“Know the Marks of Cults” by Dave Breese Part 2
We will continue with insights from the book: “Know the Marks of Cults” by Dave Breese, (copyright 1975, SP Publications, ISBN 0-88207-704-x). In the first post from this book, we reviewed the definition of a cult and some of the traits. Breese writes next about the “Extra Biblical Revelation” as a mark of a cult. At first, I was going to move over this point and not comment since there is no written “Extra Biblical Revelation” at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The leader, Jane Whaley has not written a “revelation” that she claims to supersede or be equal to the Bible.
Breese goes on to explain about this “Extra Biblical Revelation”: “Sometimes this extra-biblical revelation” comes in the form of a “divinely inspired leader”. Many religions have invested divine authority in the person of a visible individual who speaks infallibly, his words having the same or higher authority than Holy Scripture. Some of these religions have made their leaders equal with God.” (page 26) He goes on to admonish Christians to give themselves to study of the Word of God.
In the case of WOFF and Jane Whaley, would any present or former member deny the assertion that at least while living at WOFF; that the words of Jane Whaley were treated and acted upon as equal to and at times, truly superseded the Word of God found in the Bible? Am I the only former member that remembers the attentiveness, intensity and seriousness that Jane required of her members when SHE was preaching? (And you want to go to the bathroom? You should have done that BEFORE the service!) It was a double-edged sword; you were not allowed to take notes, but you were required to remember and change your life according to the WORD the Jane Whaley discerned from the Amplified Bible. Should you miss some piece of instruction and transgress a WOFF rule during your WOFF-life; you could be asked in front of the whole congregation: “Don’t you remember the seminar when we talked about that?” (Whatever sin you committed) “Where were you when God was speaking?” Missing a meeting was not an excuse. You were expected to watch the tape of a service you missed. Therefore, to keep up, you would ask another member who had been in the meeting you missed, “What did I miss?” Meaning, what new revelation and/or new rules were handed out in the meeting? If that person was the least bit hesitant, then you should be concerned. Sometimes, it was prudent to listen to the tape, even if no new rules came forth.
The subject of a few posts on this blog has been “Loud Prayer, Blasting and Deliverance”. The first post can be found here: http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=599 . For those who may have not read the series, I recommend reading it in order to understand the full scope of this next statement. The “revelation” of loud prayer, blasting and deliverance and subsequently that “Christians can and do have devils and need deliverance from devils”; is in my opinion – “extra biblical revelation”. It is not a secret to be kept from others who just are not “walking where we are walking”.
I can hear the WOFF members young and old objecting now. I remember the long list of scriptures about the sounds of God. I remember the references repeated often times as thought stopping mantras, about the justification of loud prayer, blasting and deliverance. I was fully indoctrinated and practiced this mode of “prayer”. However, I also remember the great measures taken to hide the practice from visitors or new folks. I remember the times of attempting explain the practice to visitors or new members. Yes, there are scriptures which mention the “blast of God” and the “roaring” and the “finger of God”. Does all this add up to a justification for the practices which WOFF engages in surrounding their belief, in this practice of blasting? I will answer this question with another question. How many former members continue to practice such a sacred part of WOFF-life? Next, how many present WOFF members have felt the least little bit of hesitation in blasting their friends and relatives who are outside WOFF? Why? If the practice is wholly based on scripture and is holy, then why not let it fly where ever you go? Why not walk around Spindale just blasting every “devil” you see in every unsaved sinner or Christian? Is it truly that God has revealed this practice only to His Chosen people -at WOFF? Is God holding back from the rest of His children?
Yes, this practice of blasting has had its day in the public forum. In this country, we go to lengthy measures to protect a person’s religious freedoms. So, it is what it is and WOFF does what they do. But, don’t pretend to make it such a special, holy activity when you hide it from visitors and take it behind closed doors. For by doing such, Jane Whaley: you make it clear that you are who you are and no more shall your claims to the contrary hold sway with those who have been there, done that, and know the Truth. My hopes are that fewer and fewer folks will fall into your grasp and I once was. If no one else was ever taken in by your claims of a “special place in God”, it would be fine with me. Do any others agree?
Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. The author is not a licensed mental health professional and encourages those that need professional help to seek it. The intent of the material is to inform and be a resource. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. There are readers at WOFF. Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.
Look on the right side of any post for the option to subscribe by email for notifications or RSS feeds notifying of new postings. It is a great feature. Also, find more posts by selecting “Categories”.
(Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, the information about WOFF is from my memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. ) Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 156.
when did the note taking stop? We were REQUIRED to take notes when I was there. If we missed a service we were to listen to the tapes, take notes and turn them in or borrow someone’s notes and take notes from that!!
Note taking stopped when the trials started with the 4 children left with B and K. I believe it came about so no one had a written reference to any service that could be used in court. Also, that stopped selling the tapes of services and asked everyone to bring in the old tapes as well. This was to prevent them from “getting out”. But, as noted, if it is holy and from God, what is wrong with letting everyone in the world know about it? I know other churches that pray loud, not with all the blasting. WOFF has that distinction. I use to wonder why we had to hide it from outsiders, again with the trials hiding the loud prayer began more. But, if WOFF was the chosen people from God, the lawsuits and trials would not affect WOFF, it would thrive and grow. So, Jane is concerned about what the people think. She always talked about being in your place when out in the county, so it would not come back on her. It was always her and not the church. She had a reputation to keep up or county opinion to try to keep. Once you get out of WOFF and are out in the county, the county really has a bad opinion of WOFF. Everyone knows who goes to church there by your mannerisms and dress. Sam would tell us to go somewhere and tell them Sam Whaley sent you. You would tell the company or people that and they would look at you, with a ‘so what!’ look and never say, ‘Oh, yeah, Sam, sure, we will make you a deal.’ I never heard that, just a blank stare and a shrug.