HOPCC is a group I was peripherally involved with when I was in the Army, back in 2004. I went to their services for a few months, and used to hang around their servicemen's home in Hinesville. The servicemen's home was a welcome respite from barracks life, and I welcomed the fellowship and camaraderie with my fellow soldiers that I found there.

But there was something about House of Prayer that troubled me, also; their excessive focus on fund-raising was something that I was uncomfortable with, as was their habit of speaking ill other churches and church groups, particularly the church that HOPCC had broken away from, New Testament Christian Church (also known as NTCC). So they were aggressive with their fundraising activities, and they thought they were better than all other churches. These were two huge red flags, to me.

The first time I heard Ron Denis (the head pastor of HOPCC) preach, I felt like something was very wrong with that man. He was preaching about how he equated the use of the Internet with the taking of the Mark of the Beast, and he told us that he was watching us from the pulpit, to see who was praying sincerely and who was not. He'd tell the congregation to pray, then he'd watch everybody do so. He thought that I was not praying sincerely enough, so he took me aside and told me that he was watching me, and he could tell that I was not really "In the Spirit."

Ron Denis weirded me out, so I quit going to church there and started writing about what I was observing on a cult-education message board that is now defunct. I thought that I would be safe in doing so, since I thought that HOPCC did not use the Internet and therefore they would not be reading what I was writing.

I was wrong. Shortly after I started writing about them I got a phone call from Ron Denis himself, in which he told me that he'd read what I'd written about him, and that if I did not stop writing about them that he would go to my Chain of Command and accuse me of molesting children in his church. Shortly after that I got another phone call from another soldier who was deeply involved with HOPCC, and he told me the same thing: that if I did not stop saying bad things about his church online, then he'd go to my Chain of Command with false accusations against me, false accusations that I was molesting children.

They tried to scare me off, and it worked. I did indeed stop writing about them, and I stopped going to church there and never looked back. In early 2005, I deployed to Iraq and forgot about HOPCC for several years.

Then the other day (eighteen years later, mind you) I was sitting here thinking to myself "What ever happened to Ron Denis, I wonder?" So I started Googling and what I found, in terms of stories of people who have defected from HOP over the years, horrified me.

It's what I'd characterize as an abusive church that preys primarily upon service persons and their families; it's a cult for whom the primary focus for evangelism and recruitment is on active-duty military personnel.

The stories of abuse, manipulation, and exploitation coming out of there are terrible. They prey on soldiers, and soldiers' families.

More to come. Please check this out:

[coastalcourier.com]

[www.gethsemanepressbooks.com]

[www.hopcc.com]

[www.hopcc.com]

[www.hopcc.com]

[truestoriesoflifeinthentcc.blogspot.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2022 05:17AM by The Whirlwind.

Here's something I remember, from the first time I heard Ron Denis preach.

I witnessed this in the spring of 2004, while I was at Ft. Stewart.

Rev. Bradeen's wife gets on the electric piano and starts playing a slow, mellow meandering melody that creates a surreal, dreamy atmosphere in the church...people are pacing the floor and praying prone on the ground.

Then somebody turns on the light just behind the pulpit and Reverend Denis steps up. The rest of the sanctuary is all dark except for just above the pulpit.

He preached on Luke 14:26-33, Philippians 3:10. He focused on "the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death." He referred to ministers of the Gospel as "the Levites of this dispensation." He seemed preoccupied with "losing your life to find it," death, and "giving your life to God."

Denis said, "This isn't a Jim Jones cult, and I'm not talking about committing suicide, but I want the Lord to give me just 10 or 15 more years because I want to get out of this wicked world!" He also said "We won't have DVDs, we won't have the Internet, and we won't take the Mark of the Beast!"

The whole message seemed rather glum and apocalyptic. He scared me, and I thought that HOPCC was a spooky place, so I started to write about my experiences there online. Ron Denis did not like that, so he started threatening to get me in trouble with my CoC, with lies about how I was molesting kids (of course I was not doing so).



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2022 07:44AM by The Whirlwind.

Here's a detail that will prove my truthfulness:

I chose my screen name here (The Whirlwind) because that's the same screen name that Rev. Kekel used when he started posting about NTCC (to the forum which is now defunct) in the summer of 2004.

I followed that whole strange saga at the time, and used to post to that same message board. I forget how he got outed, but eventually it was revealed that "The Whirlwind" was Mike Kekel.

So I remembered it, and decided to use the same screen name here.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2022 06:53AM by The Whirlwind.

Wow what a trppy, horrific story. These guys used intimidating tactics on an already fragile and potentially volatile demographic. Unreal.

I know a bunch has been written on AA and organizations that deal with vulnerable minds and how people cam crap and eventually relapse or have psychotic breaks. AA has an abilsmal success rate with addicts and I feel a lot of it is because some of them become cultlike and even have people that end up becoming unofficial leaders to people in the program.

And it's difficult to expose or shine a light on it all without sounding like a jerk attacking righteous organizations.

Anyway, great post. Thanks for your service.

Whirlwind,

Please be careful not to overwhelm or dominate in any way any thread at this message board.

This may annoy people and discourage them from posting and participating.

Everyone must feel comfortable and no one must feel bothered or put upon.

