To whom it may concern:

The Cult Education Institute moved to a new much improved, managed server at the current ISP. The new server has daily external backup and 24-hour access to a system administration team. It is by far the strongest most secure server the institute has ever used to date.

In the transition some posts may have been lost.

These lost posts would be posts made between about 3:00 PM EST yesterday and this morning.

There is nothing that can be done to restore these lost posts.

This was the one and only problem in the transition of migrating data to the new server.

My apologies if you lost a post through this process.

Rick Ross

Thank you, Rick Ross. We really appreciate this forum. I also bought your new book last week. I'm just started to read it. I'm loving it.

Thank you for everything.

I'll likely buy your book as well, RR...even though, I hear, it does not mention the Lamp of Israel.


paleface Wrote:
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> Thank you, Rick Ross. We really appreciate this
> forum. I also bought your new book last week.
> I'm just started to read it. I'm loving it.
>
> Thank you for everything.

Thanks.

The book has chapters about defining a cult, cult brainwashing and an intervention to get someone out of a bible based group. All of these chapters can be helpful to anyone in a destructive bible based group.

The book mentions many groups, but there are thousands of cults identified in the United States alone. Impossible to fit them all in.

There is now a new website devoted to the book.

www.cultsinsideout.com

Dear moderator (Rick Ross?). I might buy your book, but if I may, does it address the concept that perhaps all of Western Culture is under a “Biblical Spell” which has lent itself to increased “cult susceptibility” for those of us born in the United States?

The Living Word fellowship was, when I was in it, just like what they have now in "Babylon" churches, just a megachurch, with a bunch of campuses around. John Stevens was always the "senior pastor" and the guys in charge of the "local churches" were like assistant pastors. That is to equate it to today's vernacular. john Stevens was always the bagwan, nobody had any authority at all. There were some pretty strong personalities though, that Stevens let alone to a degree, because he knew they could fly the coup with some of the sheeple. In my oppinion looking back, that is all that it was ever, no special anointing, just a bunch of dominionists, latter rain, double-talkers.

One thing I have noticed since I have been in a much more traditional church is that elders are not just flunkies and yes men to the "apostle." Elders in the traditional church I go to now actually are under the pastor, but yet they also can vote the pastor out if he gets crazy. It is not a rank system where there is a one man rule. I think John Robert Stevens was sort of like a pope, believed to be infalable and could not be questioned. That is not the way it is in all churches.

Apostle Dog Wrote:
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> One thing I have noticed since I have been in a
> much more traditional church is that elders are
> not just flunkies and yes men to the "apostle."
> Elders in the traditional church I go to now
> actually are under the pastor, but yet they also
> can vote the pastor out if he gets crazy.

Checks and balances...the founding fathers understood how critical this was to avert oppressive government. And a church will be unhealthy without it...as we've all undoubtedly experienced.

Apostle Dog Wrote:
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> > I think John Robert Stevens was sort of like a
> pope, believed to be infalable and could not be
> questioned. That is not the way it is in all
> churches.

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Good point. I agree with both of your posts and for me what was really uplifting was to read the thoughts of an ex-living word member who doesn't impugn all of Christianity or the Bible.

Amos quote: "This I am not writing to justify anything that happened in the Living Word Fellowship but I would have to argue that whether there or elsewhere in order to spiritually survive one has to adjust their attitude about God's seemly horrible parenting skills. If God were a human father he would almost certainly be brought up on charges for endangering spiritual children."

Amos that was a very well written post. I was just thinking about what you said about God's parenting skills and how He could have perhaps snatched the victims out of Living Word or intervened in some way. My personal take on that, at least for the grownups that got into Living Word, they had the capacity to read their bibles but they chose to have someone read them for them and to them. Scripture was taken out of context, very important parts were left out, as is customary in about every church I have ever gone to, but still, the adults could have read it all. Parts that were emphasized were the parts about authority and power, the parts left out were the parts about sobriety, love, mercy, gentleness, all of the fruit of the Spirit, none of that was emphasized.

As far as the children that were born into the Walk, I think the parenting failure is with their natural parents. I am one of those that can take the heat about the children, as my kids pretty much grew to be against church by the time I got out of it.

I sometimes do have to deal with myself when I try to blame God though, not about Living Word, but about the way our system of things is going today, the loss of freedom in America, the open borders with militant Muslims crossing the border disguised as day laborers trying to make a living.

Your comment was very thought provoking, and one of the very best comments that I have ever read on any message board.