Jeff Rock Barnes past Twits:
Those who persevere see the 30, 60 &100 fold harvest
PNBC Business Intensive today-surrounded by a group of possibility thinkers. Excited for the future!
Amazing meeting w/P Becky from City Church & our small group team. God is unleashing an army of leaders to love/impact our church/community.
@kimberlybarnes: RT @judahsmith (City Church): How can we follow Jesus and not join in on what He is buiding? ...THE CHURCH

City Church statement on prosperity:

We believe prosperity is the will of God for every believer and
always to be associated with God’s purpose


Now it will be Gods will for Jeff Barnes and false Apostle Mike Villamor to take your money from you telling you its for Gods purpose

False Apostle Mike needs a lear jet and a helicopter

PNBC (SOMA) students have spent alot of time being taught by false teachers from Word- Faith Movement prosperity City Church
Students also have spent time at Casey Treats Word-Faith Movement prosperity Christain Faith Center and saw Creflo Dollar at the conference they attended.

Jeff thinks if you think positive that all the problems will go away at TPCWOC, its called positive confession or Robert Shullers possibility thinking. Jeff Barnes is still trying to find out who he is.
Jeff will try and be a normal preacher while all the false teaching will happen at MarketPlace Ministry, Womens Ministry, Small groups, PNBC(SOMA) and through the young people at unlimited and youth group. City Church will be have a impact on small groups and City Church also has a MarketPlace Ministry. I have heard that it has a mandatory tithe for members at City Church. City Church has also had alot of false Word- Faith Movement prosperity teachers speak at their church. Some people call it City Business Church.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2010 12:14PM by buddy.

Quote
buddy
Jeff Rock Barnes past Twits:
Those who persevere see the 30, 60 &100 fold harvest
PNBC Business Intensive today-surrounded by a group of possibility thinkers. Excited for the future!
Amazing meeting w/P Becky from City Church & our small group team. God is unleashing an army of leaders to love/impact our church/community.
@kimberlybarnes: RT @judahsmith (City Church): How can we follow Jesus and not join in on what He is buiding? ...THE CHURCH

City Church statement on prosperity:

We believe prosperity is the will of God for every believer and
always to be associated with God’s purpose


Now it will be Gods will for Jeff Barnes and false Apostle Mike Villamor to take your money from you telling you its for Gods purpose

False Apostle Mike needs a lear jet and a helicopter

PNBC (SOMA) students have spent alot of time being taught by false teachers from Word- Faith Movement prosperity City Church
Students also have spent time at Casey Treats Word-Faith Movement prosperity Christain Faith Center and saw Creflo Dollar at the conference they attended.

Jeff thinks if you think positive that all the problems will go away at TPCWOC, its called positive confession or Robert Shullers possibility thinking. Jeff Barnes is still trying to find out who he is.
Jeff will try and be a normal preacher while all the false teaching will happen at MarketPlace Ministry, Womens Ministry, Small groups, PNBC(SOMA) and through the young people at unlimited and youth group. City Church will be have a impact on small groups and City Church also has a MarketPlace Ministry. I have heard that it has a mandatory tithe for members at City Church. City Church has also had alot of false Word- Faith Movement prosperity teachers speak at their church. Some people call it City Business Church.

13:1-23 Jesus entered into a boat that he might be the less pressed, and be the better heard by the people.
By this he teaches us in the outward circumstances of worship not to covet that which is stately, but to make the best of the conveniences God in his providence allots to us. Christ taught in parables.
Thereby the things of God were made more plain and easy to those willing to be taught, and at the same time more difficult and obscure to those who were willingly ignorant.
The parable of the sower is plain.
The seed sown is the word of God.
The sower is our Lord Jesus Christ, by himself, or by his ministers.
Preaching to a multitude is sowing the corn; we know not where it will light.
Some sort of ground, though we take ever so much pains with it, brings forth no fruit to purpose, while the good soil brings forth plentifully.
So it is with the hearts of men, whose different characters are here described by four sorts of ground.
Careless, trifling hearers, are an easy prey to Satan; who, as he is the great murderer of souls, so he is the great thief of sermons, and will be sure to rob us of the word, if we take not care to keep it.
Hypocrites, like the stony ground, often get the start of true Christians in the shows of profession.
Many are glad to hear a good sermon, who do not profit by it.
They are told of free salvation, of the believer's privileges, and the happiness of heaven; and, without any change of heart, without any abiding conviction of their own depravity, their need of a Saviour, or the excellence of holiness, they soon profess an unwarranted assurance.
But when some heavy trial threatens them, or some sinful advantage may be had, they give up or disguise their profession, or turn to some easier system.
Worldly cares are fitly compared to thorns, for they came in with sin, and are a fruit of the curse; they are good in their place to stop a gap, but a man must be well armed that has much to do with them; they are entangling, vexing, scratching, and their end is to be burned, Heb 6:8.
Worldly cares are great hinderances to our profiting by the word of God.
The deceitfulness of riches does the mischief; they cannot be said to deceive us unless we put our trust in them, then they choke the good seed.
What distinguished the good ground was fruitfulness.
By this true Christians are distinguished from hypocrites.
Christ does not say that this good ground has no stones in it, or no thorns; but none that could hinder its fruitfulness.
All are not alike; we should aim at the highest, to bring forth most fruit.
The sense of hearing cannot be better employed than in hearing God's word; and let us look to ourselves that we may know what sort of hearers we are.

