Thursday 4 September 2014

Are They a Pseudo-Christian Cult?


 Dear Brothers and Sisters,


 I am writing this blog with much concern about you. I personally don't have anything against any religious group. But as I see many families getting broken by religious groups which use bible verses like Luke 14:26, Matthew 10:33-37, I feel very miserable inside. When I see people who do not study the word in the right method -they break their wonderful relationship that God has given them- just because their leader said so, my heart cries out for them. If you are confused after reading this blog, I encourage your brother and sister, to pray to God, to show you the right way, to help you study the bible in the right way, and teach you what God wants to tell about your family and your loved ones, and ask God to tell him, what you should preach and practice...

Jehovah's witnesses teach that Jesus is not God,
Unity Pentecostals teach that Jesus alone is God, not the Father and Holy Spirit,
Mormons teach that we are worshiping three different Gods,
Can all their teachings be right? definitely no.
Any one of them could be right, or may be all the above mentioned groups could be wrong. What if you are one among them, who lost your family for a teaching which you do not know for sure is right or wrong? What if you are enticed by a teaching that broke your personnel relationship with God and with your loved ones?
At the side bar, you could see links to blogs and websites which would increase my concern for you.
What if you are in the wrong side?
Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to talk to you, without the pre-interpreted text of your leaders?
What if you made a mistake because you do not know how to read the bible in the right method?
And the worse part, what if you lose your soul by misinterpreting the bible and shut your mind to the right thinking?
Do you have a personnel relationship with God? or are you living in hope that your leaders interpretation is good enough for you to reach heaven?
Don't you want God to speak to you?
Don't you want your loved ones to be with you in heaven?
Don't you want to preach the right Gospel to a dying soul?
Why keep a teaching so secret, when the world around you is dying? Have not Jesus commanded that you should preach the Gospel to the ends of the world? then why keep your teachings a secret?
Once again my heart goes for you, the one who is reading this blog,
Please read the bible, learn the right methods to understand the scriptures by yourselves, learn what the bible says about family and relationships, have a personnel relationship with God.
If you think you are the only church that has separated itself from the sins of the world, given below is the general method of how more than 4000 Pseudo Christian cults work.


They also think that they are the only church that has separated itself from the sins of the world.



 If you have not heard about the different divisions in christian churches, here they are : There are basically two important divisions among the Christians.
1. Christian Churches
2.Pseudo (Fake) Christian Cults

Christian Churches though have many denominations, follow certain basic doctrines and behaviors, that builds up the church, encourages the believers to study the word of God by themselves and preach the gospel to the unreached.

Examples of Christian Churches : American Baptist Churches in the USA, the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. Other sources add the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Friends (Quakers)

Pseudo Christian Cults on the other hand try to make them set apart from the rest of the Christians, consider themselves above other Christians, teaches their own doctrine, encourage obedience to their own leaders more that the word of God, and teach their secret doctrines only to the selected few who attend their church regularly.

Examples of Pseudo Christian Cults : Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Heavenly Gate, Unification Church, Seventh Day Adventist



The following table would give you a clear cut idea of a Church and a Pseudo-Christian Cult.




Teachings

Christian Churches
Pseudo Christian Cults
Family
They will try to reunite families. Though the family members of a believer do not accept their church’s doctrine, they would advice their believers to love them unconditionally and encourage them to bring their family members to the church if possible.
They would advice them to get separated from friends and family who does not accept their group’s doctrine
Basic Doctrine
Trinity, Repentance, Salvation, Living according to the salvation, Preaching the Gospel to everyone.
Not accepting the trinity, or teaching a different trinity gospel, Salvation through work and Secret teachings
Salvation:

Accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ through faith
Accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ through faith + (Something else)
Leaders
Formal theological degree or/and proper election
There is no such thing as formal theological degree or/and proper election
Name Usage
From the beginning of the Worship service till the end of it, you will be hearing the name of the triune God, God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit more often than any other name.
From the beginning of the Worship service till the end of it, you will be hearing their leader’s name more than the Name of God.
Sacred Books:
Holy Bible
Holy Bible + The books, magazines and letters written by their leaders
Bible Study
It would be encouraged to study the word of God by themselves and understand it with the direct help of God.
They would be taught that whatever their leaders’ have understood is the right way to study the word of God. Methods to study the word of God themselves will not be encouraged.
 
