What got me out of this group was the fact that my wife would come home from women's bible talk in tears, and the fact that they would keep score on everything I did when I made mistakes. I would get harassing phone calls because I couldn't attend a 'meeting of the body' and I made providing for my family and doing my job a priority and sometimes I missed church. I was encouraged multiple times to quit my job. I'm sorry. I'm a MAN and a man provides for his family. I got out, glad I did, and now I'm in a church where I am following God and not following people.
Coming home from Bible Talks in tears....I can definitely relate to that. Looking back, I think they were sadistic. They enjoyed hurting certain people. Some of the people were downright MEAN! What a representation of Christ! How were you supposed to support your family if you quit your job? How were you supposed to pay tithes and give in the offerings?
@@tkbaku3036 they actually do this and worse things. Bottom line: diminishing people's actual experience, instead of calling these brothers and sisters to repentance is unnecessarily harmful.
So proud of you girl. Thank GOD He never changes and had His hand on you always. This could have been so traumatizing to your faith.. so sad to see people who “claim Christianity” twist up the image and act a mess like this. You’re so strong. Thank you for sharing !
This group is literally everywhere. I joined in 2018 and then left in 2019. I related to almost everything you mentioned. They are so manipulative and they really want you to make their church your priority. Thank you for sharing your story. I’m confident it’s helping others to avoid getting involved or have the courage to leave! ❤
Look up the translation/meaning of “kingdom” and you’ll find it doesn’t mean the icoc. It means God’s reign. God’s righteousness is what we got when we believed and responded to Jesus death and resurrection.
The reason why you feel that they want to you to make the church your priority is because they want you to stay experiencing that relationship with you to be your energy to do your trivial things daily. If you feel like they are forcing you they are doing so without knowing. You could open up to them and let them know your feeling. This the reason why so many christians have problem because they are afraid to communicate and have misunderstandings later on. Simply open up. I have been in their group and I have experience personal wounds and family separation but I can say those were misunderstandings. What I have gone through I am reaping and helping my family which they once opposed now they are so grateful. Please open up
Glad the time you spent with them was brief. I was in one of their churches for 5 years and left almost 5 years ago. Still working through the complex trauma.
I give thanks to God that I left. The Lord called me away from this cult and I encourage anybody that is in the ICC or wanting to join to reconsider their commitment.
This is exactly what happened to me. I felt a lot of anxiety and pressure. They had a problem with me working a lot (I work at a hospital, we don’t close). They accused me of idolizing my work. They pressured me to get baptized and my best friend even came from hours away for this baptism that I didn’t agree to yet . It was absolutely too much. I prayed about it and now I’m apart of a different wonderful church. God literally saved me from this place.
Thank you for sharing. I used to be a member of this cult. What got me out was when our D Group leader brought up a chart and forecasted how many invited guests go to bible study > get baptized > and then fall away. It was like a network marketing model of recruitment. Apart from the recruitment, they also asked for our payslips so they can monitor what 10% after-tax can be our tithe. This cult created wounds that until now haven't healed in our lives. Even if you hate someone, do not let them join this church. It's bad news!!!
@@elaniece yup and tithes are different from offerings which are quite regular and all preaching sermons focus on the Great Commission, which was an excuse for recruitment.
@@elaniece we were being groomed for leadership, hence the charting tool and forecasting so our sector can contribute to the growth of the church. We joined the ICOC in Manila way back in 1995. If I can only take back the time, I would have never acquiesced to my wife who was invited to this church back then. I hope anyone who got victimized by this cult eventually finds their healing.
I just got baptized in their church and by Gods grace this video encouraged me to speak to them on how inwould not commit to their studies it is pressuring
Thank you everyone for kindness.. I havent spoken to any of the church members but it taught me to really read my bible first before joining these churches so that i wont be swayed
....I was actually baptized into this church. They got me like on my first day on campus and I was so new to college life. After two years...my aunt died in Brooklyn and they took me aside and DISFELLOWSHIPPED ME AND TOLD ME NOT TO COME BACK!!! Can you believe that? When I stopped going to church (because they told me to stop coming) they saw me in school and said that I was gonna die and go to hell any day. That was 20 years ago. Glad you got out
I mean anything is possible. But that makes no sense. They likely did this on the basis of either some sin or some perceived sin. Not because someone's aunt died. @@nduduzogasa5289
What reason did they give you for disfellowshipping you? Was it because you went to spend time with your family after your aunt passed? Just curious. I’m not trying to make excuses for them. I’m a former member. I was disfellowshipped for some appropriate reasons, but without prior notice. I was in the fellowship at the time this was done. Not the best way.
I went to a bible study group in college the first semester of my freshmen year that was like this. This girl who was assigned to recruit me would drive me everywhere and get me free food. I admittedly took advantage of this. I eventually stopped going to the group when they started asking me to commit more time to them because it was getting weird. Now they look at me like I’m the devil if I see them on campus😂😂
@@tkbaku3036 putting people down in every one of your comments 100% validates their claims of how ungodly and mean people in these groups are to others. Christ calls us to love one another the way He loves us, and that they will know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another. They were not shown love while in the fellowship, and are being mistreated by you and others after leaving due to false motives and abuse. Our Abba teaches that how we treat others is how we are treating Him. Repent, Bro, or you're in for a Matthew 7:21-23 fate.
@@kehaulani1467 @tkbaku3036 is not talking as pro for these "groups" s/he is being objective about this situation. OP was being a mooch, she said she admitted to taking advantage of the person.
I love how we did all the studying, recruiting, loving, and hangin out. But when it was time to "count the cost" here come the leaders studying with them, and baptizing them acting like they'd been there with us the whole time. Smh. They were such ego tripping glory hogs, I swear. But in their defense the congregation put them on those pedestals, so They would do anything for a leader. They say "jump" and a member would say "how high" But try to get anyone to help *you* with anything like a good disciple should, your outta luck lol! It was the relationships I had in there that kept me for so long, but enough was enough after 13 years in. The abuse was rampant.
Thanks for sharing. I joined ICOC in 1988. So much of what you said resonates. I feel so sad that they still practice methods of coercion 34 years later. Much of the teaching helped me grow as a Christian but there wasn’t enough depth. They firmly believed they had a ‘monopoly’ on the truth. That’s a dangerous stance. Happy to say I’ve moved on since leaving, healed and grown. I hope you will go forward in faith and continue to build YOUR relationship with God.
When I went to this church I gelt constant pressure and anxiety. They made me feel as if I was neve ready in christ. It became so exhausting that I had to finally quit.
Been there done that. Im happy that I left. The worse part is they come on campus and hunt after college students. I have not talked to them in 4 years.
You done the right thing Ellie.I was a member of the church and I notice a lot things that weren’t right in the church.And my friends was telling me to leave the church and I didn’t.I notice how I was being mistreated by the people who I thought were my friends but wasn’t.Because there was rumors going around about me that wasn’t really true. I left the church after the changes began .Thank you for sharing Ellie.
@@allenpratt6976 I'm sorry that you were slandered. The longer you remain in this fellowship, the more trauma you experience. I've been in too long. Our Abba has taken me on a glorious spiritual journey since being baptized 33-years ago. Many of us stayedAway to preserve our relationship with our Most High. I learned that we need a fellowship that teaches the truth and lives out Loving our Abba, Christ and one another. Conversions in scripture took 1-day (those who were raised Hebrew) to 3-days (gentiles). Christ, His apostles and disciples taught that Christ IS the fulfillment of Moses and the Law, and of the Prophets, and that our sin put Him on the cross. Therefore, repent (turn from sin) and be baptized (participate in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ) for the forgiveness of sins and receipt of Abba's Holy Spirit. THEN, learn to obey all that Christ commands and do the same for others. Baptism is our reBirth into our spiritual family, the remainder is a life-long process of deepening our Love for our Most High, Christ, one another and of ourselves; of growth, development, Spirit-led adventure, and many more wondrous everyday experiences. Baptism here becomes the process, and throws off the balance and intent of the Word. This group, like most Christian churches are rooted in some way, shape or form to the Roman Catholic church, which has its origins in the marriage of biblical concepts with paganism. We need to return to the Word, understand its Hebrew origins (the word Hebrew literally translates to "those from beyond") from believers familiar with all that entails (raised in a Hebrew background v. a eurocentric one), then we will flourish as our Abba intended. Keep it pure and true, then He will work powerfully through us.
They wanted me to stay over at a home friday, saturday and go church on sunday. I backed out as i just didnt feel like i knew them thst well. When asked about being restored they stated well we not sure if youll stay. So we will need to slowly keep studying with you. That pushed me away. Yes. She told me to as well that i was not showing commitment enough. Just after i had travelled two hours to go church. You speak with truth.
@@elaniece your most welcome. Put your trust in Jesus christ not a church. People may be friendly but your love has to flow with forgiveness towards yourself too.
I was part of this group for four years. The best day of my life is when I got out. I read the Henry Kriete letter and I'll tell you what. It opened my eyes and made me realize I was in the wrong spot.
@@bd5253 Talk to him. Show him information. But most importantly be honest with him and be truthful about your concerns. And most important pray for him. Let God do your fighting for you and hope he can see things.
@@bd5253 I tried to talk to my son but he disagreed so I focused on praying for God to reveal to him if this church was ok. So, pray! And is there an old pastor, youth pastor, someone he respects who isn’t family, to guide him, talk to him? I found it’s easier to listen to someone who isn’t family
100% I actually found this video because I was looking for ICC/ICOC content. I'm a survivor of that cult, got out when I was 16, have been out for 18 years, and periodically become curious what those clowns are up to to warn people!
@@taylorrobvi I was pretty close to joining them last year. Thank fuck I pulled out before it was too late. I was invited by my junior at work, and went a few times. I was 'love-bombed' by the people in that church. They were really nice, and it genuinely felt like they wanted to be my friends lol. I attended this incredibly cringeworthy 'devotional' where the lead church intern (they don't have pastors there, so strange) basically said that anyone who even attempted to date outside the church was going to be ostracized. And I thought, what the fuck, this church is 70% dudes (not that I mind), and unless this church was open to LGBT relationships, and surprise surprise they aren't, there are going to be a LOT of lonely virgins in this church. And surprise surprise. When I expressed my dis-intention to join their church, it became as though I never existed! I was a bit cut, because I genuinely wanted to remain friends with the people I met during my very short time joining their 'devotionals'. But I guess dissent is not tolerated even a little bit. It was a wild ride, but thanks for hearing me out if you made it this far lol!
Our stories are so alike! Even about the discussions and defining the word "cult" (though she had a different approach than yours) and all that. I'm telling ya (and you know it already), these "recruiters" all are trained and are brainwashed to teach the same stuff to people. Came across this video in my research on the ICC. Long story short, I was recently approached by someone on my college campus, invited out to Bible Talks, and all that jazz. I have been Christian for many, many years, so when they got on the Bible study of "discipleship," all the red flags that were there from the start began to become very clear to me. I decided to ask the woman what the name of her church is (it's the ICC), and I decided to research it. So glad I did, because now I know I'm definitely not going to have anything more to do with her or her church or the other members of it. Glad I got out way before the thought even could come to their mind about trying to get me to be an official member. I found them out real quick and got out real fast.
