Tag Archives: Cult Criteria

Behavior Control, Uncategorized, WOFF Updates

Former WOFF Member Files Incident Report to Help His Friend

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In case there is any doubt, you don’t have to be a member of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) for very long to be affected in very intense ways. June 15, 2011, we shared an experience at a local restaurant in Rutherfordton. It was actually an ugly exchange prompted by a present WOFF member who I had known for nineteen years. After telling of that incident, I shared a few words about Tony Nicosia. The post was titled: Revealing Incident at the Great Wall– here is the link – https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=4264 .

This is a brief review of a story that Tony can tell with amazing detail most every time he gets started. He and Carole Kolari came to this area in 2003 for Carole to be around her three sons who were at that point inside WOFF. She was allowed periodic visits with them in her off hours from her job. First, she and Tony lived in Kings Mountain and then in a condo near the Cleghorn Plantation golf course. Events transpired to cause two of the younger sons to move back to Chicago. Carole and Tony followed or vice versa. Anyway, in 2007, Tony and Carole found themselves back in the Chicago area.

April of 2010, Carole’s oldest son was to marry at WOFF. Carole was driven back to NC by a couple of WOFFers; their names escape me at this point. She made it back to WOFF in time to be in the wedding and this made her happy. Tony made some calls and asked to be moved back to this area in hopes to continue his friendship with Carole. An entourage from WOFF drove to Chicago to pack up and pick up Tony. Here is a quote from the previous post: “They showed up with a truck and packed most everything from the place where Tony lived. Tony was under the impression that these things would be taken back to NC for him and CK(Carole). Other things happened that weekend which are just too scary to retell here. Anyway, these things in the truck NEVER made it back to NC- according to Tony…The furniture, personal effects, insurance papers and jewelry that Tony says were his were never presented to him when he got to NC! He was put into an apartment arranged by CK’s (Carole’s) first husband and in it is furniture given to him by that first husband- GC, Sr. A bed, a chest, a sofa and some kitchen items were about the sum total of the furniture items I saw in Tony’s apartment. Where did all his stuff go?…But, for sure, Tony’s stuff is gone.”    Continue reading Former WOFF Member Files Incident Report to Help His Friend →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Emotional Control, Thought Reform, Uncategorized

Former WOFF Member Files Report of Assault

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Before I begin with the content of this post, let me acknowledge there will be some who disagree with my position to present this information in this forum. Some survivors of WOFF choose to “forgive and forget” and attempt to put everything that happened to them as far away from them as possible. That is a choice each is free to make, but, I don’t recommend it. Privacy prevents me from sharing the emails I receive on a regular basis from survivors of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) and other groups. Many of these emails contain regrets for waiting so long to process the events that happened to them in years of being involved in a controlling group. Trying to ignore the injuries, the injustices, the hurts, the confusion and the emotional trauma will not prove helpful in the long run. The emails I receive with these aches and hurts are from survivors who were in WOFF and relatives of those who are now or have been in WOFF. It is with that understanding that I proceed to share the ongoing story of a survivor of 21 years of involvement in WOFF.

In a previous post titled, “Another Exit Drama Unfolds …” found here: https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=4782 . In that post, we did not name the survivor for various reasons. As of a few days ago, by his choice, his name was put into public record and therefore we will mention it here. Michael Lowry was born in 1990 in Rutherford County while his family was a part of WOFF. The family was from Michigan and have lived in the area every since his birth. He grew up in WOFF as his only social environment. In the previous post, we recounted his experiences in the “fourth building”. Those experiences had been traumatic to say the least and were a major part of his decision to leave his family and the only group of “friends” he had ever known. Today, we will give you excerpts from an incident report he filed with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s department outlining some of the events in the fourth building.

  Remember, this report is listed as “Further Investigation” needed. The people listed in this report are innocent until proven guilty.  No event or claim in this report has been proven in a court of law and no person in this report has been convicted of any crime(s). This is an incident report that is in public records that anyone can obtain a copy of from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s department.