Now ask yourself this question, how many of the above things about the Brunstad Christian Church or Smith's Friends would match the "Christian Church" criteria and how many of the things about the "Pseudo Christian Cults" would match the Brunstad Christian Church or Smith's Friends


 Now if it happens for you to attend Brunstad Christian Church, ask these questions ;

Family : 

I accepted your doctrine, but my friends and family members did not accept your doctrine. Should I seperate myself from them?


Doctrine :

Are you preaching the same doctrine that other Christian Churches are preaching?


Salvation :

How does a person get saved?


Leaders :


On what basis are the leaders of this church gets elected or selected?


Name usage :

Count the number of times you hear the name of God vs the number of times you hear the name of Smiths, Bratley and other leaders, do you hear the name of God often?


Sacred :

How often do you see people reading the bible, is it more than the number of times they read the leader's books, magazines and letters?


Bible Study :

Have you been taught to study the bible methodoligically (Based on context, background, Historical background and geographical and cultural background, etc)  and understand it with the help of the Holy spirit (Not the leader's insight, leader's book, or leader's letters?



Compare the answers you got with the above table and decide it yourself, if ...
Brunstad Christian Church is a Christian Church or a Fake Christian Cult














17 comments:

  1. I am determined to work peace with the Smith Friends, although I believe that some of the things they do are almost cult-like, and make them seem like a psuedo-church to me. I'm not saying they are a cult, but some of what they do seems more like a cult and less like a church. I do believe they would be better off significantly not reading their leaders books alongside the bible at church anymore, but stick to the bible instead at church as god intended things to be at church. Revelation 22:18 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:" It's a near "adding to" the bible being done at the smith's friends, when their children are memorizing the books the brother's wrote (and having competitions worldwide - that's what they did when I went there).......well that ain't the bible!!!!!!!!! There is hope for them, for they do have zeal and fire for god's word (and a great deal of christianity is lukewarm it appears to be to me often, when many a church clean has wordly music in the praise time these days for instance)

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    1. What a joke. The letters that men of God wrote to each other, or books that faithful men of God wrote, are really really good to read. But, you are wrong, they are not read out of during church . . like hardly ever. Maybe once a few months . . and it is just a regular person like you sharing what worked on their heart that week. Don't say things that are not true dude. I've been in the church for a long time and receive so much help. If you want to write something then at least attend some services and get to know the people. Unrighteous.

      Don't you think Revelations was written like a thousand so years before the Bible was canonized? So the verse you quoted in 22:18 about "adding unto these things" . . what was Paul writing about? Did he have the book of John and Luke in his hand at that time? No way. He was saying that if you add to the gospel. Should no one write any Christian books anymore? And competitions worldwide . . uh duh . . getting our kids to learn about the bible is fantastic. Competitions is an ingenious way to do it. I know with my kids, if I make them compete then not only is it fun, but they do their chores faster or what not. These books you talk about are educational and actually super good to read. I've received a lot of help and enlightenment through them. I want my kids to be along in these competitions.

      Before publishing content about a group on the internet, please be more respectful and do your due diligence to get to know your subject matter better.

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  2. Giving it to god : Do you think if there is any negative consequences of they behaving like a cult?

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  3. It is very sad what they do to people.

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  4. They.will burn you with poison

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  5. As a person who was born into "THE" Church, it is very much a cult, and the brainwashing that the children receive from birth (the vast majority of kids do not even seem to be aware of the indoctrination they endure) is a crime against humanity. I heard rumors that Lowell Striker was paid millions to write a favorable analysis of "Smiths Friends", or "The Church". We were taught from very young that we alone were the bride of christ. No one else was getting into heaven. Johan O Smith had received "THE" word of God. Children of leading brothers in many cases had it worse off at home than the other kids.....A tragedy. Truly.

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    1. I was not paid millions. If I had continued to teach college for the time I spent on the project, I would have been much more abundantly rewarded. I was told to write and objective report, which I did. If you read it, you well see that I had my personal criticism of the group.