This one certainly reminds me of the former false apostles farewell.So much for his example of perservering persecution in God's name:

But when some heavy trial threatens them, or some sinful advantage may be had, they give up or disguise their profession, or turn to some easier system.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2010 02:14PM by ostracizedone.

[www.mudrashram.com]


This most certainly looks like a cult… a good first indicator to stay away or be weary is when the leader claims to have an elevated spiritual knowledge or enlightenment that others need… also claiming to have been specifically “chosen” to be the conduit of lost spiritual meaning… Another indicator to be weary about is the self commission…


How many times has Mike V. preached about conduit living.He thinks he is to be regarded as the conduit between God and the sheep ! For all things relating to God can in his mind only be revealed to him,understood by him and accurately relayed (conduit) by him ! Accurately in this instance means to retain control,fill his pockets and keep you under his heretic twisted teachings . How convenient to be a conduit to the ALMIGHTY.



Factor 2: "Who is your leader?" If they deify the leader or make him or her a savior figure, then you may assume that this factor is very high. In some groups, the leader may be the conduit, messenger or prophet of the true leader, who is a spiritual leader or Master on the higher spiritual planes — look for the uniqueness of his or her capacity to channel the leader or Master and how the member regards the leader.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2010 09:58PM by ostracizedone.

I found this link on another post not related to TPCWOW. It is an AMAZING read -- could have been written by any one of us. I highly encourage you to read it.

[mommylife.net]

But I liked her resolution toward the end where she said: "Early on, Tripp and I decided it was useless to blame the church and the people who had hurt us. We prayed and asked God to show us why we had been vulnerable to this toxic brand of religion. For us it was the appeal of elitism – being on “the cutting edge.” For others we’ve talked to since, it was the need for structure and order or recreating parent/child patterns."

I am still struggling with so much anger toward the church and even the "stupid" inner circle people who are still there NOT standing up against the wrong teachings. But looking at myself? Now that cuts a little too close to home. But it's true. Ever thought about it that way? Why WERE we sucked in?

Let me know what you think of this link!

[www.churchofreality.org]


The human need to be part of a group is far stronger than logic. Most people will sacrifice logic for social acceptance.

People survive through groups. We need to connect to society. We need to become a productive member of the community to feel good about ourselves. This is a built-in instinctive need and it is very strong. Logic isn't as strong as our need to be accepted in a community. And because it is a strong need, people who are unethical can exploit that and enslave you in a cult.

A cult is a group gone bad. It is a group that uses what would otherwise be a normal group process for the purpose of exploiting and enslaving the members for some unethical purpose, generally involving money and power.

People who have a need to belong to something are suckered in and allow themselves to be reprogrammed by the group mind.

They are required to accept a lot of bad information on faith and once they accept that then they see reality relative to the bad information they are working with.

Groups can start out good but degenerate into a cult because of a takeover of some unethical person who exploits the group for personal gain.

So the reason people join cults is that people need to organize as groups for a normal healthy society. But there are good groups and bad groups and a lot of groups that are somewhere in between.

When people become part of the group they put their faith and trust in the group and the group information becomes part of who they are and what they believe. The individual starts seeing reality through the lens of the group and if the group is based on fiction, then the group members will see the world relative to the fiction.

