Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Date: March 21, 2024 06:19PM
I didn't think the point of this forum was to debate Struthers being a cult or not. If you've got to ask the question, you've likely already answered it. It may not fit the criteria of some of the more extreme cult examples but it absolutely is (or at least has been) a cult.
Looking back now with informed and educated eyes and a whole different spehere of experience I am deeply sceptical of anyone who has the desire to stand on a stage and claim they can impart knowledge from God. That scepticism multiplies when the individual maintains they have special insight and in particular, they have anything to say about anyone else's 'holiness' or standard of living. There is no special knowledge, there is no insight, there is no gift. It's a delusion.
Do you know what history shows us? Absolutely impeccably? People of this type are almost always not the real deal. They do not live up to the standards that they hold others to and often are indulging in worse. What they do have is a sense of theatre and the desire to 'perform'. Many absolutely do enjoy the power and the way they can influence others - it becomes intoxicating. By believing that these individuals DO have a special gift, many otherwise good and rational people subject themselves and so the situation is perpetuated.
The most obvious and clear-cut example that I witnessed first-hand was that of Hugh Black. A gluttonous, ruinous food-addict given to extreme excess - all in plain sight. He was however a talented orator / performer and therefore able to maintain the illusion. He held others though to standards that he himself could not and in fact, would not meet. People, in their droves, subjected themselves to this man's 'teaching'. A charlatan, a swindler and snake-oil salesman. Incredible.
Modern day computers have what's called a 'firewall'. It's a filter that stops bad information getting into your system including other computers that would try and control yours. It challenges the information, ruthlessly, at the point of entry. As humans, we need to do the same.
Be suspicious of anyone that wants to tell you what to wear, where to go on holiday, how to pray, how to worship, what God 'wants', what music to listen to, how to cut your hair, who to marry, what holiness means or looks like whether to drink alcohol or not and just how to live your life in general. Almost always these people are living their lives as they please whilst telling others how to live theirs. It's vile and abusive.