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Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

You Can’t Have My Ball of String…

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Many years ago, newspapers were delivered door to door often times by a young boy or girl. I don’t know maybe somewhere in this nation this still happens. In the early ’70’s, it was very common. I was ten years old when I took my first paper route. There were no more than about 30 to 35 customers. But, it was a big deal to me. I still remember my first few weeks as my Dad would get me up and walk with me to the place where the truck had dropped the papers earlier in the morning. I can still remember the exact location and have thought of it in years past as I passed through Radford, Va. We picked up the papers about 6:15AM and off we went to deliver them – door to door. This was quite a big deal for a ten year old boy. The papers first came wrapped with a cotton string. Every morning, I would cut the string and save it. Why? I am not sure. But, I kept the string and began a ball. Later, the papers would come wrapped in wire and then in plastic ties. It was impractical to save wire or plastic, but the string made a great souvenir.

Over the years, the ball of string went with me as I moved from place to place. Actually, for many years it ended up in a box of other “trophies” from my childhood. Years passed and every so often there would come a purge to the box as I would release certain items as “no longer needed”. But, for years the ball of string made it through purge after purge. After I married and we had children, I would come across the ball of string and tell the story of its origin to my children. They would laugh and at least for the first few times, so would my wife. It seemed like a harmless memento from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, well you know what I mean.

Ball of String
My Ball of String

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Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Traveling Over the Bridge….

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We have posted from Janis Hutchinson’s book, “Out of the Cults and Into the Church” (copyright© 1994 by Janis Hutchinson, Kregel Resources, ISBN 0-8254-2885-8) in previous posts; however, it have been almost eighteen months since we did so. Recently, I have recommended this book to other survivors and it has been received well. I was reviewing material from Chapter 10 titled: The Precarious Transition Period.(page 187) The author’s direction for writing the book includes among other things an emphasis to help former cult members make steps out of their former group and into the Christian community. I will quote from her work and then expand on it to include other thoughts on this transition period.

  “There is a danger period—that precarious stage after a new convert finally acknowledges cult beliefs as unbiblical, knows he or she made a correct decision in leaving, has pretty much dealt with the problems, and is just about to cross over the line into full assimilation into the Christian community.

   It is at this point that former cultists suddenly find themselves entering an in-between stage. It is like crossing a bridge with the cult behind them at one end and the Christian community ahead—but they stop in the middle. In this suspended, limbo-like period, they are neither here nor there.”(pages 187-188)

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Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Do You Want To Get Well?

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A few nights a week, I travel home late from work. Last year, while driving home, I had the radio on surfing the AM channels, as it were. I tuned into a station out of Nashville and Dr. Asa Andrews was taking callers and answering their health questions. I listened with interest as my struggle at the time was against a major illness that had captivated most all my attention and extra time. I wanted to learn how to fight the disease. Dr. Andrews had some ideas that were new to me and I listened hoping to learn and eventually win my battle.

As I listened, he talked about a book he wrote titled, “Empowering Your Health” (Copyright©2007 by Asa Andrews, published by Thomas Nelson, ISBN-13:978-1-4016-0372-4). I made a mental note at that time to order the book. Have you ever done that? Make a mental note to do something and several months later- you have not followed through? That is what happened to me. It was almost a year later and I had not ordered the book. Why? There could be many excuses. I had ordered other books and not remembered to order that one… I may have actually looked it up and intended to order it and just never did. Then in early January, I told someone about the book and told them I would order it and read it. Finally, after several more weeks, I went to amazon.com and ordered the book. The struggle did not end there.

When the book arrived, I left it in the back seat of my car for a day or so. It was as if I was afraid to open it because that would bring me one step closer to reading it and possibly seeing what I knew in the back of mind was my reality. So, I unwrapped the book and it is in great shape for a “used” book! That was wonderful. The jacket for the book had a picture of Dr. Andrews throwing an apple in the air. So, I opened it and began reading. The first part was about his struggle when he was on a team of folks who lifted weights and traveled. He met with physical struggles and began searching for answers. After all he was a medical student! Chapter 2 was titled “Do You Want to Get Well? Taking Responsibility for Your Health” I read a few sentences then I stopped and put the book down – for days! Let me explain.

