If it helps, I believe The Church of God is set up very similar to the UPCI as far as church structure. There are pastors who have (what's in the UPC called a Presbyter(sp?)) a person over them for spiritual accountability... then those guys all answer to a district official. However, none of it includes financial accountability. A church who is incorporated can report a pastor to the pre
Forum: Destructive Churches

Calling that interpretation of the Godhead an error is a matter of opinion and how you interpret what you're reading in the Bible. Oneness and Trinity are either very far apart or everyone saying the same thing in different ways depending on what end of the spectrum who you're talking to is. I've studied both pretty extensively and have come to the conclusion that we humans probabl
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It's awesome that you found some great people to help you out. I think that a lot of times though it's not even about a person being good natured or not... as much as how safe he or she might feel letting a stranger move in. ...after all, didn't we all see what happened in that movie...was it Single White Female? I think that was the name of it... the one with the psycho roomma
Forum: Multi Level Marketing and Commercial Schemes

That was BadBadNews that had the girls staying with her. I was just curious about the company because I'm kind of shocked about the whole showing up and knocking on doors to find a place to stay... especially these days. Knocking on doors to sell stuff is a challenging enough experience. I know if someone showed up and knocked on my door and asked if they could move in for a summer I&
Forum: Multi Level Marketing and Commercial Schemes

I guess that answers my question... So in your experience, you didn't even have a place to stay at first even before you took the training. So what exactly is the training like? Is it just the usual sales type stuff... not taking nos personally and all of that? Or do you get any training on the culture here at all?
Forum: Multi Level Marketing and Commercial Schemes

I agree with your point on weight actually Sins... I mean... it's a national epedemic really... not just a UPC one. I think maybe it appears on the surface that more in the UPC are because a lot of the preachers are... and they're the guys up front. (Not all by ANY stretch of the imagination.) ...and no, weight doesn't indicate perfection in any way either. ...but it's
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I grew up in the UPC. My dad pastored a church and is still licensed. I'm a former member and now go to a more main stream Christian church which has created challenges with my family. ...but I wanted to let you know I'm speaking from experience. :) To Mark: It would be a stretch to say most members of the UPC are overweight. However, probably the reason many are... and they probabl
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hey Catalyst. I read your post and I'm wondering... it said: #5 - if nothing is lined up before they arrive in the selling area, 2 layers of leadership who will be living and working with them all summer, are right there helping them. Are they saying the others in their organization have just abandoned them? We doubt that. ---------------- So I was wondering... so is it seriously p
Forum: Multi Level Marketing and Commercial Schemes

Duh. :) Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. It DOES help to look in the right forum. I just found it there and confirmed my suspicions. Thanks.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

So I'm curious if anyone here has heard of PrimeAmerica and if you would consider them borderline cult like. I've read through most the pages in this forum and couldn't find anyone asking about it. So I apologize in advance if this is addressed elsewhere and I just missed it. I'm asking because it seemed like a bunch of people in my church got caught up in it. They tried
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I live in the KC area and visited IHOP once with a friend. I was very uncomfortable there to be honest, but I chalked it up to my not being into or used to chanting/call response type worship. Also the IHOPese really weirded me out and threw some serious red flags up for me. Having found this thread I see another reason to be leary of IHOP. Like RR said, lack of financial accountability. Here&
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think that here again is another example of how it's all about balance. :) There ARE some people who seriously learn the best by rote memorization, etc... my mom being one of those people. I am comletely not! Give me hands on any day of the week or I'm going to zone out on you. So I think there are instances where ACE could work well... but for the great majority of learners (since h
Forum: Destructive Churches

I know this is a really old thread... but I am a former UPC member (grew up in the UPC) and found it interesting when I ran across it. I completely agree with you Rick that the problem is lack of accountability in most UPC churches. I say most UPC churches because my dad set the by-laws of the church he pastored up a little differently. The UPC is really a fellowship of highly independent chur
Forum: Destructive Churches