Baptism is their biggest red flag lol the fact they think we need a 7 hour bible study course to salvation 🤦🏻♀️ I was shocked to see this! Thanks for sharing your story :) And it’s not our “choice” to be a disciple, God makes you do it! After seeing Jesus it’s literally His Will in our lives, not our own.
This is not scripture !! What the heck is wrong with u guys ? U sound like a cult ! It is 100% our decision …. This is satanic behaviour and do NOT advise this little girl
@@tkbaku3036 lol you’re weird! Looks like you are one of those ICC weirdos? Repent and let god show you his path. Don’t do things in your own understanding! Baptism is not salvation. You should be born in spirit first.
Please read my reply to understand why a Bible study is necessary. Your statement above completely contradicts the Bible. For this reason, we study so we are able to understand God's perspective.
My cousin left about 4 years ago and she has shown many signs of ptsd basically. Everytime she hears the words “discouraging” “fired up” or “come on bro/sis.” She literally zones out and apologizes so much. Our family knows about it. She was so kind and loving now she is depressed and always looking over her shoulder. Apperantly they broke her spirit she was such an extrovert, loud, always dress to impressed. But she was told to become humble, soft spoken, and dress appropriately. Mind you there inappropriate dressing was her in jean shorts with a spaghetti strapped shirt on a hot day. I miss her crazy antics but I’m glad she left and Healing. She is still afraid of going to a church but she is in therapy.
They’re everywhere UK, FRANCE, Belgium,The Netherlands, Ukraines, EVERYWHERE. And they target students on campuses under the cover of “bible talks” in groups and after that they take you to do a study, with just one person.
Just want to clarify something for the sake of using terms correctly. A disciple is simply a student. If you study the Bible, you are automatically a disciple of the word of God. Everyone who decides to follow the teachings of Jesus is automatically a disciple or student of Christ. As followers of Christ, we are commanded to go and teach others the words of Christ which means that we are instructed to make disciples as Mat. 28:19-20 commands us to do. Btw, I’m not part of any church denomination or church organization. I’m simply a disciple of Christ who strives to live according to his teachings.
She’s speaking of an experience. Not sure about other ICC but the one local to me teaches in the very first study that you HAVE to be a disciple to be saved and you can only be baptized and saved if you are a disciple. Yes your definition is true but it’s more of the false doctrine that apparently a lot of ICC locations teach
Hate your parents and friends? Jesus/Yaweh doesn’t teach that. Your suppose to love and forgive no matter what and pray for people. Wow, someone came up to me in the mall the other day. I told her I had to watch who I receive the word of God from! Discernment is sooo important. Wow.
Uhm ... Jesus says to hate your family. Not literally as in hate then and wanna kill em. As in hate their sins. Love Jesus to the point where it seems AS IF you hate them. You people who judge don't know the Bible. Fakes.
in Greek, Hate means to love someone less and yes, in the bow he writes that you should hate everyone except God, that is, you should love God more than everyone else. if it was written in the bible to hate it, it would be contrary to the commandment that you need to honor your mother and father
*this girl at my school keeps talking to me and complimenting me. then she starts asking me if we should study the Bible. I decline so she tries to invite me to her Friday night Bible study at her church. she tells me that her church is ICC and they want her to recruit more "young people." something felt very off when she would tell me stuff like this and it sounded very cultish. however, I didn't think a Christian Church could actually be a cult. this video and the cult accusations makes a lot of sense..*
Thanks for sharing. I watched the whole video. I was involved in this church and was ultimately kicked out. They are legalistic and not compassionate. I saw bullies who would take over the Bible Talks from people who weren't as aggressive. It bothered me. I saw people who had to be in the middle of everything.
Returned to Love, our Abba is separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff. Sadly, the leader of this group is unrepentant, and was actually disfellowshipped or loosed in accordance with scripture. He calls people to follow him over our Abba, which is idolatry. He praises leaders who follow him over the Word and who call the members in their respective "flocks" to do the same, while tossing out, then publicly shaming and defaming all appointed leaders who follow the Word and call him to repentance. All those who follow in the footsteps of a Biblically marked man who calls himself "God's Man" will suffer his same fate. If you were thrown out of a place like that, then you must be doing something right in the eyes of the One who matters. I pray you find peace and fulfillment and freedom under Christ's light yoke.
Wow… this is super eye-opening! The fact that your story is almost like mine is INSANE. I was a part of the ICC in my city for about a year…and came across some members recently, attended service on a whim, and now they want me to study again.. But I grew up knowing that I don’t necessarily need to be apart of a “church” to worship God with my whole heart. And now it’s like… they want me to be restored? But I just already baptized last year, so I just… don’t feel comfortable anymore.
One thing about them too is that they expect you to have so much free time even offering to pick up my little sister from schools and take them to their after school activities knowing my parents aren’t okay with that. It’s so pressuring and I know being a Christian means stepping outside your comfort zone but bro this was sum else fr
Stand your ground, seriously be kind about it and I was apart of this cult to. No means no and what if your little sister doesn’t do it hat they want them to do, is she going to hell? No but that’s what they think
(LOOK AT EDIT BELOW) Hey Ellie, I just had a very similar situation about 2 months ago. These guys came up to my friends and I (they already met 2 of them) and asked me if I wanted to be in a bible study, so I gave them my number and we met for bible studies; I was looking forward to it cuz I’m a freshman and wanted to find more Christians on campus where we can both encourage one another, and grow together. First bible study we each gave out testimonies and sin that we struggled with, and I did the same thing. They then seemed to cover very basic concepts on what it means to become a disciple and all that. It started to get fishy from there, because they would always ask “are you willing to let us pierce your heart with the gospel” (from Hebrews 4). And they still covered basic topics, but it seemed rather shallow. One of them then referenced how “the truth” shall set you free (John 8:32) but then proceeded to tell me how I didn’t know the truth and how I wasn’t ready for it, which was super sketchy. As a Baptist, I knew something was up from that moment, since I had accepted Christ and repented of my sins, and AFTER THAT I got baptized cuz I understood what it meant. I then had a discussion with one of the leaders on his views to really uncover the truth (I already researched their doctrine) and that’s when we debated on the meaning of baptism being a symbolic act vs necessary for salvation. We got nowhere after an hour and he called it off. The final meeting I had was with the guy that was meeting with me, and I started to challenge him, which is when someone else took over for him, since my guy was inexperienced. We had an hour long bible study and then another hour long discussion. At the end of the meeting, I asked the more experienced guy if by their study I was unsaved (from the hate your parents study, which I failed 2/5 of the categories they set up for me on being a ‘disciple’). He replied according to the Bible, no. That’s when I knew I was done with them, since I was already so emotionally drained from the month that I was meeting up with them. So many countless times I was feeling distressed and I had contacted other strong Christians on these views that I was being manipulated to believe, from some of my leaders in church to people in my family like my aunt and parents. They reassured me on our belief, and helped me with scripture that secured salvation by faith through grace (such as Ephesians 2:8-9). The emotional strain on me was great when dealing with them, especially because I felt like I was alone whenever I meet up with 2+ of them at a time. A friend helped me remember that even in the difficulties, the Lord will never leave us or forsake us, and will give us the courage to speak truth in hard circumstances. However, I give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, because since meeting them, I was able to reinforce what I already believed from my Baptist views. It has been difficult to fully forgive them, and that’ll be a process that the Lord God has been working on me to do so. It brought me so much comfort to remember that the ONLY reason I was saved was because of Jesus’ blood on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins. If you would like verses to refute their false doctrine, I’d be more than willing to give them to you. Many blessings to you!! (EDIT: So a few things happened over the last year. And, yeah…. Baptism saves because it’s something Christ does to us. So not like these cultists of the ICC, but like the historic Christian position.)
If you’ve accepted what Jesus did for you on the Cross and believe he resurrected you don’t have a “sinful nature”. It was the translators of the old NIV who put this incorrect translation in there. Dr. Andrew Farley convinced them of this hurtful mistranslation. The new and corrected NIV version now says “flesh”. Please study out what Jesus did to you as a new creation. We’re tempted to sin as Christians, not because we have a sinful nature. We have God’s heart and his Spirit which means His desires. We now just need daily mind renewal which the Apostle Paul talks a lot about. Nowhere in the NT will you find them saying a Christian needs a new heart. We are saved and He will never leave us! His Spirit is a deposit for our souls! THIS is the Good News that was preached in the first century!
Thank you for sharing your experiences. That sounds like what I had to go through the past two years 😭 People who haven’t experienced this… don’t know how hurtful, isolating and traumatic it can be. It made me almost lose my faith and my life in Jesus altogether. It really is the grace of God we could leave those kind of cultish-groups! I felt less alone reading your comment! 😭🩵
You dodged a bullet! Thank goodness you have Godly people in your life! I wasn’t so lucky, I was with this cult for 25 years! They completely take the scriptures out of context!
this group is literally everywhere! I was approached by these people while in a bookstore at the mall and a couple of women asked me if I was interested in bible studies and talked about info about this church. it was so weird cause after I got done talking with them, they were praying and holding hands in the middle of the bookstore. fortunately, they did not contact me further after this interaction.
Anytime someone tries to tell you to go against your own family then they are not to be trusted. Those people were isolating you and trying to get you to depend on them financially. They knew once you quit school and your job that you would have needed their help. Creepy stuff.
How could you depend on them financially when they expect you to pay 10% of your income every week? 😂 honest question. They make you pay for your salvation.
When I was a member back in the mid '90s (LA Church of Christ) they mocked the KJV as the Bible with the "thees and thous and archaic English that no one speaks in this day and age." Yeah, very Christian-like huh? smh
I remember their "Light and Darkness" study. I'm not sure if they still call it this(I left in 87), but it scared the crap put of me. It took a few years after leaving to recover from my experience.
Brotha, they did that too me!!!! They kept saying my baptism was invalid because of my doctrine!!!! Which is a bunch of baloney, they made me question my faith and salvation and to be honest it all felt very weird, I knew it was weird and I stood firm in my faith and basically told them “ I am a disciple” I know God knows that I am a “disciple” and I basically told them too stop and they go around asking people for Bible studies and those dudes aren’t even students at my college. They kept telling me that I was in darkness and won’t inherit the kingdom of heaven because of my doctrine, and yes they are wrong teachings they take them into their context and apply them to whatever they want too, bunch of suckas. Wanting me to leave my church and people to join their cult
The ICC is NOT the same as the ICOC. The previous leader of the ICOC was kicked out and then FORMED the ICC. God is NOT the church, my dad tells me this all the time.
