COVENANT MINDED MINISTRIES

Identifying Cults

Cults do not regard the Bible as the foundation of all truth, past, present, and future.

Cults present an alternate foundation apart from the Bible.

Cults distort God's word, changing the truth to a lie, distorting the message. 

Cults follow false teachers/prophets presenting their own message to replace the Bible's message.

Cults follow false sacred writings seperate from the Bible.

Cults give the same or more authority to their own false sacred writings as they give to the Bible.

Cults ignore the Bible in part and/or completely, wherein, changing its message, and/or adding their on beliefs to the Bible's message.

Cults are any groups or organizations which deviates from Biblical, orthodox, historical Christianity, wherein denying,  (1) the Deity of Christ, (2) His physical resurrection, (3) His personal and physical return to the earth (Second Coming), and (4) salvation by grace through faith alone.

YOU ARE IN A CULT IF:

1. You're not allow to think for yourself apart from the group/organization, and only allowed to accept what you're told.

2. Your relationships with friends, relatives, spouses, children, parents and the like are seriously hampered and/or destroyed.

3. You're pressured to give all your finances, even if it means you doing without your basic needs.

4. You're isolated from the community in general, and the group/organization promotes an "Us verses Them Mentality" protraying everything and everyone outside as the devil or unenlightened ones.

5. Almost all of your time and energy is controlled and utilized in group/organizational activities, keeping you in a constant state of mental and physical exhaustion.

6. You're obligated to unquestionably submit to the group's/organization's teachings and directions, which are coercive methods, including intimidation.  Self-will is forceable replaced by group/ organizational will.

7. You're required to unquestionably embrace some additional false scared writings that centre around the interpretations of leadership and your submissiveness and unquestionable acceptance of these are required for you to remain a member in good standing.

9. Your loyalty to the group/organization requires you dobble on fellow members, including family members under the guise of looking out for their spiritual welfare, requiring you to deliberately lie (i.e. about the Person and work of Christ) or give up your life by refusing some form of medical treatment.

10. Your attempt to leave or reveal embarrassing facts about the group/organization is met with threats of what will happen to you if you continue.

11. You've taken oaths of loyalty that involve you life or have signed a covenant and feel threatened by what you've signed.

12. You've left the group/organization and are being faced with confrontations by other members with coercion to return to the group/organization.

13. You cannot see yourself as an individual with free-will apart from the group/organization; even changed your name as a rejection to your former life.

14. Your negative remarks, whether justifed or not, about the group/organization are regarded as persecution.

15. Your criticisms, whether justified or not, about group/organization leaders are regarded as persecution, because they are viewed or revered as the true Christians or enlightened ones.

16. Your group/organization leaders feel free to criticise you on whatever you believe, say, and do but deprive you the right to criticise them, because they are the only ones who are right.

17. You're paranoidal and been convinced to believe you are always being persecuted by outsiders who do not know the truth. 

18. You've lost your ability to socialize outside the group/organization, wherein, being unable to structure your time and/or make simple decisions for yourself.

19. Your world-views are altered, because you only preceive the world through your leaders' eyes, making you very naive about life in general.

20. You feel guilty about everything you've done before entering the group/organization and you feel you are to strive to be good and worthy for eternal life.

21. You remain in a constant state of guilt for infringing or breaking even the most minor rules, resulting in guilt because you aren't doing enough to satisify group/organization erquirements.

22. You have developed severe guily complexes (doubts and questions) that have become a daily part of your life, even leaving you incapable to think rationally for yourself.

22. You've always being subjected to new rules concerning what is or isn't sinful, and a certain illness is characterized as a lack of faith, and emotional illness viewed as proof of sin in your life, continuously moving you from one level of guilt to another.

23. Your leader(s) claim a special, exclusive ministry, revelation or position of authority given by God, proclaiming they are the only true church, while taking a critical stance regarding mainstream Christianity.

24. Your leader(s) gravitate attention to themselves, wherein, praising and exalting their own leaders, works, group/organization.

25. Your leader(s) utilize various forms of intimidation or psychological manipulation to keep members loyal to their ranks, to include, threats of dire calamity sent by God if you were to leave, being shunned by your family, friends, and others, and a certain death you await at Armageddon, wherein, totally capitalizing on the mind control process.

