I am simply amazed and overwhelmed by the interest that has been demonstrated by the tens of thousands of people from around the World who are searching for information about Religious Cults.
As you read in this article about the two religious cults being focused on, you should think about the possibility that you very well might be a member of a religious cult and not aware of it.
As you think about what a Religious Cult is like, it might be a lot different than some of the notorious and extreme ones like are reported on in the news media. A Religious Cult could be any organized assembly of people who are held together by a set of beliefs that make them different from other organized assemblies of people. It could be and might be what you recognize as your own Church that discourages the people from visiting or socializing with family members who are not in the assembly or another religious assemblies of people.
It is obvious that almost all churches schedule their worship services at the same times of the day and week, such as Sunday morning and evening, wednesday evenings and at times Friday night prayer services. Almost all of the churches do this in order to prevent their members from visiting other churches in fear that they might lose some of them. This is a tactic of a cult to strenghten the hold on their people and prevent them from hearing and considering another different view about what they have been taught in their regular assembly.
If you make a search on the Internet for a listing of religious cults in Jeffersonville Indiana, two names will come up. The search displays the names of “Branhamism” and “B.R. Hicks. The word Branhamism is given to a religious group that adheres to the teaching of William M. Branham who founded the movement known recently as the “Message of the Hour” or “Message Believers “and has its headquarters in Jeffersonville Indiana. B.R. Hicks is the name of the founder of Christ Gospel Church, which has sister churches around the World, with its headquarters in Jeffersonville Indiana also.
As you read in this article about the two religious cults being focused on, you should think about the possibility that you very well might be a member of a religious cult and not aware of it.
As you think about what a Religious Cult is like, it might be a lot different than some of the notorious and extreme ones like are reported on in the news media. A Religious Cult could be any organized assembly of people who are held together by a set of beliefs that make them different from other organized assemblies of people. It could be and might be what you recognize as your own Church that discourages the people from visiting or socializing with family members who are not in the assembly or another religious assemblies of people.
It is obvious that almost all churches schedule their worship services at the same times of the day and week, such as Sunday morning and evening, wednesday evenings and at times Friday night prayer services. Almost all of the churches do this in order to prevent their members from visiting other churches in fear that they might lose some of them. This is a tactic of a cult to strenghten the hold on their people and prevent them from hearing and considering another different view about what they have been taught in their regular assembly.
If you make a search on the Internet for a listing of religious cults in Jeffersonville Indiana, two names will come up. The search displays the names of “Branhamism” and “B.R. Hicks. The word Branhamism is given to a religious group that adheres to the teaching of William M. Branham who founded the movement known recently as the “Message of the Hour” or “Message Believers “and has its headquarters in Jeffersonville Indiana. B.R. Hicks is the name of the founder of Christ Gospel Church, which has sister churches around the World, with its headquarters in Jeffersonville Indiana also.
Both of these religious movements have one thing in common which is the acceptance of their individual founder’s interpretation of the Bible. Even though the doctrines of these two movements are miles apart, they share the distinction of being recognized as cults by the majority of other religious organizations.
The method of interpretation of Bible scripture by these two founders of their respective movements also differs in its own unique way. Where BR Hicks bases her interpretation of scripture on her knowledge of the Hebrew language and how it relates to the correct translation of the Bible into English, the interpretation of Bible scripture by William Branham is based upon the act of reading between the lines.
Hicks method of teaching draws heavily on Old Testament scripture and teaches the adherence to the Mosaic law and types and shadows. They also practice something that relates to the Urim and Thummim which was what the breastplate of the high priest was called. When the people wanted to inquire something of the Lord, they would take it to the High Priest and the answer from God would return to them through this breastplate. Where Rev Hick’s church practice this is by forming a committee in her church which would receive an inquiry from the people and this committee would inquire of God and return the answer back to the people. This appears to be only a method of control for the church to have over the people, where this committee takes the place of the Urim Thummim from the Old Testament.
Branham viewed bible scripture as being a letter from God and compared it to a letter from his spouse, where the real message is not always stated in words, but because of the relationship of the writer and the reader, you need to understand the message that is not in words, but exists between the lines and can only be understood in that fashion. This again only served as a method of providing him with a way of giving his own interpretation of scripture to his church.
Even though these two groups are viewed as cults, to be in all fairness, they differ very little from any other religious group or denomination of churches. Every Church has its own private interpretation of what Bible scripture means because of what each Pastor or Minister of each church believes and in effect, puts their own interpretation into their teaching. So in that respect, all religious congregations are in a way cults in their own respect.
Another religious movement was formed in 1948 called the World Council of Churches and had its first assembly in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its goal was to unite all Christian Churches around the World under a common set of beliefs. Over the years attempts were made to set and adopt a common set of doctrines that all churches could agree on, but to this date have failed in its mission. The only common thread that holds this group together is the belief in a God. Other than that, they can be viewed as just a World Council of cults which stand by their own individual interpretation of scripture that keeps them from having real unity in the faith.
Unity in the faith can only come about by the understanding that there is only one truth. Which truth exists only in God’s Word without man’s interpretation being any part of it. Until such time as the church recognizes that and turns from man’s interpretation of scripture to the truth of it as it was written in the original languages, we will not have any unity in the faith and the many religious cults that exist will continue as they are today.