It’s a come and go church. I joined in 2014 and did they really mentally abuse me. I joined on the campus of UCLA and attended their church then. Their pastor was extremely radical and vile. I felt like all they did was attack me personally constantly as a Native American coming from the Navajo Nation. So one day I got tired of it and said things to the pastor. I left and never went back into it. Today, I’m now just a freethinker and hope people will be extremely careful with this church. It is a insane asylum. Best!
My friend is in this cult and tried to bring me in but I saw the red flags and my common sense questioned the leader which her response was did you Google the church? I didn’t but now I am and boy my common sense was factual.
I nearly joined ICC last summer. I rededicated my life to Christ and asked God to bring people in my life that would lead me closer to him. I thought those people were the people that he put in my life. However, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to not go to my local ICC anymore because of their teachings. The main thing that they taught me was that accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior “wasn’t” the way to heaven. I knew that was a flat out lie because the Holy Spirit tugged on my heart and called me to salvation and I gave my life to Christ as soon as he did that. I was told by my local women’s ministry leader that I “wasn’t” a Christian because of that. Also, my local women’s ministry leader told me to give up relationships with people that weren’t “disciples.” She told me to stop going to stop being apart of other churches as well. I had other people joining my bible studies as well when I thought that it was only going to be just me and one other girl as well. The girl that did the Bible studies with me originally kept trying to get into my business about why I couldn’t be at their women’s nights and why I couldn’t do morning bible studies with her all the time. Also, that’s when I knew that something was off as well. I have a friend who grew up being apart of the ICOC and just walked away from the cult last year. He’s still a Christian tho. However, he’s just not apart of the cult that he was raised in anymore because he’s always known that they weren’t teaching him the complete truth about Jesus.
Yall are reaching and it’s sad they never taught me that Jesus wasn’t the lord and savior in fact in order to get baptized you state Jesus is lord 😭😭 the reason we push for you to do Bible studies with us and to be in fellowship is because outside influences can keep you from following the commandments and if you do hang with people from outside we urge you to bring them not to cut them off because we should only want others who are disciples in our life who lead a life of god and if they are true disciples and don’t want to be apart of icc and just to visit from time to time their is no shame in that !
Amen, God has given us the spirit of wisdom. I was in denial about London icc for weeks but deep down and when I read the bible it was clear they're a cult. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if those that left their careers for the church are being paid on how many ppl they're indoctrinate. Once you show signs of not getting baptised with them anytime soon they lose interest in you. I don't think all the ppl that attend are bad, in fact I met so many lovely ppl ... My heart breaks for them. There's a reason they are obsessed with campus ministry and young ppl... Easier to manipulate young ppl away from home and financially unstable, maybe lonely too and away from their families.
I agree but the only part I wouldn’t agree is that if we claim to be a Christian because a Christian is a disciple and I mean true Christian’s not lukewarm, we do have a role to play and seek and save the lost that was Jesus mission and that’s what he taught the disciples and after he left they continued to go country to country city to city town to town sharing the gospel of Christ and saved many. It’s a part of our faith to do that, whoever isn’t baring fruit will be cut off (please read matthews 7.) when you finish also read matthews 28 to the end and pay attention to vs 18-20. It’s a command to “GO” and “MAKE” disciples or other true Christian’s. That doesn’t require a church to teach, the bible itself is super clear on that one. Also let the Spirit lead you to where He wants you to go, it maybe that God what’s you to share with people in your area, it be even just sharing with lukewarm friends or atheist friends or friends of other faith; it may be that God wants you in future to go to another country and serve in orphan homes and share Jesus to the children or to homeless places or prisons, God works in different way. The Spirit lead the disciples and therefore they scattered all around the earth and going different places. But God works differently in everyone. I know my calling is to build orphan homes and share the gospel to the children and when they are old enough to decided to believe in Jesus then so be it. But no one should force you of which country to go. That’s the issue I had, a few of the leaders in my region thought is best for me to go back to my country and start church there with the mission team going out next year and I was like nope that’s not where my soul says or where God is directing me so no. I refused. We do have to allow the Spirit to give us our own discernment not just follow blindly by leaders so I agree with you hundred on that aspect. Hope it’s all worked out for you! Well done for not falling to them tho! I left after a year and a bit.
Fruit of the spirit that is what bearing fruit means. Paul even stated that he was called to preach the gospel not to baptize. Love never uses force and neither does God.
Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. You do not preach the salvation of Jesus...Jesus' commandment to make disciples was not a means to be saved... Salvation is conviction by the holy spirit after the world of God is preached, Believe in Jesus as Lord, repentance of sin, baptizing of water but most importantly baptizing of spirit. Walk in Righteousness is what we should be pursue but however even with that we are still deemed unrighteous. It is the righteousness of Jesus that we have received that completes our salvation. We are encourage to share this gospel to all ends of the earth but God draw to himself who wants to be saved. that means even if we preached the gospel there are people that will still not be saved. I will encourage you to leave that church and seek after God in truth and spirit. Let the Holy Spirit enlighten you.
Hello, I am so glad you shared this experience. I was never a member but they wanted my boyfriend to get baptised and to break up with me (reason being to see if God really wants us together and disciple shall start off single). They would be so pushy, toxic and clingy. My boyfriend walked away and since then they completely ghosted me. I didn't that they consider their religion as the only right religion to follow - I think we shall respect all religions and have love for each other and that baptism is the only way for salvation. They also target many hurt or struggling people and slowly cut off anyone else who is not in community from their lives. They caused me so much anxiety. Glad it's over and I wish anyone who has ever experienced any emotional abuse from them lot's of love and time to heal
I met a group of guys from the church at my college. We did bible studies, but they were rather lessons than bible STUDIES. And just like you, I felt the pressure of needing to do 3-4 bible studies every week, some at school and others on my days off. However, my school is about an hour drive every day, and those guys live near my school. So whenever I didnt have school, they would want me to take time out of my day to drive all the way to where they live to have the study. Ive tried to compromise with them to see if they can come to my city instead at least a few times, but they literally only did once out of like 15 total studies. I even told them I can take the train (because I go for free as a student and I dont have to waste gas) but one of the guys, who was like their main leader, secondary to their pastor, told me that it wasnt an act of faith. And blamed me for wanting to save gas and money and that I somehow needed to sacrifice these things to show how much I love and would sacrifice for God. Also, on the weekends when i had work and church, they would tell me to call off for work for a study and go to their church instead of the one I was going to with my parents and brothers. They basically wanted me to ditch my church to go to theirs, ditch my family for them, ditch my work for them, and spend hours driving when I already told them I can use the train because I also dont want to risk a car crash cuz i felt a little tired. And they still wanted me to take that risk. I felt more burdened at their studies than I ever felt. They made me feel like I have to quit piano because one of their leaders quit the drums for the LORD (which isnt a bad thing, but if I feel convicted to, then I will temporaliy put the piano on the backburner). There was no compromise for them, it was either my family, work, and friends... or them. And i noticed one thing they all had in common. They all had very rough lives and this church scopped them up when they were at rock bottom, so how can they detour away from the church that technically saved them? I will say however, that my mom has a good eye for cults. I mentioned to her that im doing bible studies with this group. She asked for the name of their church and I said I would find out. I only found out once I actually went to their church (cuz I simply forgot to ask at the studies) and once I mentioned it to my mom, and how they applaided someome on stage for giving an insaneley large amount of money for missions, shes said "Hun, thays a cult". At the time, I was annoyed that she said that cuz I wanted to believe these people are truly God's people, but she was right after all
I recently got approached by two girls with my friend at the gym & it seemed super normal. but since I grew up JW, I am naturally scared to be in a cultish organization again, so I do research. It makes me feel really sad for those who are in it and gathering others to do so as well.
Remember meeting someone once in one of my classes,she seemed pretty nice. But after hanging out awhile with this person, there were red flags. But one day I got curious because I had questions. I discover they had fb pg, & in a nutshell it was confirming what was feeling. I knew I wasn't crazy about the Red Flags or the pressure to be recruited into their supposed church. 🤔
I remember skipping a college class one night in the fall of 1996 just to go to a midweek service of one of these churches with a friend who was in the icoc at the time.
I started joining the Boise State when they got here about five months ago. I was eating lunch at Boise State and they approached me simply because I am blind and I needed help getting around and they used that to entice me to go to their Super Bowl party and then proceeded to ask if I wanted to go to a Bible study to which I said yes but the way that they were phrasing their beliefs raised red flags for me
@@MC-br6qq yes, it was and I will clarify, I’m not against anyone sharing their faith however, I am against using one’s weaknesses as a manipulation tactic has a means of recruitment
I also have noticed that at least when it comes to the campus ministries, they tend to recruit freshman, sophomores and maybe because of their age is it that they are more susceptible to manipulation and if so, is there any way of that I can help those people not be trapped into an organization in which Leaders seem to be the voice of God
I was in an AoG "ministry" and it sounds so much like this. I was pressured so hard by my small group leader who called me a "friend" (which I'm using real loosely here) to get baptized and I was spiritually manipulated and pressured to do so. They gaslight you to give up your education and future to "follow the Lord" so the pastors can leech off of you and control you. The members walk around the first few weeks of school to go out and recruit and love bomb people that are alone and vulnerable, which is mostly freshman. They will pretend to be your friend and do things like take you out to coffee and pay for it to gain your trust so that you're likelier to join the cult. It's quite disturbing how these losers are going out of their way to destroy people's careers under the guise of "joining God's kingdom" just so they don't need an honest job to pay their bills
I went through a similar situation with mormons. I’m not mormon nor have I ever been. I was born and raised Catholic then switched to Christianity (non denominational). The mormons were so persistent on doing bible studies and getting me baptized and I felt empty and pressured throughout the whole thing. I’ve been happier since I left but they kept calling me for months and showed up to my house 3 weeks in a row. I still have a relationship with God at my own pace.
Early 1990s in NYC- single parents being called out when unable to attend a Sunday service after the city was shut down because of extremely heavy snow storm. True story. Leader apologized, and continued demanding the impossible from certain members.
I always tell myself that we may not be the only ones to be saved but all I know is we are in the truth and I am happy to find what many are still looking for . I’m a member of icoc ( africa/ Congo ) and my Life changes since I know God
It's sad that you have to keep that to yourself, your true heart and conviction. This church is so fragmented in and of itself, then somehow believes that all the breakOff portions of it are not the same church. I refuse to place membership in any of these sects, because our Abba put it on my heart to insist upon unification, especially with the churches that teach the same doctrine on salvation, then work toward unity with other fellowships. So far, they see only differences and behave as they have the monopoly on the truth, rather than learn from one another. We need to be prayer warriors as we need a fellowship, yet shouldn't settle for anything less than one obeying the Word over complying with leadership calling us to obey them, since according to them, obeying them is the same as obeying God. 😳
Christianity is not a cult but I'm sorry about what you been through but pls don't lose your faith in God. We are saved because of wnat Jesus has done. Also a disciple is simply a Christian who follow Christ but I do know they put too much emphasis on discipleship and baptism
Thank you so much for this video I was studying the Bible with them and I felt weird with their doctrine and everything you’re saying they said to me 🤦♀️ please be careful
Hey Ellie, thanks for sharing this powerful testimony! We are saved by grace🙌🙌🙌 I'm going trough this right now. But my story is a little different. I did like 3 or 4 bible studies with them and when we got to the baptism part I knew that there was something wrong. So I challenged them thanks to the discernment of the holy spirit. And now we are just having discussions and I'm trying to open some of their eyes so they don't keep suffering that manipulation of the cult.
