There many testimonies about the Indianapolis Cult group on Fact and other places on the web.


Posted on Factnet
[www.factnet.org]

We were actually kicked out twice. The first time, my parents were
desperate to "correct their sins" so that they could go be a part of
"God's people" again. During that time we became involved in a Calvary
Chapel and the pastor and his wife tried to convince my parents that
they were involved in a cult, but they didn't want to hear it...there's
just such a strong hold that this people have on you. I mean they were
devastated at being kicked out, because there is such a strong belief
that if you don't belong to this group, you're not really a Christian.
Of course they are very careful about how they word things so that you
won't ever be able to go back and say "Hey, they said this"...but it's
more of an implied feeling. After about a year of being out of the
group but still in close contact, they allowed us "back in". The second
time we were kicked out again only after about six months back, and
they said that my parents were just not "spiritual enough". But at this
time my parents had started to ask questions..they were no longer fully
"submissive" anyway...and from there they admitted it was a cult and we
started looking for other churches and the healing process began. There
was slander of sorts...such as when people were asked why we left it
was because of "unresolved sin" and such things. We were no longer
allowed ANY contact with anyone in the group(as a kid I had been
writing letters to all of my young friends from there, and we were not
longer permitted to be pen pals or friends of any kind). It was just
crazy.
It permeates the kids too...don't think for a minute that it doesn't!
They mimic the actions of the parents...I remember there was this time
where a friend of mine got this really cool doll and I was like "Wow,
that's a really cool doll"...and one of my little friends looked at me
and said "Hey, you really need to not be jealous. I think you need to
ask God to forgive you." Anyway that's a little off the subject...

___________________________________________

Actually that's kind of funny because I think as a young kid I always
realized that something was different...like I kind of knew that I had
to pretend to be really spiritual if I wanted to be accepted. I never
fully realized that there was a "real world"...although they do instill
this intense fear of the outside world in you. I remember the first
time we were kicked out and my parents talked about looking for a
church...my brothers and I were terrified because "church was
bad"...stuff like that. But I do remember even as a kid I got a bad
feeling from Mike Peters...there was this one instance where I was
walking from the car on the sidewalk on the way to our apartment. I
passed Mike Peters and he looked at me with this creepy(almost
dilusional) smile and reached his hand out to me. Tentatively, I
reached mine out to him and he squeezed it and kept walking. I remember
even though I was only like 10 I was totally creeped out! It was hard
to put into words...but it was almost like in some weird way, he
thought he was Jesus! I mean he would never ever say that...but it was
a "let the little children come to me" kind of moment. I don't know,
it's just really hard to explain. But I do remember that even the kids
kind of idolize Mike Peters...even the kids know that they aren't to go
against his words. His word just always goes. It's unquestioned. And
they discipline kids constantly. It's INSANE. For EVERY LITTLE THING.
There were days when we'd get spanked like every ten minutes...not
because my mom wanted to but because she felt that she had to in order
to not get judged by all the other moms. It's really out of
control...the focus on the negative. They took me and my siblings to
stay with them for a few weeks(during the first time we were kicked
out) so that my parents could take care of some things(even though my
mom was against it, she was just too scared of them to tell them not to
take us). Anyway, during our time there, my little sister was
apparently being "disobedient" and "obstinate"(she was three, ok)...and
she ended up getting spanked for pretty close to an [hour] house
straight. When we went back home, her rear end was BLACK. Literally. My
mom was so angry and disheartened...but when she said something they
told her "You really need to work on your daughter's heart because she
is really an obstinate and rebellious child." As apparent here, they
really believe in disciplining each other's children; if you babysit
someone else's child you automatically have the right to spank them
yourself, for whatever you feel deserves a spanking. I could go on and
on! There is just SO MUCH.

[indianapoliscult.com] for more information.

