True UNCONDITIONAL Love vs. ABUSIVE MANIPULATIVE 'Love': Why We Join and Stay in Cults

We have read another excellent article on the web site Religious Cults Info titled:

Adulation - the Drug of Choice

Here is one brief sample:  

"They say how grateful they are to be at WOFF, how grateful they are that Jane and Sam laid down their life and have done the work God called them to do."

Reading through, we realized that all we had to do was substitute ntcc in for WOFF and rodger w davis / michael c kekel in for Jane Whaley and the article became a "spot on" description of  ntcc:

"They say how grateful they are to be at [ntcc], how grateful they are that [davis] and [kekel] laid down their life and have done the work God called them to do."

And here is a second brief but insightful sample from The Author:

"Yes, like bookends, some folks may put a phrase like; Jesus showed me on one end and a thank you, Jesus on the other. But, the center of worship at WOFF is undeniably – Jane."  

Which transposes thus: 

"Yes, like bookends, some folks may put a phrase like; [The Holy Ghost] showed me on one end and a thank you, [Holy Ghost] on the other. But, the center of worship at [ntcc] is undeniably – [davis and kekel]."

At first it seems amazing to see the same methods used by the leader of a different abusive group resulting in the same praise and idolatrous worship of that leader; but in retrospect it only makes sense.  Con-men and -women use whatever techniques bring them the best result$, so no wonder if the methodology is the same! 

Another important point brought out in The Author's discourse was this:  "Why?"

People who have not been through the cult experience often ask this vital question: 

WHY DID YOU JOIN  AND STAY? 

To this we left the following comment:

"The answer, we feel, ultimately revolves around True Love demonstrated by the members and abusive, quantified (if you love me, then you will ______) demonstrated by the cult leaders.

As for the “Why did we stay and do what we did?” question, the answer is simple:

LOVE

We love(d) God and thought loving them was equal to serving God. They used our love against us for their own self-profiting reasons. It is a difficult reality to face having been used; but once we accept this fact it helps clear things up with respect to motives (theirs and ours) and actions (theirs and ours). Like any other user, a love-thief mimics the phraseology of the victims stating: “I love you.” knowing the victims will interpret that statement as meaning what it does when they say “I love YOU.”–unconditional love. But truly the love-thief only means “I love what you DO for me.” The true test of the love-thief’s statement comes when you stop performing to their standards or stop supplying their “fix”. Typically the love-thief will upbraid, ridicule, or ostracize you, proving they did not in fact “love” YOU; they only loved what you DID for them..."

This reminded us of an e-mail to another X-er where we probed further:

WE FELL FOR IT BECAUSE SO MUCH OF WHAT THEY TAUGHT WAS TRUE; BUT JUST AS sATAN ONLY CHANGED OR ADDED ONE WORD TO THE COMMANDMENT "THOU SHALT NOT SURELY DIE." THEY CHANGED AND ADDED TO THE SCRIPTURE TO TWIST IT FOR THEIR SELFISH AGENDAS.  

IT HURT(S) SO BADLY BECAUSE WE LOVE(D) THEM.

AND JUST AS IN ALL OTHER ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS,

THE ABUSER BLAMES THE VICTIM:

"LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!!!"

Or, "You people make the rules." comes to mind, as often as we in ntcc have heard r w davis shout that at us.

--THAT'S WHY NOTHING WE DID WAS EVER GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM. AND WHY THE RULES ALWAYS HAD TO CHANGE: "YOU PEOPLE MAKE THE RULES"--rodger w. davis.  uhn-huh, sure, whatever...

THE TRAGIC FACT IS THEY SOLD OUT CHRIST FOR FILTHY LUCRE AND NOW HAVE TO WRESTLE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES AS THEY USED TO WREST THE SCRIPTURES FOR THEIR "PRIVATE BENEFIT".

THEY WILL NEVER BE HAPPY AND CAN THEREFORE NEVER BE SATISFIED WITH THEMSELVES AND THEREFORE NEVER SATISFIED WITH OTHERS.

THIS IS POWERFUL STUFF.