Not to make excuses for my behavior, but I have Asperger's. I was not diagnosed until AFTER I got out of the Army.

Sometimes I'm not as self-regulating as I ought to be, and I have a tendency to be blunt. Sometimes I'm rude without meaning to be.

I also have an incredible ability to perseverate, to become hyperfocused and obsessive.

Thank you for the constructive criticism, rrmoderator. I will check myself.

And thank you for your support, RUN_FOREST_RUN.

Ron: without a doubt you are trying to figure out who I am, what my name is; it's possible that you may have done so already. I know that you and your lieutenants are most likely reading all of this.

But I'm not worried about it, Ron, and I'm not scared of you, either. What are you going to do to me that you have not tried to do before? What are you going to do, tell people that I'm a child molester again?

There is a man named Steven ATWELL. This man REALLY WAS a child molester, and a member of your church. You knew what he was doing, and you helped to cover up for him. So you will accuse the innocent of being perverts, while at the same time you actively cover up for REAL perverts who are members of your church.

[coastalcourier.com]

In psychology, we call this "projection," Ron. Sometimes, we accuse others of the very things that we do not want to be discovered about ourselves. A closeted gay man who is scared of being "outed" will go around accusing everybody else of being gay, for example.

This is your pattern, Ron. All those who speak out against you you will label as child molesters, pornography addicts, homosexuals, and reprobates in general. So I'm not the only one who you've called a child molester, not by a long shot.

That's what you do, Ron. You are the accuser of the brethren, yet it begs the question: what are you yourself trying to hide?

Your time is gonna come, Ron. Your evil will be exposed, yours and that of your right-hand men like Tony Oloans.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. (Ephesians 5:11-12, KJV).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2022 03:18AM by The Whirlwind.

Joseph Fryar: I've been told that you tried to leave House or Prayer before, but that some men from the church found you, deflated the tires on your car so that you could not get away, and then brought you back to Ron Denis. I was also told that you have been with Denis ever since, and that you are the one who does the shopping for him.

Further, I have been told that your wife Casonia is very much under Ron Denis' control also, and that Ron Denis forbids her to see her grandmother (whom she loves very much and to whom she was very much attached).

Mr. Fryar, please ask yourself if you are reading this: what kind of church is it that one must escape from, as opposed to simply leaving it on good terms? What kind of church will not allow its members to leave?

I've heard from people lately who did not just leave House of Prayer: they ESCAPED from House of Prayer.

I see no Biblical precedent for anything like that. I see no passage in the Christian Scriptures which describes a situation in which somebody had to sneak out of a window in order to get away from Paul, or Peter, or any of the rest of the apostles.

But I'll tell you what I do see in the Bible. I see in 1 Corinthians 3:4-5 how Paul was saying that nobody in the Body of Christ is better than any other member of the Body, on account of what church they're associated with, or on account of what apostle they'd learned from.

It's my assertion that Ron Denis cannot be compared to Paul or Apollos, true apostles of God. For what good fruit does Ron Denis have to show for his ministry? No, I'd assert that Ron Denis is a false apostle (2 Corinthians 11:13-15), a vessel of wrath who is going to lead you into perdition if you are not careful, Mr. Fryar.

Take heed, Joseph Fryar. Get out now, while you still can, while you still have your soul.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2022 03:49AM by The Whirlwind.

Joseph Fryar's is a very typical position in most cult groups. People outside of the group are viewed either as potential members or potential enemies of the group. They are not usually considered appropriate for friendships-whether close or casual.

All cults and abusive organizations view themselves as engaged in some all-important work, whether it is to convert lost souls, spread "The Truth," improve the well-being of members, or simply raise money. Nothing can be permitted to interfere with this all-important mission.

Fryar's is a classic expression of the "end justifies the means" argument. This is a terrible concept under the best of circumstances, as it permits deception and other unethical behavior in the pursuit of "good" goals. It is especially heinous when followed in the name of God.

Fryar may believe that he has no options outside of the group, and that is not a happy prospect for him.

So rather than receive the message, he attacks the messengers (people like me, outsiders to the group) through use of the ad hominem attack. As in, people who criticize House of Prayer are typically demonized as pedophiles, porn addicts, homosexuals, and the like.

(Hell, Ron Denis is so obsessed with who's gay and who's not that it makes me wonder about what's up with HIM, you know? It's OK, Ron. It's 2022. Nobody cars if you're gay anymore.)

This leads me to ask a series of questions:

Is it possible to work in love and obey Jesus and NOT be a member of their group?

Can one follow Jesus as an individual?

If Fryar's fulfillment is derived from his relationship with Jesus and inner life as an individual, then why does it bother him so when outsiders to the group criticize his group or the leaders of it? Why lash out against them so vociferously?

Why does he equate criticism of the House of Prayer and/or Ron Denis with supporting the work of the Devil?

This is very much like what happens with the woman who is physically abused by her husband. Having expressed her love for him and committed herself to living with him "for better or for worse" she finds it impossible to entertain the thought that he could and would deliberately hurt her. So she redefines the abuse and views it either as discipline to make her a better wife and mother, or as a punishment she deserves for failing to please her husband.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2022 07:10AM by The Whirlwind.