I just want to say I am sorry for those who are struggling as they have someone very close to them involved with this ministry. I have friends who are in a cult and well, my future husband and I were part of one for a while; but we left. My heart goes out to all of you and I am praying for you and your loved ones. As for the COW, I am praying for them that God may bring them to true repentance and that they may know the joys of a true life in Christ.

Here are some verses that I will leave which I hope would give you some comfort:

But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;
he speaks to them in their affliction. Job 36:15 NIV

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 NIV

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 NIV

The Lord is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him, Nahum 1:7 NIV

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Diane, these are a blessing to me.

I focus on prayer and Bible study, so that He might increase and I might decrease. Today, I am reminded of the prayer Jesus prayed for the ones who believe on Him. That prayer is John 17. What a blessing it is to have been prayed for by the Son of God. His love is evident, since we know He is our Mediator, we are confident He continues to pray for us. Although we covet the prayers of our fellow brethren, we are blessed beyond measure to be the object of Jesus' prayers.

In His prayer for His disciples, He prayed: "sanctify them through Thy Truth: They Word is Truth ..." Amen! We stand on that truth. Heavenly Father, sanctify us through Your divine Truth."

The grace of our Lord Jesus is not that we may sin. No, it is that we may grow. His gifts of faith, hope and love are graciousness toward us. His gifts of the Spirit empower us to live holy lives for His glory. Lord God, work in me to perfect holiness.

I care about the people in Wells.

My words here on this forum may have been misunderstood by them. I only oppose dark spiritual powers. I do not oppose humans of any category. God loves every person, and I agree with God ... I love them all ... even the ones who say I am a child who doesn't know how to rightly apply God's Word ... even ones who continue to believe I am not easily entreated.

I can be entreated. Just send me an email and entreat me with God's Word, rightly divided. Especially, people in Wells may entreat me. I want peace and goodness between me and those, on a person-to-person basis. Let's treat one another as fellow humans whom God loves. Let's root out every attitude and word that comes by the suggestions of dark spiritual powers who are destined for the Lake of Fire.

Thank the Lord Jesus, the Holy One of Israel and our great High Priest, for His wonderful prayer on our behalf, written in John 17.

Do you think perhaps the group loves the doctrine more than they love the Savior?

Given how flawed their doctrine is, I do not think they love the doctrine of the savior.

Is anyone familiar with a "prayer closet"? It was mentioned once in this forum and again in Pursleys 50 page rant. Is this unique to ymbba? I am not aware of other churches sending people into their closets to pray, or am I just unaware of this practice?

The "Prayer Closet" is a reference made by Jesus Christ. Christ contrasted public prayer (prayers that are either in public or somehow publicized by prayer loud enough for your neighbours to hear) with praying in one's "closet". The term comes from the King James version of the bible. Other versions say to "go into your room and shut the door" etc. I personally suspect that Jesus Christ wasn't talking about an actual closet because I don't think that the Jews of His time has clothes closets. I could be mistaken though. Unfortunately, ymbba has decided that God wants us to actually sit inside of a clothes closet when we pray.

To all: no matter our differences we must all remember that the true gospel of Christ is Good news, Great news in fact,; because of God's love for us and desire to be reconciled to us He sent Jesus to be the final sacrifice. And certainly Jesus could have just "hopped" off the cross and declared Himself God, but He allowed the will of God to prevail so that all who put their faith and trust in Him could be saved. My prayer for the members of this group is that all would believe that Jesus is the one and only way to be reconciled to a Holy God, that none of them would be led astray from the true gospel and that all would know the overwhelming love and grace of our Father, who loves us. And not only that they would know this, but that they would be careful to share this 'good news" with everyone that God puts in their path.

In Romans 1:16-17, Paul declares that the true gospel is the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” by which he means that salvation is not achieved by man’s efforts, but by the grace of God through the gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Read more: [www.gotquestions.org]

May the Light of the World shine through the darkness!

How did this happen? I mean, what happened here? Why did each one of these young people end up in ymbba/CoW when the rest of us didn't? If one were to ask someone at CoW they would easily and quickly reply that it is because they are the ones walking in the true faith and the rest of us are "false converts". The problem is that since I am on the outside and do actually have salvation in the name of Jesus Christ, His life, His death and His resurrection. I really am a "convert" and not a "false convert". I am simultaneously frustrated, grieved and intrigued by the behavior of those in CoW. How is it that so many of them, having been converts, were led astray? What happened? What common component of their characters do they share that is missing from myself and the other Godly men and women I know who have been exposed to these people and chose not to join them? Most of these poor young people in CoW are saved (probably). There is something going on here that I am not seeing. Sometimes, when I listen to their testimonies and read their writings, I feel like I can almost grasp what it is in their minds that is holding them there, keeping them from understanding the truth in the word of God (which they read incessantly). But, even when I draw close to understanding... it eludes me. My understanding falls short of adequacy and I withdraw, defeated.
It is easy to blame spiritual warfare and the enemy drawing a veil over their eyes. But is that explanation overly simple if one considers that most of these young men and women are in fact fellow believers in Lord?

Jimmy,

It's fairly simple, in my opinion. Satan happened.

Clearly, the commonality is that the evil one, through whatever means, infiltrated the minds of these young ones, and convinced them that their salvation was at stake.

I would like to tell you that trying to figure it out is akin to knocking your head against the wall. It is painful, and it doesn't get you anywhere.

Turn to the scriptures for what you know to be true, and let those scriptures speak to you, to your walk and your relationship with the Lord. Our Most High God will take care of what He deems necessary to take care of in His time.

In the meantime, use this as a period of growth and seek to achieve a closeness like never before with the Most High God.

If, Jimmy, you need specific prayer, please let the people on this forum know and I am going to pray for you right this moment. I am praying the armor of God over you.

I have learned....do not spend more time trying to figure them out, or listening to their condemnation, than you do in study of the One True and loving God who is filled with and fills us with His grace.

With love IN CHRIST!!

God's Child

You are right God's Child. I shouldn't spend more time studying them than I do studying the word of God. I still feel like I am called to help them somehow or something like that. The reason for my spiritual warfare comment at the end of my last post is this: we are all believers and spiritual warfare goes on around all of us. Those in CoW are not unique in that area. I am confused why the enemy was able to deceive them so fully and keep them deceived and not the rest of us. How is it that someone like Masao or Sean or Jake spends so much more time reading the word of God than I have ever been able to, yet they are the ones being led astray? What is protecting me from deception and paranoia? And yes, I would like prayer: I need prayer to keep praying for them every day and, someday, when I get the opportunity to reach out to them again someday, that God would give me the right words to say that would help them.