Praise and Blame refer to a system of rewards and punishments used to control your behavior. They use praise when you do something good and blame when you do something bad. Sounds like normal child rearing so far but it doesn't stop there. Some praise and blame is normal. But cult control takes it to an extreme. Cults need to enslave you to survive. Praise and blame are the must common tools to do that with.

The process appeals to the human need to do good things. Since humanity has evolved around the Tree of Knowledge and our success as a species is tied to our ability to plug into society, our need to be an upstanding member is hard wired into our brains, just like fear, sex, and the need to find food. We are more like bees in that respect. A bee is nothing without the hive. It dies when separated from the hive. Humans will often kill themselves as a result of social shunning. And for many people there is no greater thrill than to be praised by your peers. We want to accomplish great things and rise in social position within the group. Social position give us respect and power and authority. Women are attracted to the powerful males creating more opportunities to spread one's DNA around.

On an instinctive level, we also want to be part of the Tree of Knowledge. We are aware of our limited existence and we want to continue to live in some form after we are gone. We want people to remember our name and who we are and the great things we accomplish. We want to go down in history as heroes who fought and died for some great cause, or at least be part of a group that goes down in history for some great cause. Our instinct to be part of the Tree of Knowledge is so strong that we will sacrifice our lives to make that happen. It is this kind of biological commitment to community that has made the human race rise to the top of the evolutionary chain.

There is however a down side to this need to be a respected member of the community. The down side is that it can be exploited. This need is far more powerful than people realize. But cults realize it and they have become experts at exploiting it. They can make you jump through hoops like a trained animal. And that's why most of the world is a slave to some form of cult. I would say that less that one percent of humanity comes close to the standard of what I consider free. The rest are slaves to the cult mind.

When you join a cult they start off with the carrot. They tell you that you are a very special person who was led to them through divine inspiration to be a member of an elite group of special people who are on a special mission to accomplish great things. You are one of the good people who is in a desperate battle with the forces of evil that are taking over the universe. Your decision to join forces might be the tipping point for the triumph of Good over Evil, where your refusal to join might result in Evil winning, and it will be your fault if that happens.

Everything becomes black and white. You are either with us or you are against us. If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Are you an "us" or a "them"? There is no middle ground. Evil people serve the evil master and everything they do is evil. They are sinners and Infidels who are unworthy and deserve death. We however "are washed in the blood of the lamb" and our sins are forgiven. The idea that non-members have a role in society and that they are contributing is unthinkable. The don't see people as having some good aspects and some bad aspects and that you can improve them a little and help people evolve forward. They are the enemy, and the enemy is to be destroyed.

Once you are in, the reprogramming begins. You are a student, a disciple, and they are the wise masters. they are right and you are wrong. You have to accept what you are being taught. After all, this is all new to you. You are learning the secret ways so obviously the possibility of you being right and the master being wrong is highly unlikely. You are being taught a different way of thinking. You are being reprogrammed. The lesson isn't what you think it is though. What you are being taught to believe is what you are told to believe without question. You are being trained to be a sock puppet.

[www.churchofreality.org]


A sock puppet is a person who is totally controlled by the cult mind.

You are taught that you are important and that you are being trained for an important mission. You are being evaluated by the other group members who are all concerned about each other's spiritual progress. You are required to seek their praise and avoid their blame. Social position is everything within the group and it is often very competitive. They feed you ego treats to get you really addicted to your self importance, and then take them away to punish you for failing to behave.

The use of praise and blame is a common mind control trick. Once a person is fully addicted, they will do anything, say anything, believe anything in order to get their ego fix. The life of a sock puppet is a life of fear, always having to worry if they are good enough. They are given impossible goals which they never can achieve which puts them in a state of perpetual failure. First they feed the ego, then they starve it. Progress is measured in obedience.

Cults are about the suppression of freedom. They punish independent thinking. Faith is required and doubt is punished. In contrast, the Church of Reality requires doubt. Blind faith is considered bullshit. We encourage a diversity of viewpoints as a way of coming up with fresh ideas. We, however, must ourselves be vigilant to avoid the praise and blame game and not fall into the same traps where we divide into masters and starry eyed groupies who suck up information like a sponge and parrot it back without thinking. Sometimes people become sock puppets and just hop from cult to cult looking for someone to enslave them in a way they feel better about. That's why we require people to ponder reality so that they can become themselves and invent new things for the Tree of Knowledge.