ICC and ICOC shares some similiarities because of shared history and a previous leader named Kip Mckean who was the "world leader" at ICOC. He was asked to leave ICOC as an effort for repentance from control methods has been made, and he went on to found ICC. Leading to some real similarities especially terminology. And some very real differences IE belief in a single church for salvation. @@avabartels7180
I was there... happy to be saved but suffocating after 1.5 yrs I ran out. So did most of my friends. They do try to get control over ur life & become ur holy spirit, parents, boss... it's gross. I'm so much freer & happier with Christ. No more jumping 100 hoops just to get baptized.
The ICOC didn't always make people jump through hoops to get baptized. At some point this changed and people were required to "do the studies." They were also usually expected to attend church consistently before they could be considered for baptism. This is now changing again, and many are no longer making these things requirements. As for the ICC who can say?
When one of the friends I made through them leaved them, they “prophesied” bad things on her and her child (they really said quote on quote “I’m prophesing bad things on you and your child) and honestly they we’re really rude on her and her child, cause the child would be born out of mariage. LIKE ??? I WAS SO ANGRY WITH THEM. SAYING THAT TO A PREGNANT WOMAN???
Seems like the Henry Kriete 2003 Letter did very little to discourage the manipulative, rigid, and formulaic discipleship methods of the IOCC or new ICC.
My dad was in this cult! That's how he met my mom and had me. They're divorced now and I'm an atheist. 😅 But both parents weren't pushy at all about us all going to Church. When we did though, the kids were so sweet. My older sister had a much worse time there.
I was going through this in college. They seemed like good friends but they were weird like forcing religion down my throat. What you are describing Is what I saw to a T. But I was 25 years old and my main objective was to graduate. I just stopped hanging out with them because I thought worrying if they were really my friends or not started to get distracting. The main guy kept calling themselves disciples of Jesus just like your situation. I didn’t think cult though because I didn’t know what a cult actually was back then.
I'd really like to know what scriptures she used to make her points to you. Especially that pressure one. Thank God for your discernment and for trusting the adults that you know have knowledge of the one, true God.
My discipler teaches me the same things and also showed me scriptures and I would like to show you them. But forgot them. I do believe the “if your not a disciple, your not a Christian” part. Which I found in Matthew 28: 18-20, Acts 11: 19-26.
Also the “Christianity is a cult and not all cults are bad” part, was also explained to me with scriptures. And I understood that Christianity started as a cult but I didn’t understand that Christianity is a cult. So I told her that and she told me to just forget about it.
I will say this much the disciple part you have misunderstood. Because a disciple isn't some one who recruits or brings others to Christ. A disciple is a follower/student. The person spreading the gospel is called an evangelist or a missionary. Which isn't what they are doing what they are doing is outreach because they are not necessarily spreading the gospel they are more spreading they're group. But I have to tell you as a Christian although evangelism isn't what you do to get saved a true Christian is known by their fruit. And Romans 1 says, "none are without excuse" that means it's on us to make sure they about the gospel not to save our selves but because we love Christ because we are to be the light of the world. But you don't have to travel the world but you can still tell it to your friends in a LOVING non manipulative way. You can a spreader of truth by Standing against sin. When people ask do support adultery say no.
The LCOC was the same in London with all the things described in this video. I was 16 at the time and very impressionable. Looking back 35 years later I'm glad I cut contact with them. I started going to my local church instead and wasn't made to feel guilty about how much I put in the collection plate anymore. I was made to feel guilty at the LCOC if I put in less than £20.
Should people not defend themselves? Is that the kind of behavior you would advocate for yourself? I don't really understand this stance. Seems like a "damned if you do damned if you don't" kind've stance from you. Admittedly Jesus didn't defend himself against false accusations. Yet, Paul did and it seems an application of wisdom when to do so. @@elaniece
The police need to look into london international church….. they target vulnerable people …. They couldn’t do it with me because I’m a grown adult. They prefer to target university students who are away from their family, broke or lonely
I have a scripture I wanted to share with you. It describes the church you're talking about in a nutshell. Some people call this scripture the jewel in the gospels & I agree ! Mark 8:34-38 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. Verse 35 is the key verse & describes the commitment a person makes to be a disciple of Jesus. We all have/had worldly dreams about what we were doing with our lives. We all have an agenda, desires, ambitions, goals, plans. But Jesus says we are to give up our earthly life & live for him. He has to be our Lord! He says we are to lose our earthly life for him. He also says we do it for the gospel; meaning proclaim the gospel. Being a fisher of men, seeking & saving the lost, making disciples. We help others out of the world & repent of their sin. We still have dreams & plans, but the will of God becomes first place. This is the commitment we make to God. Verses 36, 37 show it's a matter of salvation! This whole passage shows characteristics of being a disciple of Jesus. For example; denying self, carrying your cross & following Jesus. Being his disciple is the most Noble life anyone could ever live! You have become a minister of reconciliation & an ambassador of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:1- 6:18 It's the greatest adventure & when you die; you get to be with God for eternity! It's the greatest joy, peace & meaning anyone could ever experience ! ! !
I dated a woman in this cult she tried to pull me in ….i tried to educate her on the word but this cult is strong I eventually realized I had to move on I went to a few functions and I just couldn’t believe it …. I’m African American and so was she I’m still a little mystified how this young black woman got into this phillipono cult where they literally uplift a deadman and living Philippine men she never met smh
I was in leadership in the ICC, but I'm no longer with them. She didnt want you to leave because leadership is basically abused with the Bible when people leave. Even the pastor can lose his position due to dwindling numbers, and lack of meating their rediculas donation numbers. So they get pretty desperate from time to time.
@@bd5253 you can't do much, sadly. Your brother will say you are wrong about the icc being a cult. The same thing happened with my mom. She warned me from the beginning, but I didn't listen. It took me almost 3 years later to leave after she told me the red flags. He will have to find out on his own time just like most people do.
@@MC-br6qq that is true. Usually you can do something while they are still in the study phase. like show a few videos on youtube of people who have left, articles on the topic of the icc / icoc, and have them look up kip mckean's Audits.
@@Mr_E_Ninja. you can do that, but he might show the people in the church those videos and links you sent him and they will tell him those are lies and the people that made those videos and articles were bitter.
They got me on my first day of campus while with my girlfriend and they asked “do you wanna study the Bible” and me and my girlfriend were like yeah that would be awesome eventually a couple weeeks later during a study they made me and my girlfriend confess all of our sins when we had a bible study and for one I felt super uncomfortable and my girlfriend did as we. THEN THEY TOLD ME TO BREAK UP WITH MY GIRLFRIEND AND TO SEPERATE FROM MY FAMILY LIKE WTAF
Good Lord. The intro studies they did with you sound INSANE. My old group wouldn't dare associate with the word "cult" at all. ICC/ICOC/Splinter tactics just keep getting worse and worse. Thank you for sharing and I am glad you are out!
What got me out of this group was the fact that my wife would come home from women's bible talk in tears, and the fact that they would keep score on everything I did when I made mistakes. I would get harassing phone calls because I couldn't attend a 'meeting of the body' and I made providing for my family and doing my job a priority and sometimes I missed church. I was encouraged multiple times to quit my job. I'm sorry. I'm a MAN and a man provides for his family. I got out, glad I did, and now I'm in a church where I am following God and not following people.
This is an absolute lie 😂😂😂 no church says this 😂
Coming home from Bible Talks in tears....I can definitely relate to that. Looking back, I think they were sadistic. They enjoyed hurting certain people. Some of the people were downright MEAN! What a representation of Christ! How were you supposed to support your family if you quit your job? How were you supposed to pay tithes and give in the offerings?
Exactly
@@tkbaku3036 they actually do this and worse things. Bottom line: diminishing people's actual experience, instead of calling these brothers and sisters to repentance is unnecessarily harmful.
@@tkbaku3036 Literally yes they do. Open your eyes to the truth. Me and my friend had the exact same thing happen to us.
So proud of you girl. Thank GOD He never changes and had His hand on you always. This could have been so traumatizing to your faith.. so sad to see people who “claim Christianity” twist up the image and act a mess like this. You’re so strong. Thank you for sharing !
This group is literally everywhere. I joined in 2018 and then left in 2019. I related to almost everything you mentioned. They are so manipulative and they really want you to make their church your priority. Thank you for sharing your story. I’m confident it’s helping others to avoid getting involved or have the courage to leave! ❤
Matthew 6:33
Look up the translation/meaning of “kingdom” and you’ll find it doesn’t mean the icoc. It means God’s reign. God’s righteousness is what we got when we believed and responded to Jesus death and resurrection.
Thank God I almost could've gotten baptized if i continued to do bible studies but I'm glad I didn't
@@StephenTracyStillingright what they don’t want to say is that what they mean when they refer to “the kingdom” is the ICOC.
The reason why you feel that they want to you to make the church your priority is because they want you to stay experiencing that relationship with you to be your energy to do your trivial things daily. If you feel like they are forcing you they are doing so without knowing. You could open up to them and let them know your feeling. This the reason why so many christians have problem because they are afraid to communicate and have misunderstandings later on. Simply open up. I have been in their group and I have experience personal wounds and family separation but I can say those were misunderstandings. What I have gone through I am reaping and helping my family which they once opposed now they are so grateful. Please open up
Glad the time you spent with them was brief. I was in one of their churches for 5 years and left almost 5 years ago. Still working through the complex trauma.
"Seek wise counsel." What you did was completely correct. And it served you well. The devil works hard and the devilish work is in the details.
I give thanks to God that I left. The Lord called me away from this cult and I encourage anybody that is in the ICC or wanting to join to reconsider their commitment.
This is exactly what happened to me. I felt a lot of anxiety and pressure. They had a problem with me working a lot (I work at a hospital, we don’t close). They accused me of idolizing my work. They pressured me to get baptized and my best friend even came from hours away for this baptism that I didn’t agree to yet . It was absolutely too much. I prayed about it and now I’m apart of a different wonderful church. God literally saved me from this place.
Thank you for sharing. I used to be a member of this cult. What got me out was when our D Group leader brought up a chart and forecasted how many invited guests go to bible study > get baptized > and then fall away. It was like a network marketing model of recruitment. Apart from the recruitment, they also asked for our payslips so they can monitor what 10% after-tax can be our tithe. This cult created wounds that until now haven't healed in our lives. Even if you hate someone, do not let them join this church. It's bad news!!!