A friend asked me the other day if I had any “red flags”from God about this legalistic and cultish group(church in Indianapolis lead by Mike Peters). I told her I did in the beginning, but once you start ignoring the warnings they go from being a shout to a whisper. Today I remembered a red flag that I missed. Some time ago, a person from this group and I were talking to a lady who has been involved much longer, and we were sharing about how we used to hear God a lot more and in a more personal “one on one” way. I was concerned. I had thoughts like, “Am I letting the group and the teachings take the place of God?” This lady quickly “assured” us that this was normal and that she had the same experience. She said that now God uses other people to talk to her more and that those “times” with God speaking to her or dealing directly with her have decreased. Blazing Red Flag!!!
Why did I mostly accept this answer? Why didn’t I see it as a huge red flag? Well, I think I know the answer to that in part. Accepting thoughts and teachings that are false and dangerous to our spiritual health doesn’t happen over night. It is a gradual process that for me greatly involved wanting a place to belong and wanting to “see” God’s Bride on earth (or His people). I now know that God’s Bride is not something you can stamp a label onto a particular group or movement. Oh sure, we said we weren’t the only ones, but actions speak louder and we shunned many, many more people than we accepted.
When you begin to deify a leader or group, giving them the spiritual authority in your life; the red flags from God become a muted pink. How could you challenge a teaching from a leader that you’ve given authority to in your life. God alone should have that place of authority. I saw people who disagreed or questioned a teaching, and how they were talked about and treated on many occasions. I did not want to be in their shoes. And you really don’t question as much when you give your heart away to a group and EVERYTHING it stands for. I defended it with my life. I walked away from all my family and friends to be with these people. Scary. Would I walk away from anything or anyone if God so required? I hope I would, but that was not the case here. I was cutting people off to be part of a movement, not part of God!
Why didn’t I ever read an email teaching or thesis from the group on “leader idolatry” or “group/movement idolatry”? That would have been counter productive! It is no one’s fault but my own that I put humans in the position only reserved for God. I had little pink flags all along that would have been bright red had I not begun to accept things I had initially questioned. Why did I accept extreme teachings? Again, I think I know the answer in part. I wanted so badly to find on earth something wholly true and wholly pure and right. THIS IS FOUND IN JESUS ALONE!!!

Thanks be to God who is full of mercy and compassion!!! Praise and Glory To Him who restored me to His freedom! Was I going to finish in the flesh what He began In the Spirit? Oh, the peace of finally resting in Him again! Oh, the comfort and joy in His accepting love! To understand completely that I am saved by Grace through Faith has been my greatest joy. It has been an honor to see God restore family and friends that I had left behind, only to find the purpose in those relationships was to love with God’s love so I can truly point to Him. The bible says that without love we are nothing but a clanging gong! Thanks to Him for showing me grace and His love for me in spite of me, so that I can love others more.

Thanks for sharing your experience, graceisall. It sounds like you had a rough time of it, but God is so faithful in His love for us, isn't He!
I will pray for you...

Thank you joythruchrist. Yes, God was very faithful to us. We were almost divorced when we were involved with the Mike peters group. The teachings have almost no regard for marriage. Since my spouse disagreed with Mike's teachings, I was encouraged strongly to shun my spouse and not allow my spouse to be a parent to our children. This was very common practice and I saw many others, including a leader, do this to their spouses.

My encouragement today is that God can and will set anyone free. You can be free from the opinions of man and legalism. You can be set free from false teachings no matter how strong or twisted. I do know how hard it is when there is a measure of Christian truth being presented. But, everything must pass the test of all scripture, not just the scripture that is plucked out and majored on by this group. Many other seemingly Christian groups get way off track by majoring on certain verses and building a movement on that. We have seen this time and time again.

Mike Peter's and his commune movement is built on obscure verses like "admonish one another daily" , which they translate as correct and rebuke one another daily instead of encourage. The other verse they've plucked, shortened, and pitched their tents on is "from house to house daily".This to them means they should all live in the same neighborhood and be at eachothers' homes daily. In fact, there is a tape where a female leader in their group talks about "holy spiriting" one another. She says this as if it were a good healthy and biblical thing to do. They do not trust the Holy Spirit of God to convict. Instead much fear is instilled in each member to never be alone, go anywhere alone, or make any decisions on your own. This creates the group dependance that is neccessary to keep each member bound and in constant fear. Again shattering all trust in God. Trust is then placed on your fellow members and especially on Mike Peter's telling everyone what to do. The group and leader becomes your god.

