this cult. After all they're not going to tell people, they didn't have the word cult written over thier door. We joined in the late 70s/early 80s. John seemed to have spoken many a good word which may have been scripturally correct. These are the only words of his which are advertised on thier web site today.
During his lifetime they started recording services, later they labeled these services to be heard upon the basis of one's personal maturity in Christ. However what many will not say is that there are restricted tapes. Most people will never hear them. I know someone who heard one once, immediately afterward this person realized just how unstable these people were. This person was afraid -so it was agreed that the contents there of would not be revealed, since it was made clear that this person was now a threat to the cult. Most of how this cult accomplishes all that it does is by deception and psychological abuse of it's members.
Surely -they removed the diety of Jesus. Eventually communion was just sitting around and breaking bread with friends. Over time they decided to place more and more importance and perversion upon Jesus living in a person, as though that made some of them God to others. If not for the massive upheavals and throw outs many would have missed what I have plainly stated because they were very discreet and based on the Bible, many of these devotees never would have left or seen any truth about them at all. Now thier numbers dwindle. If it weren't for the hidden blessing of the massive amounts of families they tore apart and threw away as well. The divorce rate definately seemed to be higher and the destruction possibly modeled after their leader -in my perspective of it. Leaders left children never to speak of or to them again. One of my personal pastors (called a brother) was set in just after beating his wife up -that was an attention getter to a thinking person. But everyone else did not know what happened. Only three of us knew. They also got into an abominable trend called direct relationships. For awhile they couldn't even say the name "Jesus", if they referred to Him they would call Him by His position only "Christ". Being that they seemed to be after His position it is fitting. I am leery when I hear people do this now-a-days. Recently I have heard thier members saying His name again -which is a warning about their deceptive ability. They replaced the New Testament festivities with the old, I mean replaced -Easter was no longer celebrated, only Passover. It wasn't just a respectable form of remembering and celebrating the Lord, it was a way of replacing and removing the diety of Jesus.
We left in the early 90s/late 80s, after our family was ripped to shreds and we lost one member to this cult. Thats what they do -they try to steal your children, they conquer and divide. They go behind the parent's back to minister to the children. They create life long followers and remove any who have a real relationship with Jesus or simply aren't the type to follow them always more so than following Jesus. For those in between -they just don't tell them the truth.
The effects of God's word being twisted to people for so many years, especially children, is a form of brain washing and without Jesus it can not be overcome. These effects are devastating but only God can avenge or stop the assailants of the mind and spirit. No one can be jailed for it. We were told these things would happen, so if they happen to you or someone you love don't be surprised -though we know He does not take it lightly when someone's salvation is in jeapardy because of such tactics. They're out there waiting for you -in mass numbers. The members of this cult that have been removed -often times wind up preaching much of the same doctrine elsewhere. It is decietful enough that it would be haughty to think one wouldn't fall for it or at least hasn't already fallen for little bits of it. The only way to avoid such potential salvation stealing pitfalls is to take everything to Jesus -EVERYTHING, and hear then follow.
In the name of not being religious or denominational, they originally did not have a name and shunned giving one to themselves -so many people referred to them as the "Walk" earlier. Eventually they adopted the name; The Living Word Fellowship (or LWF). As all cults do, within thier group away from prying ears and eyes they definately had a motto of exclusivity -as though they were the kingdom of God in the earth. Its been many years, I don't know what their motto or doctrines are now. But I do know they still exist -and I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. It is good to know and remember that God is against the false prophets, they are God's enemies (that is what they made of themselves). That is an absolute. It does not change. Many confuse that truth, usually on accident -all in the endeavor of forgiveness. It is possible to forgive and not waver from reality. The reality is, if you read the Bible -that is God's standpoint.
This group had it's head quarters in Iowa for some time (probably still do), though John spent much time in California. They currently have a website. The founder's name is John Robert Stevens. They have many churches (though numbers and churches have dwindled) reaching into other countries (I believe, maybe just one country now) and a place which seems to be a new favorite (in my perspective of it) -Hawaii.
Just so that one name of one cult is known, but there are many out there and there are many mistakes made when preaching as well as just plain old misinterpretations or false representations. But it is not said to cause any to shy away from Jesus. The wise person draws nearer to Him and knows He will guide them in all truth. It is because of Him that I am healed and a whole lot wiser than I would have been without the experience -who knows who or what I would have followed, or what I would have taught my children. So I thank Him for the experience even though I do not believe He is responsible for it, He brought the good out of the bad and made the end far better than the beginning.
