Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Does Everyone Have “Devils”? Part 1

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  This past Wednesday, on ABC, there was a PrimeTime® show titled, “Battle with the Devil”. Here is the trailer which is about 5 minutes.

 

  Earlier in the week, I had heard about the show previous to Wednesday from another former member of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The show was of particular interest because in the previews there was a lead piece about a church in New York that practiced “deliverance”. The preview showed members of the church wrenching and coughing up in brown paper bags. As a previous member of a WOFF and having been under the teachings of Jane Whaley, this was particularly interesting as I participated in similar activities while in Greenville at Grace and Truth (Word of Life) and while at WOFF. I shared the information about the show with yet another former member and they refused to watch saying that “there would be too many unpleasant memories”.   

  Even with my interest, I did not record the show. So, in commenting, I may have certain scenes out of order. The show started with material about Catholic exorcisms. There were clips from movies which I had not seen and interviews with Catholic priests that perform(ed) exorcisms. One lady was shown testifying as to her great relief as her demons left her body.

   Next, there was an interview with Pastor John Goguen of Agape Bible Fellowship in East Aurora, NY. This interview was interspersed with different scenes from his church services showing people singing and praying. Then the announcer said that “fireworks” were about to begin as a man prepared paper towels and plastic bags for the last part to the service.

   Continue reading Does Everyone Have “Devils”? Part 1 →

Books, Resources, Thought Reform, Uncategorized

Steve Hassan: Interviewing Robert Jay Lifton (video)

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   Steve Hassan is a leading expert on cults and mind control. His work has been quoted many times on this blog. Mr. Hassan has reworked his website recently and it is much more presentable. Today, as I visited his website – www.freedomofmind.com , I found a very interesting interview which Hassan did with Robert Jay Lifton. The post is dated July 19, 2011 and we have embedded the video below. The beginning is a shot of all the books by Lifton that Hassan has on his bookshelf. Hassan invites others to watch with this statement, “I invite you to take the time to watch this strictly amateurish video done solely by me.” So, we have taken the liberty to embed the video.

 

Robert Jay Lifton interviewed by Steve Hassan July 13th 2011 from Steven A Hassan on Vimeo.

   Here is part of the introduction to the post as Hassan features the cover of the latest book about Lifton and his reflections: “I wanted to let people know that last Wednesday, I had a profound experience with renown psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, author of 20 books, including Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, Destroying the World to Save it, The Nazi Doctors, Home from the War, and Death in Life to name just a few of the most important volumes. Dr. Lifton has a new book of his memoirs that has just come out, entitled, Witness to an Extreme Century, and I called Dr. Lifton to see if he would sit down with me and catch up, and at the same time allow me to interview him on video to put online. The book is available at www.amazon.com

   Continue reading Steve Hassan: Interviewing Robert Jay Lifton (video) →

Books, Resources, Uncategorized

Message and Means – Same or Different

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  Often I will have a thought or an idea for a post and write it down on the nearest piece of paper whether envelope or receipt or whatever. This has been done at the oddest moments, such as just when I am trying to start sleeping or even riding down the road. This past weekend I was out of town and wrote several notes on envelopes or whatever was handy. This week, I hope to use these notes to write a few posts.

   In the previous post, I mentioned the work of Andrew Murray. He lived from May 9, 1828 until January 18, 1917. Most of his years were spent in South Africa. Here is a resource link for more about his life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister) . During his life, he is credited with writing over 240 books. Many of these works are still widely read today. One such book is “God’s Best Secrets – Daily Devotional Meditations” (reprinted by Zondervan by special arrangement with Biola Book Room, Los Angeles, CA, this version is from 1967) Recently, I was rereading the Introduction and learned something that helped me greatly. Here is a short quote:

   “The more I think and pray about the state of religion in this country, and all over the world, the deeper my conviction comes that the low state of spiritual life of Christians is due to the fact that they do not realize that the aim and object of conversion is to bring the soul even here on earth, to daily fellowship with the Father in heaven. When once this truth has been accepted, the believer will perceive how indispensable it is to the spiritual life of a Christian, to take time each day with God’s Word and in prayer, to wait upon God for His presence and His love to be revealed….The first thing is that they (Christians) must be convinced of the great need for daily fellowship with God.”

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Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Could This Be True?

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  For this post, I will take a slightly different angle from previous posts. In other posts, I have compared the writings of experts in the area of mind control and cults to my observations and experiences inside of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). Looking back, I did not think there would be so much material from experts and survivors of other religious cults that would compare to what happened at WOFF. It has been a sad path confirming what others had believed for years. The first book that started these comparisons was one someone bought for me in January 2010- “Church of Lies” by Flora Jessop and Paul T. Brown (Copyright ©2009 by Flora Jessop and Paul T. Brown- ISBN 978-0-7879-9462-4) The book is an informative read though in some places, the depiction is raw. However, if you are looking for a source to explain Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and their polygamy practices, this book is a must.  

   My thoughts today have gone in a slightly different direction. Let me first say that most of the post will be from simple observations and questions that these observations has birthed. Also, as I move forward, I am fully aware that there will be those present and former members who may take issue with my conclusions. In answer to that, I encourage comments, responses and dialogue. And yes, I know that up to this point many have kept quiet or talked behind closed doors. Certain WOFF members have excused my posts as “lies, full of lies”. If that is true then assemble a list of contradictions and untruths in my writings and send them to me. Can we then review them and come to some point of agreement- or just feel satisfied that each side has expressed their views? I will publish a list of reported untruths or “lies” that present WOFF members assert, including Jane Whaley, if they are submitted in a sensible fashion.