We have a concept called Intellectual Tithing where we give back new ideas to the Tree of Knowledge. New ideas require innovative thinking which means that people have to think outside the box. You can't come up with a new idea if you are just parroting church dogma. Intellectual Tithing creates a process where explorers develop the skills of independent thinking. It creates an environment for new idea to emerge and be presented for discussion, scrutiny, and doubt testing. This not only makes humanity smarter, but it strengthens the mind and makes people more immune to cult based thinking.

[www.churchofreality.org]


Cults use Ritual and Repetition
Cults use ritual and repetition to instill their reprogramming on their members. Rituals are things that the group does together to voice support for the group and demonstrate their submission to the cult mind. It can take the form of group prayers, songs sung together, the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance, marching in unison, or other acts where the individual demonstrates submission to the group. These rituals help get the individua's mind into a more submissive state which is necessary when one is expected to believe the most bizarre things without question and without having any knowledge that one is being manipulated.

Ritual also creates a sense of community which is necessary for a person's well being. It makes the person feel on an emotional level, that they are part of a team, a great mission, and have a sense of family and belonging. This emotional connection is a religious experience and it creates a euphoric high that can be falsely interpreted as divinely inspired. Because of our evolution to function together as a group, our minds are hard wired to feel great joy by being interconnected to other people united for some great cause. This natural experience is exploited by cults to get people addicted and keep them locked in. What is an otherwise normal community connection is elevated to an experience of "God is touching your heart right now". But we know that God is not touching them right now or communicating with them, because the kinds of messages the group receives from God is generally something that is self-serving to the cult. There is always a human who lets the group know what it is that God is telling them because sometimes God just isn't able to get the message across like cult leaders can.

[www.culteducation.com]


What kind of relationship do destructive group leaders have with their followers?

The leadership most often defines what is right and wrong and group followers are essentially expected to defer making meaningful value judgments regarding almost any issue of significant importance. And any member of the group who questions or doubts the authority of the leader is likely to be labeled wrong, rebellious, suppressive, negative and in some situations even "demon possessed" or "satanic".

No area of a member or follower's life appears to be immune from such a group's scrutiny and/or criticism. A kind of learned dependency often develops. Group followers appear highly dependent upon their leaders to resolve problems and provide them with an ongoing sense of clarity and purpose.

Is there actually a kind of mindset within potentially unsafe or destructive groups?

Yes. There seems to be a typical mindset within most destructive cults. This is often characterized by black and white thinking, a low tolerance of ambiguity and a relentlessly judgementa1 attitude. Members of such a group often think in "we, they" opposing terms regarding those outside their group. This mindset frequently produces feelings of superiority and/or spiritual elitism, claims of supposed "persecution" and unreasonable fears. These fears typically concern the outside world and the consequences of disagreeing with or leaving the group.

Frankly, cults are quite good at persuasion and indoctrination; it's their stock and trade. And most people simply are not prepared, either through education and personal experience, to be sensitive to the possible impact of cult methodology.

People are often frustrated and anxious about the world around them. And most of us seem to have a need for answers, security, a sense of control, a feeling of belonging and a desire for personal recognition. Today there are millions of "true believers," who faithfully accept psychics, UFOs, angels, questionable multi-level marketing schemes, political extremism, conspiracy theories and demagoguery. People often find things to believe in that fulfill a need for explanation about an increasingly complex world. At a time of crisis such beliefs may also fill a personal void. Personal voids, burning questions and the need for answers are not unique to any single type of person, instead they appear to be part of the human condition.

"In attempting to understand what has happened to the ex-cultist, it is often helpful to employ the victim, or trauma, model. According to this model, victimization and the resultant distress are due to the shattering of three basic assumptions held about the world and the self. These assumptions are: "the belief in personal invulnerability, the perception of the world as meaningful, and the perception of oneself as positive" (Janoff-Bulma, 1985, p. 15). The ex-cultist has been traumatized, deceived, conned, used and often emotionally, physically, sexually, and mentally abused while serving the group and/or the leader.

Like other trauma victims (for example, of criminal acts, rape, and serious illness), former cultists often reexperience the painful memories of their group involvement. They also lose interest in the outside world, feel detached from society, and may show limited emotions. (Janoff-Bulman, 1985, pp.16,17)."Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse, Michael Langone, editor ISBN 0-393-31321-2 , Ch. 10.