I have studied the history of these movements and I appreciate your replies. Its all about money, attention, control, and demonizing anyone who gets in the way. I recently ran into a guy that works for The Secret Place Ministry Center here in Springtown, Texas and he asked me how things were going. I told him things are going ok and life continues to throw some problems my way. His immediate response was 'You need deliverance!' My first thought was to tell this kid to stick it, but instead I told him I dont 'need' any of that. I asked him to look at the sign on The Secret Place building and how it advertises Bible Study and 12-Step recovery and I asked him besides 'all of that' what do they really do there? What do they really do in there? His reply was scripted the same way I was taught to script it... 'We do deliverance, breaking curses, inner healing, closing spirit portals, sanctification' etc. Blah blah blah. I had to stop him and just make the remark that if you think the way they do all those things are good.. then why do you HIDE them from the public? Why cant you put all that on the sign outside the building? This guy was dumb-founded and had no answer. Case Closed.

As a Christian, you get saved and you put away all sinful activities from your life and you work each day with The Lord to live a righteous life. You may get baptized as a public display of this. You share the gospel, plant seeds, maybe water them, but you have trust in God to cause any growth. You become a work in progress with others. You will slip up and with Jesus you will pick yourself up and continue. Thats basically it. With these groups you have to make salvation a burden. You have to go through Basic training levels 1, 2, and 3.. then Intermediate training 1, 2,and 3. Then advanced etc. just to learn how to pray. Something you allready knew how to do - but now you have spent hundreds of dollars and in the process became indoctrinated. And it really never ends. You have to go through 'deliverance' and then go through 'sanctification' and then buy courses to learn how to recieve a single Prophetic Word, buy a course to learn to speak in 'tongues'. Its a wonderful BUSINESS MODEL that empties your pockets and makes you feel like you have some secret knowledge that other Christians dont. Thats Gnosticism and making merchandise out of the Word of God. You end up spending so much time and money going through training courses and seminars that you lose the original purpose of the gospel. Trusting in Jesus and having faith in God is so much better than trusting in man or man-made methods. You will end up seeing a certain portion of group members struggling and even failing and they will teach you that it is the devil, or a spirit, or a curse, or an open portal but the truth is it is a dominionistic, perverse, political, money-grubby methodology that causes this to happen. You will end up realizing that you separated yourself from family, loved ones etc. that you cared about but they didn't agree with this nonsense. You will find yourself alone except for the group. You end up realizing that you just payed the property taxes for a religious leader that led you astray. And by the way, they now drive a much better car than you will ever own. Welcome to the New Apostolic Reformation's so-called 'deliverance' ministry.

I have to say thank you to a few individuals whom I will not mention here that brought to my attention what I didnt see before. The 'Bar Rescue' tactics of Jon Taffer have been applied to playing church. Chuck Pierce has a degree in 'Business' and a Masters Work in 'Cognitive Systems' If you put business and psychology together with a religious overtone - you will make money and you will have followers willing to pour money into yur business. Its not what a church leader should seek to do, but we see more and more of it happening today. Its like John Sandford got a degree in 'Religion and Personality' and formed Elijah House. If you take the time to do yur homework, you will find that they have developed a worldwide network based on psychology mixed with religion to create wonderful business models. For example.. Lets say I could convince you that you have something wrong with you, something 'spiritually' wrong with you. Its like I diagnosed you with cancer, and I have the cure. You will come to me for the fix. You will want the cure. And the fix requires some money. Not only did I diagnose you without any proof, but I played upon the cognitive functions of yur mind, so now you are becoming indoctrinated. And here comes the 'business' angle. The 'fix' is written in my book and my training courses, and I will break my book into multiple volumes (each sold separately of course) my training courses will have levels 1, 2, and 3. Then after you purchase the basics, you will reach Intermediate Level etc. Note.. take the time to watch the documentary 'Going Clear' about Scientology and the Thetan bridge. It is very revealing about their systems of progress. You will either do one of two things... 1. You will become my follower and seek me for every answer from now on.. or 2. You will WAKE UP and realize I screwed you out of alot of money and used yur belief in Christ to make you my puppet. And now you have to live with the facts, either way I got you. And this business psychology religious nonsense constantly finds 'new' suckers and there will always be families out there with a troubled child or family member and they will be so desperate for help that they will be suckered into this. Henry Malone has streamlined the process of finding suckers and has done a very good job of hiding where his teaching comes from - Peter Wagner. Ronette Stripling has hurt way more people than she has helped trying to push-force the Henry Malone stuff. . And Chuck Pierce... just a plain weirdo that knows how to influence weak peoples minds and make money on the side. And the saddest thing about it, they use The Bible. The Bible should be used to bring conviction of sin to bring a person to repentance and remission of sins. The Bible should not be used to convince a person to follow the latest business minded religious leader. It to bring people to know Jesus. And you should NEVER forget that!

Driving through this little town, I saw my old friend, Allen N Meyer. He seemed to be doing well considering he has Aspergers Syndrome. He is really a great guy - never did drugs or drank alcohol, dont even think he ever even smoked a cigarette. He was my office assistant at the local food bank before I was let go for calling them out as a cult. I really care for my friend Allen. He has been doing 12-step recovery over and over and over for a few years now, even though he never did drugs, drank, or even smoked. I really think that is stupid to force a man with a mental disability through 12-step and deliverance and all of that, but he is too afraid to say anything 'negative'. And it brought back some memories of how the entire program is 'forced' even if you don't need it. Its a form of indoctrination under the influence of isolation. I really do feel for my friend Allen though. If only he could have a chance to be free - we could probably hang out and go to church and have lunch together. But it just is not happening because of control. I am so thankful that I got out of that Secret Place Ministry cult. I am so glad that I got away from the Vision Life Ministries - New Apostolic Reformation nonsense. It really sucks to see an old friend of mine unable to even talk with me cuz he is afraid. Poor guy has a legitimate condition and is too scared to do anything outside of their control factor. All I can do is pray for him.