I can’t believe they used the chart thing on you too!!
Payslips!! Wow that sounds crazy
@@elaniece yup and tithes are different from offerings which are quite regular and all preaching sermons focus on the Great Commission, which was an excuse for recruitment.
@@elaniece we were being groomed for leadership, hence the charting tool and forecasting so our sector can contribute to the growth of the church. We joined the ICOC in Manila way back in 1995. If I can only take back the time, I would have never acquiesced to my wife who was invited to this church back then. I hope anyone who got victimized by this cult eventually finds their healing.
I hear you. The impact is severe. But please continue to lean into God (not the church). Healing will come.
They made me do 6am calls!!!😭😭😭 I was so drained!!
I just got baptized in their church and by Gods grace this video encouraged me to speak to them on how inwould not commit to their studies it is pressuring
Whatever you do, I pray that you may "own" your relationship with God and let nobody think on your behalf. God is mighty to save.
May the Mercy of God give you a safe way out and provide you a church where you can truly heal and grow❤🙏
RUNNNNNN!!!!!
Thank you everyone for kindness.. I havent spoken to any of the church members but it taught me to really read my bible first before joining these churches so that i wont be swayed
....I was actually baptized into this church. They got me like on my first day on campus and I was so new to college life. After two years...my aunt died in Brooklyn and they took me aside and DISFELLOWSHIPPED ME AND TOLD ME NOT TO COME BACK!!! Can you believe that? When I stopped going to church (because they told me to stop coming) they saw me in school and said that I was gonna die and go to hell any day. That was 20 years ago. Glad you got out
They disfellowshipped you because your aunt died?
Me too they stopped studies with me and said I wasted their time because I had transportation issues. It was sketchy and made me uncomfortable
I mean anything is possible. But that makes no sense. They likely did this on the basis of either some sin or some perceived sin. Not because someone's aunt died.
@@nduduzogasa5289
@@west4Bmovement Yes. They were notorious for that kind of behavior.
What reason did they give you for disfellowshipping you? Was it because you went to spend time with your family after your aunt passed? Just curious. I’m not trying to make excuses for them. I’m a former member. I was disfellowshipped for some appropriate reasons, but without prior notice. I was in the fellowship at the time this was done. Not the best way.
I went to a bible study group in college the first semester of my freshmen year that was like this. This girl who was assigned to recruit me would drive me everywhere and get me free food. I admittedly took advantage of this. I eventually stopped going to the group when they started asking me to commit more time to them because it was getting weird. Now they look at me like I’m the devil if I see them on campus😂😂
That’s what i’m scared of cuz i see them so much on campus 😭
No goofy 😂 they look at u like a damn mooch, u use ppl. That’s literally manipulating 😂
@@tkbaku3036 putting people down in every one of your comments 100% validates their claims of how ungodly and mean people in these groups are to others. Christ calls us to love one another the way He loves us, and that they will know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another. They were not shown love while in the fellowship, and are being mistreated by you and others after leaving due to false motives and abuse. Our Abba teaches that how we treat others is how we are treating Him.
Repent, Bro, or you're in for a Matthew 7:21-23 fate.
😂
@@kehaulani1467 @tkbaku3036 is not talking as pro for these "groups" s/he is being objective about this situation. OP was being a mooch, she said she admitted to taking advantage of the person.
I love how we did all the studying, recruiting, loving, and hangin out. But when it was time to "count the cost" here come the leaders studying with them, and baptizing them acting like they'd been there with us the whole time. Smh. They were such ego tripping glory hogs, I swear. But in their defense the congregation put them on those pedestals, so They would do anything for a leader. They say "jump" and a member would say "how high" But try to get anyone to help *you* with anything like a good disciple should, your outta luck lol!
It was the relationships I had in there that kept me for so long, but enough was enough after 13 years in. The abuse was rampant.
Thanks for sharing. I joined ICOC in 1988. So much of what you said resonates. I feel so sad that they still practice methods of coercion 34 years later. Much of the teaching helped me grow as a Christian but there wasn’t enough depth. They firmly believed they had a ‘monopoly’ on the truth. That’s a dangerous stance. Happy to say I’ve moved on since leaving, healed and grown. I hope you will go forward in faith and continue to build YOUR relationship with God.
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Hey, no offense it seems like she's talking about the ICC. I could be wrong. Back in 88 what methods did you experience?
What is ICC
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
@@Lotterywinnerifyit’s a direct stem from ICOC
When I went to this church I gelt constant pressure and anxiety. They made me feel as if I was neve ready in christ. It became so exhausting that I had to finally quit.
Been there done that. Im happy that I left. The worse part is they come on campus and hunt after college students. I have not talked to them in 4 years.
wow so this happened to you too?
@@elaniece yes ofcourse. Biggest mistake of my life.
ICOC?
ICOC?
ICC
You done the right thing Ellie.I was a member of the church and I notice a lot things that weren’t right in the church.And my friends was telling me to leave the church and I didn’t.I notice how I was being mistreated by the people who I thought were my friends but wasn’t.Because there was rumors going around about me that wasn’t really true. I left the church after the changes began .Thank you for sharing Ellie.
So proud of you !
@@elaniece Thank you
@@allenpratt6976 I'm sorry that you were slandered. The longer you remain in this fellowship, the more trauma you experience. I've been in too long.
Our Abba has taken me on a glorious spiritual journey since being baptized 33-years ago.
Many of us stayedAway to preserve our relationship with our Most High. I learned that we need a fellowship that teaches the truth and lives out Loving our Abba, Christ and one another.
Conversions in scripture took 1-day (those who were raised Hebrew) to 3-days (gentiles). Christ, His apostles and disciples taught that Christ IS the fulfillment of Moses and the Law, and of the Prophets, and that our sin put Him on the cross. Therefore, repent (turn from sin) and be baptized (participate in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ) for the forgiveness of sins and receipt of Abba's Holy Spirit. THEN, learn to obey all that Christ commands and do the same for others. Baptism is our reBirth into our spiritual family, the remainder is a life-long process of deepening our Love for our Most High, Christ, one another and of ourselves; of growth, development, Spirit-led adventure, and many more wondrous everyday experiences.
Baptism here becomes the process, and throws off the balance and intent of the Word. This group, like most Christian churches are rooted in some way, shape or form to the Roman Catholic church, which has its origins in the marriage of biblical concepts with paganism.
We need to return to the Word, understand its Hebrew origins (the word Hebrew literally translates to "those from beyond") from believers familiar with all that entails (raised in a Hebrew background v. a eurocentric one), then we will flourish as our Abba intended.
Keep it pure and true, then He will work powerfully through us.
They wanted me to stay over at a home friday, saturday and go church on sunday. I backed out as i just didnt feel like i knew them thst well. When asked about being restored they stated well we not sure if youll stay. So we will need to slowly keep studying with you. That pushed me away. Yes. She told me to as well that i was not showing commitment enough. Just after i had travelled two hours to go church. You speak with truth.
thank you for sharing! people need to hear about this!
@@elaniece your most welcome. Put your trust in Jesus christ not a church. People may be friendly but your love has to flow with forgiveness towards yourself too.
I had a similar experience. Sorry this happened. Definitely avoid these types of group at all costs
I was part of this group for four years. The best day of my life is when I got out. I read the Henry Kriete letter and I'll tell you what. It opened my eyes and made me realize I was in the wrong spot.
What letter is this. My son is in this group and the more I find out, I’m getting worried
@@andreamcateer8489 just look up Henry kriete
Hi. I need to get my brother out. What can I do? Please help. I'm so scared for him
@@bd5253 Talk to him. Show him information. But most importantly be honest with him and be truthful about your concerns. And most important pray for him. Let God do your fighting for you and hope he can see things.
@@bd5253 I tried to talk to my son but he disagreed so I focused on praying for God to reveal to him if this church was ok. So, pray! And is there an old pastor, youth pastor, someone he respects who isn’t family, to guide him, talk to him? I found it’s easier to listen to someone who isn’t family
Hmm sounds like the shenanigans of the ICC/ICOC to me...
Indeed
100% I actually found this video because I was looking for ICC/ICOC content. I'm a survivor of that cult, got out when I was 16, have been out for 18 years, and periodically become curious what those clowns are up to to warn people!
@@taylorrobvi me too was in for nine years
@@justlifewithzaria8429 hey congratulations on getting free! I hope your journey since has brought a lot of healing. ♥️♥️
@@taylorrobvi I was pretty close to joining them last year. Thank fuck I pulled out before it was too late. I was invited by my junior at work, and went a few times. I was 'love-bombed' by the people in that church. They were really nice, and it genuinely felt like they wanted to be my friends lol.
I attended this incredibly cringeworthy 'devotional' where the lead church intern (they don't have pastors there, so strange) basically said that anyone who even attempted to date outside the church was going to be ostracized. And I thought, what the fuck, this church is 70% dudes (not that I mind), and unless this church was open to LGBT relationships, and surprise surprise they aren't, there are going to be a LOT of lonely virgins in this church. And surprise surprise.
When I expressed my dis-intention to join their church, it became as though I never existed! I was a bit cut, because I genuinely wanted to remain friends with the people I met during my very short time joining their 'devotionals'. But I guess dissent is not tolerated even a little bit.
It was a wild ride, but thanks for hearing me out if you made it this far lol!
Too bad more young women don't think as clearly as you do. God bless you, girl!
Our stories are so alike! Even about the discussions and defining the word "cult" (though she had a different approach than yours) and all that. I'm telling ya (and you know it already), these "recruiters" all are trained and are brainwashed to teach the same stuff to people.
Came across this video in my research on the ICC. Long story short, I was recently approached by someone on my college campus, invited out to Bible Talks, and all that jazz. I have been Christian for many, many years, so when they got on the Bible study of "discipleship," all the red flags that were there from the start began to become very clear to me. I decided to ask the woman what the name of her church is (it's the ICC), and I decided to research it. So glad I did, because now I know I'm definitely not going to have anything more to do with her or her church or the other members of it. Glad I got out way before the thought even could come to their mind about trying to get me to be an official member. I found them out real quick and got out real fast.
Baptism is their biggest red flag lol the fact they think we need a 7 hour bible study course to salvation 🤦🏻♀️
I was shocked to see this! Thanks for sharing your story :)
And it’s not our “choice” to be a disciple, God makes you do it! After seeing Jesus it’s literally His Will in our lives, not our own.
wow thank you for this! I really was fooled!
@@elaniece God loves you! He definitely protected you :)
This is not scripture !! What the heck is wrong with u guys ? U sound like a cult ! It is 100% our decision …. This is satanic behaviour and do NOT advise this little girl
@@tkbaku3036 lol you’re weird! Looks like you are one of those ICC weirdos? Repent and let god show you his path. Don’t do things in your own understanding! Baptism is not salvation. You should be born in spirit first.
