| Devil's
Deception In Religions
Extremism
Chapter 1 "EXCEED OTHERS IN PIETY"
The devil comes to you from your pious side, telling
you how righteous and religious you should be. But, underneath
it all his objective is to increase your pride in yourself and
'your religion' as superior to others.
Chapter 2 "SURPASS OTHERS IN KNOWLEGE"
He insists you gain knowledge to surpass other people.
Chapter 3 "SACRIFICE THIS WORLD TOTALLY"
He works on your
Chapter 4 "UNQUESTIONING DEDICATION"
He
Chapter 5 "TOTAL COMMITMENT"
He
Chapter 6 "BLIND FOLLOWING"
He
Chapter 7 "RATIONALIZATION OF THOUGHT"
He
Chapter 8 "DENOUNCING ALL OTHERS"
He
Chapter 9 "EXTREMIST ACTIONS"
He
THE PROGRAM OF BONDAGE
"COMMITMENT MANIPULATION" TACTIC
He
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DISCIPLESHIP MEMBERSHIP CARD
As a member I agree to:
Give up nearly all my personal time to the program...
Open up completely & share everything about myself; not just
my sins...
Relinquish my privacy of thoughts, sinful or not...
Be willing to give up my opinion if it conflicts with my discipler,
and accept his opinion as right...
Believe that it is a sin not to trust my discipler's judgment...
Obey all requests of my discipler...
…even if the request affects a decision such as not being
allowed to announce my engagement until my discipler wants me
to, not pick a wedding date until my discipler approves, to put
off my wedding date until my discipler has peace about it. I will
obey my discipler in matters of dating, changing jobs, going to
college, moving, or whatever is requested of me. If I do not obey,
then I accept whatever punishment my discipler believes appropriate.
I will accept being called "rebellious," "hardhearted,"
"not trusting," "uncommitted," prideful or
whatever else my discipler thinks that I should be labeled. I
will accept my discipler's opinions as the truth and feel terribly
guilty for not obeying.
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You should wonder why a group would want to conceal the way it
really operates from newcomers or those on the outside. Jesus
certainly did not operate this way. Furthermore, Jesus made it
clear he did not teach something different to his inner circle
than what he taught outsiders (John 18:20). The insiders even
look at each other as more committed than people not fully in
the program of discipleship. In this book, you will find out more
about why some discipleship groups follow a different practice
toward their followers than did Jesus.
In a recent bulletin of a church that had discipleship, there
was a special notation that the discipleship class was by invitation
only! No other activity at this church had this requirement. I
had to wonder what secret Bible knowledge has to be by invitation
only. My guess is that they were teaching some ideas that were
controversial to the average person. They were going to make sure
that the only people they would teach would be those they thought
could swallow this stuff behind closed doors. Their excuse is
that some people are not ready for their lessons yet, and only
the discipleship leaders can tell when they are ready.
CHECKLIST
The Discipleship Game—Chapter 1
Check those that apply to your group:
Did not get my fully informed consent before I joined
Withheld certain teachings until I was more trusting
Wanted my commitment as soon as possible
Consistently makes new demands of me
Did not tell me that anything less than total obedience is unacceptable
Seems to create non-Biblical classes of sins (e.g., labeling people
as "full of pride" if they do not agree with the discipler's
decisions or advice
Leaders do not tell me "no," but instead ask me to "pray
about it" and delay my decision
See themselves as "more committed" than those not in
the discipleship
Want me to refrain from making decisions without the discipler's
concurrence
I am frequently told to "pray about it more" when making
decisions
Disciples are rebuked for actions that are not really sinful but
which merely differ from the leaders' opinions
My leader/discipler makes no distinction between moral advice
and non-moral advice
NOTE: If you have checked any boxes, it indicates a misunderstanding
of Scripture and may represent the presence of abuse and excessive
control. |