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  6. I've attended many of the churches you have listed under "Christian" churches and haven't attended Brunstad or Smith's friends, so I don't know much about those 2. I will say this, the church in scripture was a life commitment. They met house to house, had fellowship, nobody bragged their possessions belonged to themselves. They encouraged one another to good deeds and love for one another. Sin was addressed immediately, and it living in continual sin wasn't tolerated. Today, most people would call that kind of discipline a cult. Today's mainstream churches teach everyone the benefits of a relationship with Christ. We teach them the sinner's prayer, hand them a pamphlet and send them on their merry way. We don't teach converts what they are being saved from, what repentance is and the importance of it. We don't teach the fear of the Lord, which in our pride and arrogance has become just a reverential fear. We don't disciple them or teach them scriptures that show one can walk away from the faith or lose salvation. How can a church that meets maybe 2 days a week disciple anybody? There are problems in our mainstream churches that are well disguised, which makes it more dangerous. We as a people have forgotten what it means to live in the obedience of God. I never understood these things, not truly. You mentioned leaders in those mainstream churches are picked by degrees from seminaries??????How many of the apostles had degrees? Those men were led by the Holy Spirit and scripture which is what is missing in today's churches.

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  7. Me and my wife were members of the brunstad church for many years I did not saw anything wrong with them, but then something happen, I discover that my wife has affairs with multiple men for a period of 10 years. When confronting my wife with the reality and bringing her to the leader of the church where I was attending. they say whatever happen I can not divorce her because it will give the church a bad name and it is not the will of God. because of this my wife did not see why she have to stop with the affairs, I can not leave her or divorce her anyway! For some more years I stay in that horrible situation and I had to pay all the bills alone, take care of the children, pay the house, car and everything else wile she was having fun with other men. I had to saw her coming and going out of the house every single day knowing that she is going to other men. I got sick, depressed and stressed. I was father and mother at the same time. I could not take it anymore and get divorced. After that the leader just cut off communication with me, they deleted my account at the brunstad site, excommunicated me from the rest of the church members because i committed a horrible sin, I divorced my wife and was no longer anymore a faithful brother and I was a bad influence to others. But my ex-wife they did not excommunicate her they saw her as the victim because I was the one who seek the divorce. till to this day I really do not understand this, they destroyed me completely. It was very hard for me and my children, but thank God that He is the one who saw my affliction and heard my prayers. After years He restore my life give me new brothers and sisters and a awesome real Christian wife and a better life. I am glad that I am not anymore in brunstad!

    Ps. and it is true they read more about Johan O Smith, Elias Aslasken and others than the bible itself and they brainwashed everyone and they know how to get to the last penny out of you!!

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  8. Of course they are a Cult. They brainwash children & their parents! Teenage girls with no self esteem or confidence & truely unhappy. I would be ashamed & devastated if i ever thought i made my children desperately unhappy for the sake of keeping these deranged fools happy !! Life is for living & enjoying, not worrying about 'sin' & being 'pure'. Let him without sin cast the first stone. There isnt a human on this planet without sin !!

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  9. Hey. My good friend is in brunstad. Tell me, how should I help her? What arguments to use to make it shrink from the sect ??

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  10. I don't see how your list is based on anything but your own opinions. Where did you get it from?

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  11. Whatever people. I was born in the BCC church in America and have experienced nothing but goodness, trust and security. Everything . . I mean everything in this blog is either corrupted by people who were offended at one point in time or are just clueless and looking from the outside in. I, my family and my extended family have received so much help and thrive in this rich, secure church with hundreds of children and youth. The vast majority of all leaders (pastors) don't even get paid. It's all volunteer even though they spend thousands of hours working with their ministry away from their loved ones and home. The ones that do get paid just can't work a full time job because they spend so much time serving various key-role functions in the church.

    If you really want to get a picture of the gospel BCC stands for, then just go to www.activechristianity.org. It's all there. It is the same exact message/content that we hear in our local church meetings every week.

