"Sociologists looks for patterns in human behavior and in social institutions. As you read the following pages, a profile of pastoral and spiritual abuse will emerge. Abusive churches, past and present, are first and foremost characterized by strong, control-oriented leadership. These leaders use guilt, fear, and intimidation to manipulate members and keep them in line. Followers are led to think that there is no other church quite like theirs and that God has singled them out for special purposes. Other, more traditional evangelical churches are put down. Subjective experience is emphasized and dissent is discouraged. Many areas of member's lives are subject to scrutiny. Rules and legalism abound. People who don't follow rules or who threaten exposure are often dealt with harshly. Excommunication is common. For those who leave, the road back to normalcy is difficult."
Ironically, Norm Willis has been know to give a copy of "Churches that Abuse" to people who come to CCK after leaving leaving other abusive churches. Amazing that he does not see the danger in this. But then again, there's no other church quite like CCK, or and there's no other school quite like CCA!
If you are in a situation where you believe that your whole life will be turned upside down if you leave your church; if you are afraid that friends and family members won't talk to you anymore if you leave, you are not in a healthy church, but an oppressive, abusive one.
How familiar does this sound? It's a quote taken from www.cultwatch.com
ReplyDelete"The Super Apostles claim that the Biblical ministry of an apostle has been forgotten, and God has called them to restore it. Of course it is presumptuous of the Super Apostles to think that this God ordained ministry has died, but that is what they claim. The Super Apostles are in effect promoting a false apostolic ministry.
Now a biblical model of an apostle can be found in Paul, a hard working humble man who was not rich, except in his incredible passion for the gospel and correct doctrine. Paul was an apostle who knew the bounds of his authority, for example in 2 Corinthians 8:8 where he refrained from commanding the Corinthians to give money.
However these Super Apostles do not follow Paul's example. They are rigorous self-promoters who see power and wealth as important goals. They demand that you cede (to yield typically by treaty) to their authority. Church members must sign "covenants" stating that they will obey the church leadership. Church leaders themselves must "submit" their lives to the Super Apostles. To not submit is to rebel against God's will and condemn you to a barren Christian life outside the protection of the Super Apostles magical "umbrella of authority". For those who do not yield it is claimed God will leave them to fend for themselves when the enemy comes. Also rebels will suffer a life of physical poverty, not to mention terrible accidents and diseases. To reject the Super Apostles themselves is the greatest sin. Do not even suggest that they are wrong; the spiritual repercussions could be horrendous!"
And now from Matthew 7:15-23
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ "
I like this quote from www.cultwatch.com How familiar does this sound?
ReplyDelete"The Super Apostles claim that the Biblical ministry of an apostle has been forgotten, and God has called them to restore it. Of course it is presumptuous of the Super Apostles to think that this God ordained ministry has died, but that is what they claim. The Super Apostles are in effect promoting a false apostolic ministry.
Now a biblical model of an apostle can be found in Paul, a hard working humble man who was not rich, except in his incredible passion for the gospel and correct doctrine. Paul was an apostle who knew the bounds of his authority, for example in 2 Corinthians 8:8 where he refrained from commanding the Corinthians to give money.
However these Super Apostles do not follow Paul's example. They are rigorous self-promoters who see power and wealth as important goals. They demand that you cede (to yield typically by treaty) to their authority. Church members must sign "covenants" stating that they will obey the church leadership. Church leaders themselves must "submit" their lives to the Super Apostles. To not submit is to rebel against God's will and condemn you to a barren Christian life outside the protection of the Super Apostles magical "umbrella of authority". For those who do not yield it is claimed God will leave them to fend for themselves when the enemy comes. Also rebels will suffer a life of physical poverty, not to mention terrible accidents and diseases. To reject the Super Apostles themselves is the greatest sin. Do not even suggest that they are wrong; the spiritual repercussions could be horrendous!"
I just found an excellent website that clearly articulates, from a biblical standpoint, the problems with overly authoritarian church leadership. It uses scripture to clearly explain why the "church as a family" model is unbiblical. If you have questions about these issues, this website would be a good place to start.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.truthguard.com/
I wonder if someone can give me an update of sorts. We left CCK a while ago, but have friends there. Our friends have small children, and if there is abuse there as many on this blog claim, I'm concerned that no charges have been pressed and that there is no way to track the abusers, no solid proof that anything is happening. Do you know if people have decided to press charges and if so, where are we at in that process?
ReplyDeleteThere are people pursuing charges, but it is a complex process, so it may be awhile until anything can be done. In some cases, the families of the abused children are still part of CCK and have been convinced to keep quiet. There are efforts underway to get more victims to go to the police.
ReplyDeleteSeeker,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but your recomendation of truthguard.com as an authority on biblical christian expression reveals a pretty shallow understanding of the issues. Within 10 minutes of reading on his site it is clear in this "biblical authority's" mind that only a handfull of people meeting in someones house is the only legitimate expression of the Body of Christ. He also states that if someone erroneously gives 10% of their income the church should give it back. So basically any traditional church is wrong. Sorry Seeker your blind hatred is showing through. You are not much of a seeker just a pot stirrer.
