Church cults

thats ok cos you dont seem to know that the tongue God gives you can be used for Prayer as WELL as speaking.

any genuine healer doesnt ask for money..Jesus never did nor his disciples. Just your thank you and glory to God.

so dont know where Branham was getting his $$ from...

ok just listening to this podcast now

seems Jim Jones has links to NAR and Latter Rain Kingdom now theology popularised by Branham.

Which is still happening today with Bethel spinoffs. They might not do chicken guts but they have done stuff like gold glitter and smoke machine stuff.

Basically supernatural entertainment with preachers being idolised instead of actors.

Branham, Jones, and people like Bill Johnson of Bethel, all have one thing in common—they believe God speaks directly to them and through them. They are the "anointed one" in other words. It's the same old lie in new clothes.

This always reminds of an old song by Dire Straits, "Industrial Disease." A line goes: "Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong." The real irony is, neither one of them is.

I think with Christ it’s intertwined his doctrine is the doctrine of God and only way to the Father


“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:”
‭‭2 John‬ ‭1:9-10‬ ‭KJV

makes sense because the gospel ( Christs doctrine ) teaches about loving one another Gods way.

“Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”
‭‭John‬ ‭7:16-17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Christ actually centers his doctrine and says it is spirit that quickens and offers eternal life

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
‭‭John 5:24

“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭6:63‬ ‭

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”
‭‭John‬ ‭8:51‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
‭‭John‬ ‭8:31-32‬ ‭KJV‬‬

I think with Christ there’s no way to really accept him without accepting the gospel of the kingdom that he centered for all believes as thier true north

because of his claim to be the one God sent to speak Gods word of truth to a world that was lost and seeking wrong judgements in darkness

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”
‭‭John‬ ‭18:37‬ ‭

there’s a doctrine on earth that came from heaven and Gods throne which is the gospel Jesus was sent to preach d there’s no where else to find that doctrine on earth

It is difficult having been an Evangelical Christian for over 30 years, and feeling the sense of loss when I lost faith in it. I did not stop loving God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but especially right after 9/11 it was clear that the sermons were "Feel Good" messages. I won't inflame anyone by talking about where I wondered. These days it feels like studying the Bible and figuring it out through prayer is all there is.

Jim Jones would preach doom and gloom first...he was convinced of a nuclear holocaust and actually looked for a CAVE to hide everyone in the peoples temple.
Then he would preach the feel good stuff like 'lets all go to guyana, its paradise, nobody will blow us up there'

also...it was conveniently out of the jurisdiction of the US. When Guyana appeared not to be working out so good, Jones started talking about moving to Russia.

Lots of the Rapture and Tribulation doctrine seems overcooked to me. If we love God and Jesus, perhaps whether we live or die before we meet God is less vital?

well they probably believed that they were being 'raptured' rather than poisoned. I dont know...but Im pretty sure being poisoned really ruins your temple anyway. If Jones had just shot everyone instead maybe it would have been different? But he did shoot himself, and one family slit their own throats.

The bodies were 3 deep and decomposing in the humidity when the investigators found them. I dont know whther they just buried them there or took them back to america. Some were unidentifiable.

I try not to think of him.

Please don't obsess about the incident. It teaches nothing.

just stating the facts,,,because church cults are still around today and stuff like this happens. suicide and murders still happen in churches taken over by wolves.

Got it. Now can we move on?

You dont have to keep responding to this thread if really its uncomfortable for you...find a different one.

Just Be glad you got out of a potential cult.

advise for any new christians, dont idolise preachers (people in the pulpit)
Thats where wolves in sheeps clothing can easily fleece the flock. There are warnings even in the new testament about it.

if anyone isnt preaching the gospel, or brings you a strange doctrine you have a right to refuse them entry into your home and life.

tired scrolled to here

hmm
well seems like some church cult groups been on the news recently grousing against covid restrictions...with a charismatic leader egging them on

but thing is, what a cult leader is afraid of is losing control of his paying flock if they cant gather in 'his' church more than anything.

Above all, we need discernment. Cults usually revolve around an individual. Cults try to keep people from outside influences. Cults overemphasise, ignore or distort God's word, often all three. Cults usually have the wrong view of the Lord Jesus, who He is and what He has achieved for us.

Cults often have some kind of "holy" book or their own translation of the Bible. They may promote the teachings of the founder as more trustworthy than the Bible. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are two examples.

It's getting harder to discern. Some prosperity gospel teaching is pretty close to cult-like and a lot of people have been hurt by adopting it. When something other than the Lord Jesus is the primary focus, then you are looking at a cult. Likewise when the Jesus they present is not the Lord Jesus of the Bible.

It's not impossible. The Romans were gentiles, all hope was lost and the Jews may well have feared the fate that Rome had in store for them if they were captured. King Saul asked to be killed rather than die at the hands of his enemies. I've read reports that the Romans were prepared for a battle and were horrified by what they saw. That is the testimony of Josephus. He claimed that to avoid the sin of suicide, the Jews killed each other.

Adolf Hitler and many of his close associates preferred suicide to capture by the Russians. I can understand why. Perhaps the Jews had a similar attitude.