    I'm a middle age father of 4 happily married and I just came across this blog today and was like, "What?? I have to say something." Seriously, these guys like Melnyk Miller were ones during the revival of the 90's who . . what's the word . . are just plain crazy and offended. I remember Melnyk standing up to the podium and screaming out crazy stuff. They were so disruptive that the church told them to leave. Or they left themselves after a time. I know that Melnyk aspired to be the leader in his local church and when he wasn't chosen (Leadership was given to another guy who actually didn't even want to be the leader, but lived the life and was asked to. To this day he has been faithful and good always.) ..when Melnyk wasn't chosen then he must have been super offended or something because he just left. He bitterly posts untrue stuff about my church on the internet without even having been in the church for about 30 years. I just looked some up now and am like, OMG, get over it dude!

    So . . happy member of BCC here and I've been in the church 38 years. I will gladly, voluntarily stay here my whole life! I am not pressured to give money, rather the opposite. I hear that giving cheerfully and willingly unto Christ is what is needed. Not one drop of corruption. Not one ounce of anything true in this post.

    I needed to write this as soon as I stumbled across this untrue blog. I actually never do this posting on blogs stuff, but .. this is just really not true people .. so I had to say something.

    Good night.

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  12. I was not born in the church(BCC), but was led to the church by the working of the Holy Spirit. I have read and seen a small percentage of young people born and raised in the church who have had a bad experience and/or left the church. My daughter in law was more or less raised in the church, but seems to have a different outlook on walking in the footsteps of Jesus than what I have..I know that she loves Jesus.. This is when I realized that there is a difference between those who come to the church and those who are raised in the church. There is a small percentage of young people raised in the church that leave or express bad experience growing up.. In some cases, I believe, from over zealous parents and from over/under discipline. But I see no difference than from any other church when it comes to issues of raising children. An awful lot of children are leaving churches in these days. My heart goes out to those who have family scars. I do have the opportunity of working with some of the young people and the big majority of them are very happy, enthusiastic, good workers when it comes to volunteering, sincere and fun! Although, the boys can be mischievous at times!. All part of growing up.

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  13. From my experience at BCC it looks like we fall on the left column christian churches with small differences. The one glaring difference would be the leadership which I appreciate so much more than when I was attending other churches.When one is humble, following in Jesus footsteps on the narrow way,;picking up His cross daily; striving to do His will in all things and be a pleasing sacrifice in His sight,, faithfully following Him, again, daily; that person will grow up into Him who is the Head,Jesus Christ our Lord. No amount of theology can replace someone who is living daily according to Gods word, (Bible). Theology may be a lot of good head knowledge.
    Since I was young, I was always drawn to those who were faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Although, I would have to agree that not all people are able to discern between someone who is working in/with/through the Holy Spirit and someone who is a gifted speaker.
    The one other category that I would call into question would be sacred texts. The Bible, (which is our sacred text.) . But this category does not really make sense to me because Christiandom is full of Christian literature, most of it, I never cared for, but the Lord is able to use many methods to help people on the way. I am very thankful and appreciative of writings and letters by many of the friends in the church and leaders, too. .Messages that encourage, give light, help and instruction how to live a God fearing life with all goodness. ActiveChristianity.org is a wonderful tool with stories, testimonies, literature, etc which I would recommend to anyone.
    I see two big differences between BCC and other churches and I will share one of them. Unity as described in John chap 17. When I think back to the church I once attended, I know that it would have gone very bad for us if we would have had to come together as a whole church to work together. You can not have unity without practicing unity.. You might say that we are one in Spirit, but would that hold true if you are working with your brother in the daily life? We at BCC have opportunities to practice unity and it is a work. The Spirit will definitely show you your life and give you the opportunity to lay down your life for Christ in order to become one with Him and each other.John 17 is very important to us and the Holy Spirit is working in a marvelous way to this unity.
    The second thing has to do with Heb 2:14-18 which, when understood correctly, is one of the most glorious, wonderful, hopeful, encouraging, passages of scripture!
    One other thing that I would like to mention is the opportunity for each member to share in the meeting with a song, testimony, prophesy, or something that the Spirit has put on their heart. How encouraging to be able to see and hear of each ones progress and thankfulness in the Spirit. , . . . . . . .

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  14. Just want tp make a few comments on some of the fraud that has been attributed to BCC. I did some research and found some fascinating facts and quite the detective story.! In the end BCC was cleared of all wrong doing, but much damage has been done to the name through various sources including the media. The original hope, through certain players, (all mentioned in the article(s)) was to destroy BCC. The church seems to be stronger than ever!

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