I recently read the 2nd Holly Pivec book and they both are very well written and very informative on where this originated and what this stuff is all about. Book # 1 - God's Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement. Book # 2 - A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement.

Also... Here are some very good references.

[www.howcultswork.com]
[www.cultwatch.com]
[www.cultwatch.com]

For anyone who gets involved with a questionable group, I would suggest reading all this material and be educated. I have lost alot of friends and even a volunteer job because I broke free from a control group. Be careful. Be nice. And... Be Free.

Its been quite a while since I left The Secret Place Ministry Center. Its also been quite a while since I have been here to look at my post. I have been exploring mulitple churches in my little town and spoken to quite a few people about this New Apostolic Reformation stuff. It is NOT Biblical. Its man-made and very psychological. It should be rejected by any real Christian, but it continues to spread like cancer. In my ventures I was given another book that is very informative and enlightening. 'Abusing Memory - The Healing Theology of Agnes Sanford' by Jane Gumprecht M.D. A very good read for anyone trying to understand and/or escape the cult of Deliverance/Inner Healing that is sweeping the globe. All I can say is.. my life has been so very much better after getting out and I would like to thank those who helped me. There is some literature out there that exposes what its really all about and I would hope that anyone involved in this 'new-age' cultic movement would move on like I did. Trust me... You can get out.

I was recently informed that the Secret Place have upgraded their website and the head pastor lady has actually included the words deliverance and inner healing in her testimony. I wasnt sure about it so I checked and indeed she has. Its nice to see some honesty and transparency involving that stuff instead of hiding it behind a 12-step program. If your going to do something, its best to just admit it openly instead of hiding it. On the other hand, the 3 years i was there, I heard her testimony change depending on who was present. I am just happy that I dont believe what she told me. I do not have spirits on me and curses and I do not need to purchase deliverance and inner healing manuals (still would like to get all my money back tho). Just need my relationship with Jesus, my Bible, and the Body of Christ to fellowship with.

C. Peter Wagner has passed away without a hint of repentance for the false doctrine he spread around the globe. John Paul Jackson was stricken with cancer and even though his 'prophet ministry' made tons of money to hire the best doctors to put it in remission, he was stricken with cancer twice and passed away without a hint of repentance for the false prophecies that never came to pass. I am sure Chuck Pierce, Henry Malone etc. are next... and there will not be a single word of repentance from them either. That is most sad. Like many cults, false teachers, and false prophets... they go to the grave to be judged for what they did and for what they spread without ever asking The Lord to forgive them.

awesome posts here didnt know all that
the people at secret place are nuts i went there to get help finding a job to support my kids and i like the worship songs and sermons at there little church but where they let us live was a diferent story
they turn into total control freak and put me in a house with only men took away my cell phone so i had none of my contact numbers and for months they fill my head with nonsense that invisable spirits had fishhooks in me and my parents curse me and only they could break me loose
finally they let me go get a job and made me sign contract to put my paychecks in there bank acount they got to keep some of every check and called it tithe i was not able to help my children much at all so i left
none of the secret place people ever called me to see if i was ok guess they got no money so they forget me sure they help some people but that is not how jesus would want us to be i went to baptist church and got help found job and moved in with my kids have nothin to show for all the months i stayed there ecept lost alot a money

Dude, I am very sorry to hear about your bad experience at The Secret Place. It is similar to alot of bad experiences that happen there to those who dont convert. The Secret Place is a cult... if you take the time to read Ricks book Cults Inside Out you would see that there are very many kinds of cults and not all of them are religious like Secret Place. That book shows the guidelines that make a group fall into the cult category. Secret Place has so many red flags. This particular cult is based on alot of false teachings that have come from The New Apostolic Reformation. They have grouped alot of teachers around them that tickle their ears, they are decieved and seek to decieve others. They are a so-called 'church' that functions outside of the true Body of Christ and this has spread worldwide. They have made a fortune out of merchandising their false doctrines. I am glad to hear that you got OUT. I hope the church you got involved with keeps it in the Bible. Congratulations on getting a job. Have nothing to do with these Secret Place people, just move on. They will not adhere to sound doctrine because their conscious is seared with the doctrine of demons with deliverance (Henry Malone), prophecy (John Paul Jackson) and inner healing (Agnes Sanford - John and Paula Sandford). They will reject you after 2 admonitions so shake the dust of your feet and move on. We are witnessing the great deception and the falling away. You have to understand that belief in Christ is not just knowing that Jesus is necessary for salvation... you have to know that Jesus is ENOUGH for salvation. As Christians, we do not to use isolation and manipulation to indoctrinate anyone. You did well to leave and return to your children. Do not let what they tried to make you believe follow you. You are not cursed, you do not have spirits hooked on you, etc. as long as you verbally admit that you believe in the true Jesus Christ, repent and turn away from sin, and continue to have faith. The Secret Place is spreading another gospel with another jesus and they will have to answer for that. God does not need any gurus. Jesus has redeemed you from the curse of the law. We live under Grace. Too many have been led astray by this stuff. I would ask you to turn away from it, resist the devil, and just dont let it remain in your mind anymore. They will not contact you to check on you just as they did not contact me when I got out. Life is so much better being a normal Christian after I abandoned all that they taught me. I just had to repent and ask God to forgive for any and all participation in all that new-age stuff and things got better really quick. May God bless you and your new church family. Do not return to that stuff.