    This evening, I began to revisit some writings of Andrew Murray. One in particular was a small book which was the reworked from teachings Murray did in 1895 at the Northfield Conference. Murray has been a favorite author of mine and one I continued to read even while in WOFF. The title of this book was “The Master’s Indwelling” (Copyright © 1983 by Whitaker House, ISBN 0-88368-121-8). The main purpose of the book was to promote the knowing and experiencing of the Holy Spirit in His fullness in the life of Christians. As I read this and pondered a hopefully indisputable idea in the life of any Christian; everyone who calls themselves a born-again Christian has to believe in whatever level of understanding which they have- that Jesus has come to take up residence in them.  This belief is what sets Christianity a part from other religions.

  Continue reading Could This Be True? →

Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Thought Reform, Uncategorized

Survivor or Victim?

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“Yes, I’ve been very preoccupied with the survivor all through my work”. – Robert Jay Lifton

(source link- http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/robertjayl375345.html )

  We have quoted Robert Lifton in previous posts. His research work included studying survivors of POW camps during the Korean War as well as the survivors of Hiroshima and returning Vietnam War Veterans. His work on thought reform and study of brainwashing has been a foundation for understanding mind control and its effects. He also studied the Nazi doctors and the psychology of genocide. I hope to learn more about his work in that area and relate it to his work on thought reform. His work is a part of the Holocaust picture I had not previously considered or learned about.

  After being under what I now believe were very developed and effective mind control techniques used at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) by Jane Whaley and her leadership, I consider myself a survivor. No, I did not realize that what I was going through was mind control and thought reform. But, how many victims of an environment like WOFF actually know with clarity what is happening to them? For years, I knew I had problems with some of the methods, but, I suppressed my doubts long enough for at least some of the controls to work. I attended my first service at WOFF in May of 1992. My last time on the grounds of WOFF was June 6, 2008 in the evening. Since I was involved for so long a time, I would be a fool to not admit that some of the mind control methods had an effect on my thinking and way of life. It is only after I left and began to research thought control and other cult groups, that I was able to see the similarities of the practices between WOFF/Jane Whaley and other groups.

  While a member of WOFF, the techniques of control were either denied as control or labeled as “God’s ways”.  Does that surprise anyone? Shunning, public rebuke and information control were all labeled as “the ways of God” or for those who “walk in the Spirit”. We have listed these techniques in previous posts, the introduction of which is found here…    Thought Reform? At WOFF? (1)- https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=3225  The purpose of this post is not to go over the mind control techniques, but, only to reference the fact that I am a survivor of them.

  Continue reading Survivor or Victim? →

Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Another Side of Narcissism

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  Narcissism – sounds hard to understand or even consider, maybe because of the spelling or pronunciation. For most, it is not a common term. Here is the origin according to Greek mythology:

 “In Ovid’s tale, Narcissus is the handsome and proud son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. The nymph, Echo, falls in love with him but is rejected and withdraws into a lonely spot and fades away, leaving behind her voice. The goddess Nemesis hears her prayers for vengeance and makes Narcissus fall in love with his own reflection, which he cannot embrace. He sits by the pool, watching it until he dies and turns into the narcissus flower.”

(Read more here: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_origin_of_narcissism#ixzz1RaURsNIE )

    The Greek background is only used to give some insight into the meaning of the word for today. One part of the scenario that sticks out: …Narcissus fall(s) in love with his own reflection, which he cannot embrace… The word picture of the futile attempts to embrace your own reflection was quite revealing for me. It was that idea of futility combined with other parts of the definition such as “inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity”, which struck a chord and caused me to want to know more. (source link-http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/narcissism )

   In a previous post titled, “Adulation- the Drug of Choice” found here:  https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=3843 , I share about the ongoing worship of Jane Whaley which permeates life at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The entire religious fantasy that WOFF was/is built on was the worship of Jane.  At times, you can see that Jane appears to draw her strength from the attention, adulation and the worship. Thus, from those observations, I gave my opinion/conclusion that she has/is a true narcissistic personality. Near the end of that post, I wrote:

 This helps explain why Jane never sins in her eyes. She has to be right, because then in her eyes, she is above her members. She is perfect in her eyes, so she lives in a higher place with God (exalted place) than her members. … (if she let anyone from outside into her pulpit…) Then the attention would be off of her and on the other “guru” and she would be in a state of lack. Her supply of adulation could/would wane and she would go through withdrawal and emotional turmoil, if for any period of time, her members did not worship her. So, it appears that the adulation of her members is Jane’s drug of choice.

  Continue reading Another Side of Narcissism →

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Update: Pastor Asks for Clarification

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   In a recent post titled: Update: Raimund Melz – Mountain Rock Church – Pictures- found here: https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=4099 , I mentioned the church that presently occupies the building which had been home to Mountain Rock Church. The pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, Russell Clark, contacted me to give clarification to his association with Raimund Melz. As a courtesy, I am posting the meat of our email exchange in hopes or clearing up any unintended errors.

From the first email received from Pastor Russell Clark:

 “I’m Russell Clark; I have been the pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church for the past 10 years. We were previously located at Hickory road in Anderson. We have been at our current location on Concord for the past 3 years. Macedonia Baptist Church is in no way associated with Mountain Rock. Your blog write up, with our sign pictured, was brought to my attention tonight by some concerned church members and I thought it prudent to address the nature of our relationship with the previous occupants- there is none. If you have any questions please send an email or visit at our blog. On our blog, you will find several years of history concerning our fellowship. …. (emphasis added)

Continue reading Update: Pastor Asks for Clarification →