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Uncategorized

More Memories From Ben McGee

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This post is the next one submitted by Ben McGee. He tells of events he remembers from his time at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). As Jane Whaley said during my time at WOFF, no one can take your experiences from you. They are yours. The following are more of Ben McGee’s memories and experiences.

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I would like everyone involved to know that I will show respect where due yet, I’m going to be very frank about my thoughts, perceptions and the subsequent actions that took place; this applies to everyone in that community and local government. Jesus is in control and he will be glorified regardless of our purpose. I honestly don’t know everything that was going on and I do not condemn anyone or any agency for what they did or didn’t do. Again as a stated before, the purpose is to save and not destroy. God is our ultimate judge and we shall all be held accountable whether you believe this or not. Man was given free will in the garden because of his actions and no one on this earth was appointed to suppress or control free will, including the original apostles.

The Ugly Truth

Here is some insight to things I witnessed which were triggers that led to my decision at first to doubt and ultimately leave this oppressive regime. They are random as the timeline is not clear to me. This is not a debate about doctrine right or wrong, I’ll let you decide what is Holy and Acceptable.

Oh, where to start! The blinders started to fail when Derek Moser took his stand to leave because he was not allowed to make a better life for his family. This is my assumption as I have never spoken with them at length. Derek simply wanted to start a business but, Jane decided he was not in a place in God or not ready to do this yet. I was standing in the hall outside Jane’s office where they were meeting with open door. I wasn’t intentional listening, nothing better to do while waiting my turn to speak with the high priestess. This process is referred to as locking in. Approval or disapproval of a thought or action and its eventual success or failure was done this way and the line and wait could be lengthy. Attempts at circumventing this process were frowned upon and dealt with in creative and usually stressful emotional ways.

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Criteria for Cults, Thought Reform, Uncategorized

Salvation Critical Issues

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A recent conversation with a person who has never been a member of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) revealed something to me that helped me understand the quandary for many outsiders. After asking several questions and trying to understand the dynamics of life inside WOFF, this person said, “You know, I don’t think about my salvation constantly. I am not worried if I am going to hell over every single thing I do…” I was shocked at the statement, but suddenly I could see the problem and at least some of the answer. Let me explain.

First, the fact that I was shocked showed me I was still at least in the shadows of WOFF thinking. Why? Inside WOFF, for faithful members, the life is saturated with “salvation critical issues”. What do I mean? Everything at WOFF – every behavior, every attitude, every decision, every thought, every purchase, and every choice of a garment, every relationship, and every facial expression – can be and is subject to being scrutinized to see if you are saved, born again and submitted to the will of God. This may seem strange and should to those outside the WOFF sub-culture. So much revolves around this one aspect that is may be difficult to fully explain the vital role that this has in the control environment of WOFF, but, I will make an attempt.

We have chronicled many of these issues here on this blog in previous posts. Your walk with God and eventual salvation could and would be judged for how you talked, how you walked, how you dressed, how you drove, how you handled your cell phone, how you left a bathroom, who you wanted to be friends with wither inside or outside the group, where you wanted to work, what classes you wanted to take in school… The list can be endless as new situations would arise and you would be judged in that new situation as to whether you were “hearing God” or were “under authority” or were “lawless” or “giving over to your sin” or “giving place to the devils in you” or risk being “put out of the church and the MOVE of GOD”… All of these phrases were meant to instill fear over your eternal destination while relating to common occurrences such as how you cleaned your house or folded your clothes or if you cleaned your deck, or whatever Jane decided to use for her purposes. All of this would be covered in the phrase- you need to walk, talk and act “like a minister of God…”

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