God hates "spiritual authority" or "spiritual hiarchy" as quoted from
ReplyDeleteRev.2:6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, WHICH I ALSO HATE.
Nico: to rule over,
Laitans: the people, laity
Matt. 23:9 And do not call anyone on earth "Father" for you have one Father, and He is in Heaven.
Posted by: Nicholas Aston
ReplyDeleteThanks for starting this blog, Seeker.
I thought I was alone when I left CCK for many of the same reasons as others have given here. I am a former MC grad and I have felt so utterly, completely and indescribably betrayed because of what has happemed to me and even more so because of what many of you all have suffered.
That is why I left without a word, I was speechless. And, I have felt no greater peace in my life than I felt after I left.
I am still speachless over it.
I hope I can find the words in the near future so I can share my experiences with you all as well.
Thank you brave folks for sharing, I truly appreciate it.
I desperately hope that justice will be done where it is warrented so that the cycle of abuse will finally come to an end.
-Nic
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm speechless, I'd never heard about any of this, so I can't speak to the abuse at all.
ReplyDeleteAs for control, well, let's just say that I am happy to no longer be burying my life under other people's principles.
So very sorry, Christina, for all the weird, religious bullshit I spouted off at you once upon a time…
Brett
Don't know if anyone is still reading comments on this post, but it was so sad for me to read them. I attended "Christ Church of Marin" in California back in the early 90's that was affiliated with Dennis Peakock. He often came to speak. The same exact types of things were going on there too ... amazingly so similar. When I mentioned some of the unscriptural things I was noticing to a pastor that I thought was a friend I was told "You can't confront a pastor". It was just a normal, gentle conversation! I finally left after a number of years when I finally realized I had gotten involved in a real, live, honest to goodness cult. The "authority" truly held themselves above the humble light of Jesus. Don't stop loving them but run!!! Sheep in wolves clothing can do much damage when they get too close. And just step back and think for a few seconds about the juxtaposition of the two words "strategic" and "love". I don't see that much of a relationship there. I thought Jesus' ways were our contrast to the "strategic" ways of man's world system. You have to bend and twist a lot of scripture to pin those two words intuitively, cohesively and historically on Jesus. Again to anyone still there ... like Joseph ... run! It's VERY tempting to think WE are the frontline of the Kingdom. It puffs us up! Go by a bag of groceries for your neighbor out of work, anonymously, and forget about seeking influence with the powers of this world.
ReplyDeleteMike Anderson
If you actually read the articles at TruthGuard, you will see that the earlier anonymous post bashing that site is totally wrong and a complete misrepresentation of that website's views. In spending only 10 minutes this person entirely misreads that site and then posts his of her "expert" opinion on that which he or she doesn't have a clue. I know of a lot of people who have been greatly helped by that site.
ReplyDeleteSomething has been weighing heavy on my heart these past few years ever since I was told by a good friend of mine that we were no longer friends. I recall receiving an e-mail stating that I should never contact her again.
ReplyDeleteUntil this day I've always felt a feeling of guilt, believing that I did something wrong to warrant an end to what was at the time a fantastic friendship.
I always had a suspicion that the church she began attending was up to something, but I never questioned because I was just too happy that she found a church family who could support her and help her along as she began her eternal relationship with Christ. So, I accepted her wishes and since then have not tried to contact her because I care about her this much.
The other day, out of the blue, I had a dream about her (not a bad dream) that really affected me emotionally for the better part of the day. I asked the Lord to take these feelings away and then I prayed for her that she remains okay. At that moment, I started thinking about CCK and began wondering if I was missing something. What happened next led me to this site.
After reading about the experiences of other former CCK members here, I now know there were possibly other influences at work behind my friend's decision to dissolve our friendship. Interestingly enough, it was only a few months after she became involved in the community at CCK that she began acting different towards me, stating that we should only communicate by e-mail and only when she wanted to talk. She also said in one of her e-mails that God was revealing others to her like me who she needed to part ways with. Wow!
I will not lie and say that I didn't have feelings for her that went beyond just being friends; however, these feelings didn't come about until I saw how God was working in her life after she became lost many years ago and having found Christ again. We began as friends and I truly believe that the Lord used me to witness to her. Praise God for his ability to use us in this way, because my friend truly has made a miraculous turn-around in her life thanks to her new-found faith in Him.
I hope others will heed some of the warnings that others have expressed through this website about CCK and it's practices. I miss my friend dearly, but realize that God is at work on a level that we truly cannot comprehend. I will continue to pray for her and her family because I truly believe God brought her into my life for a reason I cannot fully grasp. I hope anyone else who has friends who attend CCK and have not had contact with them for quite some time can relate to my story.
Trust the Lord with all thine heart! He really is all that and more, my friends. I've seen Him work wonders not only in my friend's life but in many others who I've come across throughout my lifetime.