Please read my reply to understand why a Bible study is necessary. Your statement above completely contradicts the Bible. For this reason, we study so we are able to understand God's perspective.
My cousin left about 4 years ago and she has shown many signs of ptsd basically. Everytime she hears the words “discouraging” “fired up” or “come on bro/sis.” She literally zones out and apologizes so much. Our family knows about it. She was so kind and loving now she is depressed and always looking over her shoulder. Apperantly they broke her spirit she was such an extrovert, loud, always dress to impressed. But she was told to become humble, soft spoken, and dress appropriately. Mind you there inappropriate dressing was her in jean shorts with a spaghetti strapped shirt on a hot day. I miss her crazy antics but I’m glad she left and Healing. She is still afraid of going to a church but she is in therapy.
Their is a different between preaching and recruiting people and convincing people to stay
Ok but they also bluntly told me that Christianity was a cult 🤣
@@elaniece yeah Ik 😂 I’m just saying that theirs a difference and that’s how u can spot it right away (that it’s a cult) 😅 hope that makes sense
@@elaniece as someone who is thinking about re joining and is skeptical about it still. They told me it's a cult in my first bible study.
@@chelseaap in the first bible study?!!
@@chelseaap how are you? Did you re-join?
Yes, they convinced me to leave my full time permanent job, to can join them meetings.
what! I can't believe this
@@elaniece Yes, but today was the end.
They’re everywhere UK, FRANCE, Belgium,The Netherlands, Ukraines, EVERYWHERE. And they target students on campuses under the cover of “bible talks” in groups and after that they take you to do a study, with just one person.
Just want to clarify something for the sake of using terms correctly. A disciple is simply a student. If you study the Bible, you are automatically a disciple of the word of God. Everyone who decides to follow the teachings of Jesus is automatically a disciple or student of Christ. As followers of Christ, we are commanded to go and teach others the words of Christ which means that we are instructed to make disciples as Mat. 28:19-20 commands us to do. Btw, I’m not part of any church denomination or church organization. I’m simply a disciple of Christ who strives to live according to his teachings.
She’s speaking of an experience. Not sure about other ICC but the one local to me teaches in the very first study that you HAVE to be a disciple to be saved and you can only be baptized and saved if you are a disciple. Yes your definition is true but it’s more of the false doctrine that apparently a lot of ICC locations teach
Omg I read the title and I clicked on the video straight away 😂
Hate your parents and friends? Jesus/Yaweh doesn’t teach that. Your suppose to love and forgive no matter what and pray for people. Wow, someone came up to me in the mall the other day. I told her I had to watch who I receive the word of God from! Discernment is sooo important. Wow.
Luke 14:26
Uhm ... Jesus says to hate your family. Not literally as in hate then and wanna kill em. As in hate their sins. Love Jesus to the point where it seems AS IF you hate them. You people who judge don't know the Bible. Fakes.
in Greek, Hate means to love someone less and yes, in the bow he writes that you should hate everyone except God, that is, you should love God more than everyone else. if it was written in the bible to hate it, it would be contrary to the commandment that you need to honor your mother and father
Yeah, the shock in my mind, when I realized that the FOCUS in the Bible studies was ME.
*this girl at my school keeps talking to me and complimenting me. then she starts asking me if we should study the Bible. I decline so she tries to invite me to her Friday night Bible study at her church. she tells me that her church is ICC and they want her to recruit more "young people." something felt very off when she would tell me stuff like this and it sounded very cultish. however, I didn't think a Christian Church could actually be a cult. this video and the cult accusations makes a lot of sense..*
Run 🏃♀️
Thanks for sharing. I watched the whole video. I was involved in this church and was ultimately kicked out. They are legalistic and not compassionate. I saw bullies who would take over the Bible Talks from people who weren't as aggressive. It bothered me. I saw people who had to be in the middle of everything.
Returned to Love, our Abba is separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff.
Sadly, the leader of this group is unrepentant, and was actually disfellowshipped or loosed in accordance with scripture.
He calls people to follow him over our Abba, which is idolatry. He praises leaders who follow him over the Word and who call the members in their respective "flocks" to do the same, while tossing out, then publicly shaming and defaming all appointed leaders who follow the Word and call him to repentance.
All those who follow in the footsteps of a Biblically marked man who calls himself "God's Man" will suffer his same fate. If you were thrown out of a place like that, then you must be doing something right in the eyes of the One who matters. I pray you find peace and fulfillment and freedom under Christ's light yoke.
Wow… this is super eye-opening! The fact that your story is almost like mine is INSANE. I was a part of the ICC in my city for about a year…and came
across some members recently, attended service on a whim, and now they want me to study again.. But I grew up knowing that I don’t necessarily need to be apart of a “church” to worship God with my whole heart. And now it’s like… they want me to be restored? But I just already baptized last year, so I just… don’t feel comfortable anymore.
if you get any feeling that this something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't! that is God telling you right there!
What is ICC?
One thing about them too is that they expect you to have so much free time even offering to pick up my little sister from schools and take them to their after school activities knowing my parents aren’t okay with that. It’s so pressuring and I know being a Christian means stepping outside your comfort zone but bro this was sum else fr
Stand your ground, seriously be kind about it and I was apart of this cult to. No means no and what if your little sister doesn’t do it hat they want them to do, is she going to hell? No but that’s what they think
You did well in how you responded to that lady. It's obvious that you're a critical thinker and you have discernment
(LOOK AT EDIT BELOW) Hey Ellie, I just had a very similar situation about 2 months ago. These guys came up to my friends and I (they already met 2 of them) and asked me if I wanted to be in a bible study, so I gave them my number and we met for bible studies; I was looking forward to it cuz I’m a freshman and wanted to find more Christians on campus where we can both encourage one another, and grow together. First bible study we each gave out testimonies and sin that we struggled with, and I did the same thing. They then seemed to cover very basic concepts on what it means to become a disciple and all that. It started to get fishy from there, because they would always ask “are you willing to let us pierce your heart with the gospel” (from Hebrews 4). And they still covered basic topics, but it seemed rather shallow. One of them then referenced how “the truth” shall set you free (John 8:32) but then proceeded to tell me how I didn’t know the truth and how I wasn’t ready for it, which was super sketchy. As a Baptist, I knew something was up from that moment, since I had accepted Christ and repented of my sins, and AFTER THAT I got baptized cuz I understood what it meant. I then had a discussion with one of the leaders on his views to really uncover the truth (I already researched their doctrine) and that’s when we debated on the meaning of baptism being a symbolic act vs necessary for salvation. We got nowhere after an hour and he called it off. The final meeting I had was with the guy that was meeting with me, and I started to challenge him, which is when someone else took over for him, since my guy was inexperienced. We had an hour long bible study and then another hour long discussion. At the end of the meeting, I asked the more experienced guy if by their study I was unsaved (from the hate your parents study, which I failed 2/5 of the categories they set up for me on being a ‘disciple’). He replied according to the Bible, no. That’s when I knew I was done with them, since I was already so emotionally drained from the month that I was meeting up with them. So many countless times I was feeling distressed and I had contacted other strong Christians on these views that I was being manipulated to believe, from some of my leaders in church to people in my family like my aunt and parents. They reassured me on our belief, and helped me with scripture that secured salvation by faith through grace (such as Ephesians 2:8-9). The emotional strain on me was great when dealing with them, especially because I felt like I was alone whenever I meet up with 2+ of them at a time. A friend helped me remember that even in the difficulties, the Lord will never leave us or forsake us, and will give us the courage to speak truth in hard circumstances. However, I give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, because since meeting them, I was able to reinforce what I already believed from my Baptist views. It has been difficult to fully forgive them, and that’ll be a process that the Lord God has been working on me to do so. It brought me so much comfort to remember that the ONLY reason I was saved was because of Jesus’ blood on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins. If you would like verses to refute their false doctrine, I’d be more than willing to give them to you. Many blessings to you!!
(EDIT: So a few things happened over the last year. And, yeah…. Baptism saves because it’s something Christ does to us. So not like these cultists of the ICC, but like the historic Christian position.)
Hello I’m interested in those scriptures! I’m currently apart of the ICC and I can’t totally feel you on the emotional strain part!
Could I get your Instagram to dm you?
@@xicannnstephon_r10 do text me for the Scriptures. :)
If you’ve accepted what Jesus did for you on the Cross and believe he resurrected you don’t have a “sinful nature”. It was the translators of the old NIV who put this incorrect translation in there. Dr. Andrew Farley convinced them of this hurtful mistranslation. The new and corrected NIV version now says “flesh”. Please study out what Jesus did to you as a new creation. We’re tempted to sin as Christians, not because we have a sinful nature. We have God’s heart and his Spirit which means His desires. We now just need daily mind renewal which the Apostle Paul talks a lot about. Nowhere in the NT will you find them saying a Christian needs a new heart. We are saved and He will never leave us! His Spirit is a deposit for our souls! THIS is the Good News that was preached in the first century!
Thank you for sharing your experiences. That sounds like what I had to go through the past two years 😭 People who haven’t experienced this… don’t know how hurtful, isolating and traumatic it can be. It made me almost lose my faith and my life in Jesus altogether. It really is the grace of God we could leave those kind of cultish-groups! I felt less alone reading your comment! 😭🩵
You dodged a bullet! Thank goodness you have Godly people in your life! I wasn’t so lucky, I was with this cult for 25 years! They completely take the scriptures out of context!
Could I get in touch with you? I'd like to know more about them, I was nearly recruited, did the seeking God study too
Hey,can we talk further pls?I got in touch with them not long ago and I have this strange feeling
this group is literally everywhere! I was approached by these people while in a bookstore at the mall and a couple of women asked me if I was interested in bible studies and talked about info about this church. it was so weird cause after I got done talking with them, they were praying and holding hands in the middle of the bookstore. fortunately, they did not contact me further after this interaction.
Anytime someone tries to tell you to go against your own family then they are not to be trusted. Those people were isolating you and trying to get you to depend on them financially. They knew once you quit school and your job that you would have needed their help. Creepy stuff.
How could you depend on them financially when they expect you to pay 10% of your income every week? 😂 honest question. They make you pay for your salvation.
The LICC only alow you to use Niv version during Bible studies. Niv has over 64.000 missing words and unbiblical things added to it.
When I was a member back in the mid '90s (LA Church of Christ) they mocked the KJV as the Bible with the "thees and thous and archaic English that no one speaks in this day and age." Yeah, very Christian-like huh? smh
This!!!
So right!
I remember their "Light and Darkness" study. I'm not sure if they still call it this(I left in 87), but it scared the crap put of me. It took a few years after leaving to recover from my experience.