I strongly encourage anyone in a situation like this or helping someone out of a mind control group to hold fast to the power of God that is more than able to save and restore. He alone makes the crooked way straight. He alone can restore and rebuild. Your thinking and your spirit can be brought back to freedom and truth. He did just this for me and many others who are coming out and coming forward. Thank-you Jesus!

Please try to avoid preaching.

Each person leaving a destructive controlling group should be allowed to come to their own conclusions regarding private and personal issues of faith.

I know you mean well, but please try to give people posting here some space regarding their personally held religious beliefs.

Hello, I am graceisall. I noticed that you posted in reply to my last post. Your post said to try no to preach and let the reader come to their own conclusions. I am so sorry. Please give me an example from my post so that I will not repeat the same thing again. I sincerely want to understand. I will also edit my post if it seems necessary. I am only really trying to warn others of this group, speak on what God has done for me, and share my experience. thank you rrmoderator,
graceisall

I was curious as well as to what the problem was with graceisall's post. I didn't take her post as being in anyway offensive, so I would need to know what to avoid saying as well, so I never do it here.
Respectfully,
Jen

graceisall said:

Quote

I strongly encourage anyone in a situation like this or helping someone out of a mind control group to hold fast to the power of God that is more than able to save and restore. He alone makes the crooked way straight. He alone can restore and rebuild. Your thinking and your spirit can be brought back to freedom and truth. He did just this for me and many others who are coming out and coming forward. Thank-you Jesus!

Not everyone approaches a "mind control group" based upon religious beliefs. Help may come from someone on another basis trhough family, friends and professional help.

Recovery likewise may not include religious beliefs.

[www.indianapoliscult.com]

Another Amazing Story
From Anonymous

The purpose of my letter is to confirm with you so much of what I have read on factnet and the other sites. I have truly wrestled with putting this in writing and have come to the conclusion that it is necessary because CII is definitely moving in a dangerous direction. There will be several things that happen over the next several weeks and months that will bring an uncomfortable amount of “light” on CII and if anyone there is still reading this site then please open your eyes and hearts and please stop burying those things deep inside you that you know are truly wrong. The things I speak of here about Mike Peters I say with clear conscience because to my knowledge, Mike has never admitted any wrong doing nor asked for forgiveness for what I am about to speak of. For that reason, I do feel compelled to speak of it in detail. Unlike what Mike and CII do where they bring up all of your past sins that you have repented of and already dealt with in a Godly manner, I think that is the tactic of Satan himself.

It is necessary that for now, I remain anonymous, however the time is coming soon when that will no longer be the case. I will have passed this letter on to a few trusted friends to have posted on factnet.

I was a part of the Church in Indianapolis under Mike Peters for several years. In the beginning years, I believe that it all started out with good intentions. I believe that Mike Peters really did have the best of intentions in wanting to create a life simply and fully devoted to Jesus. I believe Mike wanted to create an environment where people really did commit themselves to Jesus first, and to serving one another daily while not relying on external structure nor luke-warm Christians. What I personally witnessed over several years though was a gradual but definite shift away from depending on and pleasing Jesus alone to depending on Mike Peters and pleasing him and eventually his leaders.

The separation between Jesus and Mike became less and less over time. It got to the point where when Mike said something it was received as the very oracles of God himself. Whatever he said was unquestioned and people would act upon whatever it was he wanted to happen. People at CII definitely viewed Mike as an apostle in the beginning, however that would simply not be enough for Mike as the years rolled by.

Don’t get me wrong though, because Mike did do a lot of good for a lot of people including myself. Much of his teaching was sound and he himself is fairly intelligent. I spent a lot of time with him and saw first hand and up close many things that others would not have had the chance to see. Much of what I have read on factnet is accurate. What is most striking to me is the similarities of what so many people there have said. There is NO question that CII is now a very dangerous group, and YES it very easily could become a “Jim Jones” type situation......