THOUGH OBVIOUS AND BASIC WHEN SEEN FROM AN OBJECTIVE STANDPOINT, IT IS 'QUITE SOMETHING ELSE WHEN YOU ARE THERE'--PARAPHRASING THE OLD LADY SURVIVOR IN TITANIC AS SHE ANSWERS THE ALL-TOO-EAGER QUESTIONS OF THOSE WHO FOUND THE WRECKAGE. THEY ARE ZEALOUS, BUT HAVE FORGOTTEN THE TRAGEDY, THE REALITY OF THE ETERNAL LOSS OF SOULS.... SHE, HOWEVER, WHO WAS THERE, AND YOUNG AND VIBRANT AND IN LOVE, CAN NEVER FORGET WHAT WAS REALLY LOST. LIFE. LOVE. DREAMS. GOALS. SOULS.

ALL OF THIS ADDRESSES THE VICTIM'S SIDE OF THAT FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION: WHY?--TRUTH AND LOVE. THE ABUSERS ANSWER TO WHY: GREED. GREED FOR POWER. GREED FOR MONEY. GREED FOR CONTROL. sATANISM AT ITS CORE: I WILL ASCEND... I WILL BE GOD. I. I. I...[Isa 14:12-15, Luke 10:18] 

THE REST OF THAT THOUGHT ON THE ABUSER/VICTIM RELATIONSHIP IS THIS:

THE MIND-NUMBING, BONE-CHILLING, KNIFE-TO-THE-HEART-AND-TWIST-TRUTH IS:

WE, THE VICTIMS, ARE STILL WAITING FOR WHAT WILL NEVER COME: 

 APOLOGY and APPROVAL.

THE ABUSERS WILL NEVER ADMIT TO THE ABUSIVE NATURE OF THEIR ACTIONS.

THE ABUSERS WILL NEVER APPROVE OF THEIR VICTIMS. NEVER. (FOR REASONS PREVIOUSLY SHARED.) YOU MUST FIRST LOVE YOURSELF IN ORDER TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR.

GOD PUTS A NATURAL DESIRE IN PEOPLE TO SEEK ONE ANOTHER'S APPROVAL. THAT'S WHY THE LORD LOOKED AND HAD COMPASSION ON THE PEOPLE WHEN HE SAW THEM AS SHEEP WITH NO SHEPHERD. SHEEP, BY THE NATURAL DESIGN OF GOD, NEED TO BE WITH OTHER SHEEP; AND THEY NEED A SHEPHERD. WITHOUT THAT THEY ARE QUITE LITERALLY LOST.

sATAN, AS THE OPPOSER, TAKES AND TWISTS AND ABUSES NATURAL APPETITES TO FIT HIS AGENDA .  hE   USES "MINISTERS OF LIGHT", SO CALLED, TO AFFECT HIS WILL. NO MARVEL... RIGHT?  BUT IT GETS BACK TO 'OBJECTIVITY'-- VS.-- 'YOU CAN'T SEE THE FOREST THROUGH THE TREES.' 

THINK WE ARE GOING TO GO FOR A WALK AND ENJOY IT OUT IN THE SUNSHINE; SO WE CAN HEAR THE WHISPER OF GOD IN THE BREEZE SAYING, 'I LOVE YOU. NO MATTER WHAT MEN DO. I'M HERE. YOU CAN TRUST ME.' AND THAT, FOR OUR PART, IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO. WE ARE GOING TO PRESS INTO HIS EMBRACE, LEAN ON HIS CHEST, AND KNOW HE IS REAL. HIS LOVE NEVER FAILS; AND TRULY, 

GOD'S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL! 

Vote Anonymously On This Post By Clicking On The Lettered Boxes Below:

A) Sounds Like A True Description Of ntcc.

B) ntcc Sounds Like A Cult.

C) I Read This Post.

D) Abusers and Manipulators say things like "If you really love God, you will do ___________for the "man of Gawd"...."

E) ntcc often requires members to do things that have no biblical basis, like cleaning the mansions of Board Members, washing B.M.s luxury cars and extremely expensive motor homes, doing the B.M.s country-club-style-lawns, shining the B.M.s hand-sewn-solid leather expensive shoes, etc. taking advantage of the members' love of the Lord for the B.M.s "private benefit".

F) Create Your Own By Leaving A Comment: Example:

"F" I'm afraid to be caught commenting on this blog.

G) Glad To Be Out of ntcc.

H) Create Your Own By Leaving A Comment: Example:

"H" ntcc manipulates members by playing on their love of God and saying manipulative phrases over and over such as:  "If you really love God, you want to ble$$ the man of Gawd."

I) I'm Thinking Of Leaving ntcc

J) Create Your Own By Leaving A Comment: Example:

**You Can Choose Multiple Answers**