Brotha, they did that too me!!!! They kept saying my baptism was invalid because of my doctrine!!!! Which is a bunch of baloney, they made me question my faith and salvation and to be honest it all felt very weird, I knew it was weird and I stood firm in my faith and basically told them “ I am a disciple” I know God knows that I am a “disciple” and I basically told them too stop and they go around asking people for Bible studies and those dudes aren’t even students at my college. They kept telling me that I was in darkness and won’t inherit the kingdom of heaven because of my doctrine, and yes they are wrong teachings they take them into their context and apply them to whatever they want too, bunch of suckas. Wanting me to leave my church and people to join their cult
The ICC is NOT the same as the ICOC. The previous leader of the ICOC was kicked out and then FORMED the ICC. God is NOT the church, my dad tells me this all the time.
It’s a come and go church. I joined in 2014 and did they really mentally abuse me. I joined on the campus of UCLA and attended their church then. Their pastor was extremely radical and vile. I felt like all they did was attack me personally constantly as a Native American coming from the Navajo Nation. So one day I got tired of it and said things to the pastor. I left and never went back into it. Today, I’m now just a freethinker and hope people will be extremely careful with this church. It is a insane asylum. Best!
My friend is in this cult and tried to bring me in but I saw the red flags and my common sense questioned the leader which her response was did you Google the church? I didn’t but now I am and boy my common sense was factual.
this is crazy. thanks for your story. I left a cult like church recently and its hard stuff
I nearly joined ICC last summer. I rededicated my life to Christ and asked God to bring people in my life that would lead me closer to him. I thought those people were the people that he put in my life. However, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to not go to my local ICC anymore because of their teachings. The main thing that they taught me was that accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior “wasn’t” the way to heaven. I knew that was a flat out lie because the Holy Spirit tugged on my heart and called me to salvation and I gave my life to Christ as soon as he did that. I was told by my local women’s ministry leader that I “wasn’t” a Christian because of that. Also, my local women’s ministry leader told me to give up relationships with people that weren’t “disciples.” She told me to stop going to stop being apart of other churches as well. I had other people joining my bible studies as well when I thought that it was only going to be just me and one other girl as well. The girl that did the Bible studies with me originally kept trying to get into my business about why I couldn’t be at their women’s nights and why I couldn’t do morning bible studies with her all the time. Also, that’s when I knew that something was off as well. I have a friend who grew up being apart of the ICOC and just walked away from the cult last year. He’s still a Christian tho. However, he’s just not apart of the cult that he was raised in anymore because he’s always known that they weren’t teaching him the complete truth about Jesus.
Same I wanted to be closer to God but london international church is a cult
Yall are reaching and it’s sad they never taught me that Jesus wasn’t the lord and savior in fact in order to get baptized you state Jesus is lord 😭😭 the reason we push for you to do Bible studies with us and to be in fellowship is because outside influences can keep you from following the commandments and if you do hang with people from outside we urge you to bring them not to cut them off because we should only want others who are disciples in our life who lead a life of god and if they are true disciples and don’t want to be apart of icc and just to visit from time to time their is no shame in that !
Amen, God has given us the spirit of wisdom. I was in denial about London icc for weeks but deep down and when I read the bible it was clear they're a cult. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if those that left their careers for the church are being paid on how many ppl they're indoctrinate. Once you show signs of not getting baptised with them anytime soon they lose interest in you. I don't think all the ppl that attend are bad, in fact I met so many lovely ppl ... My heart breaks for them. There's a reason they are obsessed with campus ministry and young ppl... Easier to manipulate young ppl away from home and financially unstable, maybe lonely too and away from their families.
I agree but the only part I wouldn’t agree is that if we claim to be a Christian because a Christian is a disciple and I mean true Christian’s not lukewarm, we do have a role to play and seek and save the lost that was Jesus mission and that’s what he taught the disciples and after he left they continued to go country to country city to city town to town sharing the gospel of Christ and saved many. It’s a part of our faith to do that, whoever isn’t baring fruit will be cut off (please read matthews 7.) when you finish also read matthews 28 to the end and pay attention to vs 18-20. It’s a command to “GO” and “MAKE” disciples or other true Christian’s. That doesn’t require a church to teach, the bible itself is super clear on that one. Also let the Spirit lead you to where He wants you to go, it maybe that God what’s you to share with people in your area, it be even just sharing with lukewarm friends or atheist friends or friends of other faith; it may be that God wants you in future to go to another country and serve in orphan homes and share Jesus to the children or to homeless places or prisons, God works in different way. The Spirit lead the disciples and therefore they scattered all around the earth and going different places. But God works differently in everyone. I know my calling is to build orphan homes and share the gospel to the children and when they are old enough to decided to believe in Jesus then so be it. But no one should force you of which country to go.
That’s the issue I had, a few of the leaders in my region thought is best for me to go back to my country and start church there with the mission team going out next year and I was like nope that’s not where my soul says or where God is directing me so no. I refused.
We do have to allow the Spirit to give us our own discernment not just follow blindly by leaders so I agree with you hundred on that aspect.
Hope it’s all worked out for you! Well done for not falling to them tho! I left after a year and a bit.
Fruit of the spirit that is what bearing fruit means. Paul even stated that he was called to preach the gospel not to baptize. Love never uses force and neither does God.
Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. You do not preach the salvation of Jesus...Jesus' commandment to make disciples was not a means to be saved... Salvation is conviction by the holy spirit after the world of God is preached, Believe in Jesus as Lord, repentance of sin, baptizing of water but most importantly baptizing of spirit. Walk in Righteousness is what we should be pursue but however even with that we are still deemed unrighteous. It is the righteousness of Jesus that we have received that completes our salvation. We are encourage to share this gospel to all ends of the earth but God draw to himself who wants to be saved. that means even if we preached the gospel there are people that will still not be saved. I will encourage you to leave that church and seek after God in truth and spirit. Let the Holy Spirit enlighten you.
Hello, I am so glad you shared this experience. I was never a member but they wanted my boyfriend to get baptised and to break up with me (reason being to see if God really wants us together and disciple shall start off single). They would be so pushy, toxic and clingy. My boyfriend walked away and since then they completely ghosted me. I didn't that they consider their religion as the only right religion to follow - I think we shall respect all religions and have love for each other and that baptism is the only way for salvation. They also target many hurt or struggling people and slowly cut off anyone else who is not in community from their lives. They caused me so much anxiety. Glad it's over and I wish anyone who has ever experienced any emotional abuse from them lot's of love and time to heal
thank you for sharing! I feel like we had similar experiences, I'm glad we both recognized to get out sooner than later.
Not all religions are the same and don't lead to Yahweh (God)
I met a group of guys from the church at my college. We did bible studies, but they were rather lessons than bible STUDIES. And just like you, I felt the pressure of needing to do 3-4 bible studies every week, some at school and others on my days off. However, my school is about an hour drive every day, and those guys live near my school. So whenever I didnt have school, they would want me to take time out of my day to drive all the way to where they live to have the study. Ive tried to compromise with them to see if they can come to my city instead at least a few times, but they literally only did once out of like 15 total studies. I even told them I can take the train (because I go for free as a student and I dont have to waste gas) but one of the guys, who was like their main leader, secondary to their pastor, told me that it wasnt an act of faith. And blamed me for wanting to save gas and money and that I somehow needed to sacrifice these things to show how much I love and would sacrifice for God.
Also, on the weekends when i had work and church, they would tell me to call off for work for a study and go to their church instead of the one I was going to with my parents and brothers. They basically wanted me to ditch my church to go to theirs, ditch my family for them, ditch my work for them, and spend hours driving when I already told them I can use the train because I also dont want to risk a car crash cuz i felt a little tired. And they still wanted me to take that risk. I felt more burdened at their studies than I ever felt. They made me feel like I have to quit piano because one of their leaders quit the drums for the LORD (which isnt a bad thing, but if I feel convicted to, then I will temporaliy put the piano on the backburner). There was no compromise for them, it was either my family, work, and friends... or them.
And i noticed one thing they all had in common. They all had very rough lives and this church scopped them up when they were at rock bottom, so how can they detour away from the church that technically saved them?
I will say however, that my mom has a good eye for cults. I mentioned to her that im doing bible studies with this group. She asked for the name of their church and I said I would find out. I only found out once I actually went to their church (cuz I simply forgot to ask at the studies) and once I mentioned it to my mom, and how they applaided someome on stage for giving an insaneley large amount of money for missions, shes said "Hun, thays a cult". At the time, I was annoyed that she said that cuz I wanted to believe these people are truly God's people, but she was right after all
I recently got approached by two girls with my friend at the gym & it seemed super normal. but since I grew up JW, I am naturally scared to be in a cultish organization again, so I do research. It makes me feel really sad for those who are in it and gathering others to do so as well.
Remember meeting someone once in one of my classes,she seemed pretty nice. But after hanging out awhile with this person, there were red flags. But one day I got curious because I had questions. I discover they had fb pg, & in a nutshell it was confirming what was feeling. I knew I wasn't crazy about the Red Flags or the pressure to be recruited into their supposed church. 🤔
What is fb pg?
You're so blessed to get out before being indoctrinated.
I remember skipping a college class one night in the fall of 1996 just to go to a midweek service of one of these churches with a friend who was in the icoc at the time.
I started joining the Boise State when they got here about five months ago. I was eating lunch at Boise State and they approached me simply because I am blind and I needed help getting around and they used that to entice me to go to their Super Bowl party and then proceeded to ask if I wanted to go to a Bible study to which I said yes but the way that they were phrasing their beliefs raised red flags for me
Was this the ICC?
@@MC-br6qq yes, it was and I will clarify, I’m not against anyone sharing their faith however, I am against using one’s weaknesses as a manipulation tactic has a means of recruitment
@@brianledezma1922 Same thing happened to me.
I also have noticed that at least when it comes to the campus ministries, they tend to recruit freshman, sophomores and maybe because of their age is it that they are more susceptible to manipulation and if so, is there any way of that I can help those people not be trapped into an organization in which Leaders seem to be the voice of God
I was in an AoG "ministry" and it sounds so much like this. I was pressured so hard by my small group leader who called me a "friend" (which I'm using real loosely here) to get baptized and I was spiritually manipulated and pressured to do so. They gaslight you to give up your education and future to "follow the Lord" so the pastors can leech off of you and control you. The members walk around the first few weeks of school to go out and recruit and love bomb people that are alone and vulnerable, which is mostly freshman. They will pretend to be your friend and do things like take you out to coffee and pay for it to gain your trust so that you're likelier to join the cult. It's quite disturbing how these losers are going out of their way to destroy people's careers under the guise of "joining God's kingdom" just so they don't need an honest job to pay their bills
I went through a similar situation with mormons. I’m not mormon nor have I ever been. I was born and raised Catholic then switched to Christianity (non denominational). The mormons were so persistent on doing bible studies and getting me baptized and I felt empty and pressured throughout the whole thing. I’ve been happier since I left but they kept calling me for months and showed up to my house 3 weeks in a row. I still have a relationship with God at my own pace.
Sounds like an MLM company.