26. You are required to do compulsory tithing, sign over all your property upon entering the group/organization.

27. You are constantly subjected to coercive methods of instilled guilt for not contributing tithes and for not signing over your property to the group/organization.

28. You are required to sell magazines, other literature, flowers, and/or other goods for the group/organization as part of your ministry.

29. Your group/organization redicule churches that take up free-will offerings by passing offering plates and/or sell literature, tapes, ect., wherein, bragging or boasting that they don't do this and giving outsiders the intimation they're not interested in money.

30. You look to your group/organization for guidance in everything you do, having no control over most aspects of your life, which is accomplished through communal living or constant and repetitious false teaching on how to be a true Christian and/or being loyal/obedient to leadership.

31. Your group/organization proclaim that they have no clergy/laity distinction and no paid ministerial class, because they're all equal.

32. Your dissent or questioning of the group's/organization's teachings is discouraged, because any form of criticism is seen as an act of rebellion.

33. Your group/organization places a very high emphasis on authority, wherein, an unquestioning of obedience and submission is vigilantly maintained.

34. You are not allowed to question why other members left nor allowed to speak and have conversation with former members.

35. Your group/organization becomes uncomfortable in your asking about its origins and/or teachings.

36. Your group/organization becomes irate and angry when defending their doctrines, even to the point of fighting and killing.

37. Your group/organization revenue files are not open to the people and public, and they are constantly reviewing who is or is not giving, wherein, implementing personal monitoring over member finances.

38. Your group/organization history is corrupted, and those they look up to for spiritual teaching is not mainstreamed Bible-based.

39. Your group/organization affiliation with other churches are only their own that share their doctrines, beliefs, and philosophies.

40. Your group/organization add to the Bible and/or take away from the Bible, in particular, but not limited to making works essential for salvation, wherein, denying the Deity of Christ and His work on the cross.

41. Your group/organization classifies all other churches as apostates, and declares implicitly they're the only true church and mouth-piece of God; Christianity is not a church, it's a way of life composed of many churches following the teachings of Jesus.

42. Your group/organization does not utilize the Holy Scriptures (Holy Bible) as the final judge of all truth.

Examine and Testing Yourselves

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves.  Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? ------- unless indeed you are disqualified. (2nd Corinthians 13:5)

But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. (2nd Corinthians 13:6)

Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified. (2nd Corinthians 13:7)

For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. (2nd Corinthians 13:8)

A truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment. (Proverbs 12:19)

For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)

Whoever therefore breaks one of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharsees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. (Luke 21:32)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Luke 21:33)

One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9)

Steven Alan Hassan, former member of the Unification Church, and now an exit counselor and mental health counselor, has developed his own model (the BITE Model), to determine how destructive mind control can be understood in terms of four (4) basic components, which form the acronym BITE: (1) Behavior Control, (2) Information Control, (3) Thought Control, and (4) Emotional Control.

It is important to understand that destructive mind control can be determined when the overall effect of these four (4) components promotes dependency and obedience to some leader or cause.

It is not necessary for every single item on the list to be present. Mind controlled cult members can live in their own apartments, have nine-to-five (9 to 5) jobs, be married with children, and still be unable to think for themselves and act independently.

Destructive/Deadly Cults

People's Temple, Jim Jones, Guayana, Jonestown ................................................. 913 deaths

Branch Davidians, David Koresh (Vernon Howell), Waco, Texas................................................  82 deaths

The Family, Charles Manson......................  8 deaths

Heaven's Gate, Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles...........................................................  38 deaths

Order of the Solar Temple, Joseph Di Mambro & Michael Tabachik.......................................101 deaths

Movement of Restoration of Ten Commandments, Credonia Mwerinde & Joseph Kibweteere, Uganda......................................................... 924 deaths

Mormon Splinter Group, Jeffrey Lundgren,  Kirtland, Ohio...................................................5 deaths

Church of God with Signs Following (Snake/Serpent Handlers), George Went Hensley, Grasshopper Valley, Tennessee & James Miller, Sand Mountain, Alabama.................. 60 plus deaths

Aum Shinrikyo (Aleph), Japanese Religious Movement Organization, Shoko Asahara, Tokyo, Japan (Sarin gas attacks 1995).............. 12 deaths

      

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