Evangelical Cult

[reFORMer]

It was the night before the Jim Jones debacle.  I dreamed that there were several government persons creating something similar to a radio drama on a tape.  They would discuss, "We could have him say this; " or, "Maybe he should say that."  Then, "No; if he did it would seen such and such;" and, "Okay, let's go with it."  When I saw and heard what had supposedly happened in Guyana I was indisposed to swallowing it hook, line and sinker.  How many people are even aware that Jones was an agnostic political activist?  I find it hard to believe hundreds of people, without any religious motivation, would voluntarily kill themselves and their children for political ideals.

It had seemed to me that the cult thing was already being pushed too hard by unknown parties.  At the time, in the seventies, there were multiple tens of thousands of newly formed home fellowships.  The government was rightly concerned about contingencies.  Some of their advisors are not the best judges of such things, however.  A related issue was tens of thousands of communitarian groups.  While there were many participating in new age or AmerIndian religions, Christian intentional communities were by far in the majority.  But, just ask yourself, how much have you heard about this?  What was (and is) happening, a "reFORMation" of the Church was another media hidden aspect of what among the youthful poor was called "Jesus People" and among the older, more settled set, "The Charismatic Movement."  Many of these home fellowships became the Independent, usually Charismatic Churches we have today, which are comprised of more than half of the people attending an Institutional Church in the USA now.  (There are various figures for how many are in the present resurgence of home fellowships.  Anywhere from more than a half of all who consider themselves Christian are involved with a home fellowship to around 14 % for whom it is their exclusive way to meet.)

Another non-local government intervention around the same time paid people to report anybody working out of their home.  I think issues of less free enterprise and more government control, taxes tied to registrations, and thought control issues had a near at hand purpose with the "cult" awareness being pushed in the media then.  The government wanted to be able to move against those they considered suspicious without drawing unwanted attention.  That has been somewhat successful considering how the popular media retold the story of the Waco incident.  Most people even today do not realize how common neighborhood Bible studies are.  Down the street or just around the corner, by calling it a "cult" the government was and is less exposed.

The more distant consideration in the seventies had to do with what such "grass-roots" reconstruction of Christianity would have on the rest of society.  Cliques in the bureachracy wanted to limit the effect of Christianity on the culture because of its dampening effect on their own plans.  We certainly see today that simultaneous with the continuing implementation of the radical "gay" agenda there is propagandizing against the "radical right" or "religious fundamentalists," just some of media's "buzz-words."  I've learned that most ordinary people "get" these kind of things; but, if shared in an organized group setting, often someone in charge will try to derail the conversation.

Also in the seventies, with Christians' loosening ties to denominationalism, it became popular to describe a broad section of Christians from various traditions and affiliations as "Evangelicals."  It had a wider appeal than what fundamentalism had come to represent.  The present discussion is how valid is the present use of "evangelical" as a label and what could replace it.  Just remember, what is said to be orthodoxy is the majority opinion of those who think they ought to hold the microphone.  And, we will have to give an account to God for every thought, word and deed done in the body.

[thinktank]

I think we should remember that we are all brothers in Christ and should not label other groups as cults because of different interpretation of doctrines.

For in popular opinion when a person thinks of a cult it is usually one of extreme darkness, such as satanism, the dark legends of knights templars (although personally I think the templars were good warriors of God who vowed to protect the innocent) and so on.

So when we start throwing the idea that a large Christian group such as the evengelists, who are one of the most active Christian groups in preaching the good news of Christ to people and also do a large amount of prayer as a cult, it gives the world a very dark picture of who this group of people are and might even infect to the extend that the entire Christian religion is viewed as a cult, which is not good news for us.

The two main tests for a true christian demomination is the first by John
Test the spirits if they be of God, this is the spirit of an antichrist, he who denies that Jesus has come into the flesh.

Since all religions have some kind of prophecy or teaching given to them by someone, this is the first test to know if they be of God. So under this rule the Gnostics are not to be trusted, for they preach a different Gospel a gospel where Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh.

Second test is by their fruits you shall know them
A lot of the hell fire ministries do demonstrate love, by their giving to the poor and their missionaries to other countries. These people do have love, but they do not understand the purpose of Christ was to save us from death and sin, not from eternal hell. The lies and doctrines of devils inside the Church as made this lie a giant fortress in the minds of mainstream Christianity and it takes great strength and courage for any minister to first seek the truth and secondly to recognize this truth and repent for teaching error.
Satan is a powerful foe and this lie is not going to go away easilly. So don't be too proud when you are one who knows the truth of this doctrine and despise these other brothers and sisters for instead rejoice that you know the truth and pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ so that they too may enjoy the liberty of knowing salvation is offered for all mankind