Well done for getting out of it. God bless 🙏🏾
Early 1990s in NYC- single parents being called out when unable to attend a Sunday service after the city was shut down because of extremely heavy snow storm. True story. Leader apologized, and continued demanding the impossible from certain members.
She's not exaggerating.
I always tell myself that we may not be the only ones to be saved but all I know is we are in the truth and I am happy to find what many are still looking for . I’m a member of icoc ( africa/ Congo ) and my Life changes since I know God
It's sad that you have to keep that to yourself, your true heart and conviction. This church is so fragmented in and of itself, then somehow believes that all the breakOff portions of it are not the same church. I refuse to place membership in any of these sects, because our Abba put it on my heart to insist upon unification, especially with the churches that teach the same doctrine on salvation, then work toward unity with other fellowships. So far, they see only differences and behave as they have the monopoly on the truth, rather than learn from one another. We need to be prayer warriors as we need a fellowship, yet shouldn't settle for anything less than one obeying the Word over complying with leadership calling us to obey them, since according to them, obeying them is the same as obeying God. 😳
The fact that they are still recruiting people this way is insane...smh
Christianity is not a cult but I'm sorry about what you been through but pls don't lose your faith in God. We are saved because of wnat Jesus has done. Also a disciple is simply a Christian who follow Christ but I do know they put too much emphasis on discipleship and baptism
Thank you so much for this video I was studying the Bible with them and I felt weird with their doctrine and everything you’re saying they said to me 🤦♀️ please be careful
Hey Ellie, thanks for sharing this powerful testimony! We are saved by grace🙌🙌🙌
I'm going trough this right now. But my story is a little different. I did like 3 or 4 bible studies with them and when we got to the baptism part I knew that there was something wrong. So I challenged them thanks to the discernment of the holy spirit. And now we are just having discussions and I'm trying to open some of their eyes so they don't keep suffering that manipulation of the cult.
Andrew Farley ministries helped me detoxify from their teachings so i could reach the bible how it was meant to be read.
Everyone was my age but they creeped me out! Really cookie cutter! And the guys who were married would always be checking me out!
😮
Very interesting 🧐 I read the Bible tho very very interesting has its mix of drama ,romance,Violence,Love it just really gets deep
Yes, it's the book of life and that is life 🙏🏼✨
I came into contact with a group here in Dallas that reached out to me on campus I wonder if its the same group they kept mentioning discipleship.
It is.
100% is
Fr fr my Icoc recruiters were literally from there
ICC and ICOC shares some similiarities because of shared history and a previous leader named Kip Mckean who was the "world leader" at ICOC. He was asked to leave ICOC as an effort for repentance from control methods has been made, and he went on to found ICC. Leading to some real similarities especially terminology. And some very real differences IE belief in a single church for salvation.
@@avabartels7180
Recruit bka discipleship and making disciples!
Been there, done that, got away! So glad I’m not part of this church anymore!!
This sounds 90% like chosen campus ministry
Thx for sharing!! They almost got me too, unfortunately my friend is still there yikes
They found me at the farmers market lol
People like that definitely have the devil on both their shoulders. Gad you have people in uour life to help you
I was there... happy to be saved but suffocating after 1.5 yrs I ran out. So did most of my friends. They do try to get control over ur life & become ur holy spirit, parents, boss... it's gross. I'm so much freer & happier with Christ. No more jumping 100 hoops just to get baptized.
The ICOC didn't always make people jump through hoops to get baptized. At some point this changed and people were required to "do the studies." They were also usually expected to attend church consistently before they could be considered for baptism. This is now changing again, and many are no longer making these things requirements. As for the ICC who can say?
When one of the friends I made through them leaved them, they “prophesied” bad things on her and her child (they really said quote on quote “I’m prophesing bad things on you and your child) and honestly they we’re really rude on her and her child, cause the child would be born out of mariage.
LIKE ??? I WAS SO ANGRY WITH THEM. SAYING THAT TO A PREGNANT WOMAN???
Seems like the Henry Kriete 2003 Letter did very little to discourage the manipulative, rigid, and formulaic discipleship methods of the IOCC or new ICC.
My dad was in this cult! That's how he met my mom and had me. They're divorced now and I'm an atheist. 😅 But both parents weren't pushy at all about us all going to Church. When we did though, the kids were so sweet. My older sister had a much worse time there.
I was going through this in college. They seemed like good friends but they were weird like forcing religion down my throat. What you are describing Is what I saw to a T. But I was 25 years old and my main objective was to graduate. I just stopped hanging out with them because I thought worrying if they were really my friends or not started to get distracting. The main guy kept calling themselves disciples of Jesus just like your situation. I didn’t think cult though because I didn’t know what a cult actually was back then.
I'd really like to know what scriptures she used to make her points to you. Especially that pressure one.
Thank God for your discernment and for trusting the adults that you know have knowledge of the one, true God.
My discipler teaches me the same things and also showed me scriptures and I would like to show you them. But forgot them. I do believe the “if your not a disciple, your not a Christian” part. Which I found in Matthew 28: 18-20, Acts 11: 19-26.
Also the “Christianity is a cult and not all cults are bad” part, was also explained to me with scriptures. And I understood that Christianity started as a cult but I didn’t understand that Christianity is a cult. So I told her that and she told me to just forget about it.
Yess another storytime 😁😊
I will say this much the disciple part you have misunderstood. Because a disciple isn't some one who recruits or brings others to Christ. A disciple is a follower/student. The person spreading the gospel is called an evangelist or a missionary. Which isn't what they are doing what they are doing is outreach because they are not necessarily spreading the gospel they are more spreading they're group. But I have to tell you as a Christian although evangelism isn't what you do to get saved a true Christian is known by their fruit. And Romans 1 says, "none are without excuse" that means it's on us to make sure they about the gospel not to save our selves but because we love Christ because we are to be the light of the world. But you don't have to travel the world but you can still tell it to your friends in a LOVING non manipulative way. You can a spreader of truth by Standing against sin. When people ask do support adultery say no.
I went to the philly church of christ. I left in 2003, not long after Kip Mckean stepped down.
You are just fulfilling the scriptures🙏
The LCOC was the same in London with all the things described in this video. I was 16 at the time and very impressionable. Looking back 35 years later I'm glad I cut contact with them. I started going to my local church instead and wasn't made to feel guilty about how much I put in the collection plate anymore. I was made to feel guilty at the LCOC if I put in less than £20.
It’s the mere fact ICC members are tryna defend themselves in the comments…😂
literally lol
Should people not defend themselves? Is that the kind of behavior you would advocate for yourself? I don't really understand this stance. Seems like a "damned if you do damned if you don't" kind've stance from you. Admittedly Jesus didn't defend himself against false accusations. Yet, Paul did and it seems an application of wisdom when to do so.
@@elaniece
The police need to look into london international church….. they target vulnerable people …. They couldn’t do it with me because I’m a grown adult. They prefer to target university students who are away from their family, broke or lonely
I have a scripture I wanted to share with you.
It describes the church you're talking about in a nutshell.
Some people call this scripture the jewel in the gospels & I agree !
Mark 8:34-38
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.
Verse 35 is the key verse & describes the commitment a person makes to be a disciple of Jesus.
We all have/had worldly dreams about what we were doing with our lives. We all have an agenda, desires, ambitions, goals, plans.
But Jesus says we are to give up our earthly life & live for him. He has to be our Lord!
He says we are to lose our earthly life for him. He also says we do it for the gospel; meaning proclaim the gospel.
Being a fisher of men, seeking & saving the lost, making disciples.
We help others out of the world & repent of their sin.
We still have dreams & plans, but the will of God becomes first place.
This is the commitment we make to God.
Verses 36, 37 show it's a matter of salvation!
This whole passage shows characteristics of being a disciple of Jesus. For example; denying self, carrying your cross & following Jesus.
Being his disciple is the most Noble life anyone could ever live!
You have become a minister of reconciliation & an ambassador of Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:1- 6:18
It's the greatest adventure & when you die; you get to be with God for eternity! It's the greatest joy, peace & meaning anyone could ever experience ! ! !
I dated a woman in this cult she tried to pull me in ….i tried to educate her on the word but this cult is strong I eventually realized I had to move on I went to a few functions and I just couldn’t believe it …. I’m African American and so was she I’m still a little mystified how this young black woman got into this phillipono cult where they literally uplift a deadman and living Philippine men she never met smh
I was in leadership in the ICC, but I'm no longer with them.
She didnt want you to leave because leadership is basically abused with the Bible when people leave. Even the pastor can lose his position due to dwindling numbers, and lack of meating their rediculas donation numbers. So they get pretty desperate from time to time.
I'm losing my brother to these people. How do I help him get out? Please. I need guidance
How far has he gotten? Is he still doing the studies, or has he been baptized?
@@bd5253 you can't do much, sadly. Your brother will say you are wrong about the icc being a cult. The same thing happened with my mom. She warned me from the beginning, but I didn't listen. It took me almost 3 years later to leave after she told me the red flags. He will have to find out on his own time just like most people do.
@@MC-br6qq that is true. Usually you can do something while they are still in the study phase. like show a few videos on youtube of people who have left, articles on the topic of the icc / icoc, and have them look up kip mckean's Audits.
@@Mr_E_Ninja. you can do that, but he might show the people in the church those videos and links you sent him and they will tell him those are lies and the people that made those videos and articles were bitter.
I was a member. Same process except she asked if I wanted to join a soccer team.
I left ICOC Praise God
So happy to hear that! Praise God🙏🏾
So happy to hear this!
@Liz Scott • When you left, did you have to attend a Meeting with them before you left?. Or did you just leave on your own terms?.
@@brooklynzoo2810 I just stopped showing up and no meeting
They got me on my first day of campus while with my girlfriend and they asked “do you wanna study the Bible” and me and my girlfriend were like yeah that would be awesome eventually a couple weeeks later during a study they made me and my girlfriend confess all of our sins when we had a bible study and for one I felt super uncomfortable and my girlfriend did as we. THEN THEY TOLD ME TO BREAK UP WITH MY GIRLFRIEND AND TO SEPERATE FROM MY FAMILY LIKE WTAF
I was starting to think a little in this video that religions were a cult in a way be then I got blasted back like it's called a religion for a reason
Words like encouraged and phrases like fired up and where’s your faith make me cringe to this day… glad I left
Early and your so pretty
I’m sorry this was your experience. It sounds confusing and Christianity should not be divisive. Let me know if you wanna talk!
Good Lord. The intro studies they did with you sound INSANE. My old group wouldn't dare associate with the word "cult" at all. ICC/ICOC/Splinter tactics just keep getting worse and worse. Thank you for sharing and I am glad you are out!
Praise God sister this was confirmation !!!!!!!!!!!
NOBODY knowingly joins a cult 😉
They all lived in a house together! Unless they were married….
no literally!! the girl who reeled me in was living in a house with the other members! Crazy!