Former NTCC Member Found His Way Out Early

Few of the Blog posts that we do have a feel good story line that leaves you feeling good about the past.  There are so many bad things that happened in the NTCC; and it is necessary to share those testimonies and accounts with folks. To restate our goal, we blog and we warn folks about the NTCC so that people will know their history, and realize that they are a cult.  We do so because we don't want people to suffer through years of unnecessary grief, as many of us did.  We also realize in this age of the Information Highway, that we can reach people who do their due diligence before attending a cult when they look it up on the internet to see what others may say about it.  One of our priorities is to help people realize that they can still be a Christian outside of the NTCC.  We also want folks to realize that there is support for them no matter what stage they are in pertaining to recovering from the ntcc.  We are not here to judge anyone or to point our fingers at a recovering cult member.  We want this to be a place that people feel comfortable sharing their past experiences without people interrogating them like a bunch of Nazi Gestapo cult leaders.  We experienced that kind of behavior from the NTCC leadership and none of us had a voice in that organization.

 Tony R. Back in the Day - Airborne All The Way! 

We received an Email recently from an old friend that was in the NTCC with me during my early years. We'll use just his first name and last initial so if anyone recognizes his picture, they can put it together for themselves. Tony R. was stationed at Fort Bragg in the mid eighties while Rudy was in charge of the Servicemen's Home. He remembers so many things that I have forgotten; but in his email, he told me that he was having a serious talk with his 18 year old son in which he was warning him to stay away from cults. He started looking for material to share with his son and found one of our videos on YouTube. He didn't recognize me right away; but he heard me say who I was and he told his son, "I know this guy!"; and then he found our blog and email address and contacted us. Come to find out Tony R. had found his way out of the ntcc cult and became a minister for the Church of God. He is a pastor and has been preaching against the ntcc for many years; because he knows how controlling and manipulative they are.

Tony R., Ted K. and Joe Cool

We just shared some memories of when we were in the home with Rudy.  Rudy was trying to run the home like a mini bible school.  He had us all pray for a vision of hell and write an essay about what God showed us.  He then ripped up our essays and said that we hadn't prayed enough, lit a fire in the fireplace, and turned out the lights and preached about hell.  What a nutcase! He had issues with insecurity and his own sexuality that he was trying to hide.  He told Tony and another brother named Ted that they were not allowed to hang out together.  So they hung out anyway at lunch on post.  This reminded me of many of the manipulative pastors in the ntcc.  Why would you have to be this controlling?  I get that you want both of the members tithe but if one of them is told not to hang around the other than why would you want anyone hanging around them?  The problem wasn't them; it was Rudy and his insatiable desire for young men.

 Brothers and Sisters from the Rudy Era Ft. Bragg NTCC 

Tony R. later went to Germany where he had the 'distinct pleasure' of running into Jones, the Davis wannabe and token black preacher of the ntcc.  I say this not because I'm prejudice, but because Davis often used the n-word and was against mixed marriages; and yet Jones was always kissing up to Davis.  Tony mentioned that Jones told him that he had to pay tithe and home offering even though he was not living in the home full time.  He said 'it was the right thing to do'.  What a money grubbing hypocrite!  Broadnax did the same thing in Korea. He wanted me to pay home offering even though I only visited twice a month. These hypocrites care so much about money and so little about people.  They got this attitude from Davis; who said over and over again that "It's all about money and numbers."

I recently read in Acts about the account of Ananias and Sapphira. This is one of the few accounts of judgement that we find God executing in the early church. There were many accounts of preachers and leaders doing wrong or forsaking the apostles but just this one account that had to do with money.  I know that the ntcc would often use this as a judgement verse against people who didn't pay all of their tithe; but you have to take it in its context to really find what this was all about.  In the verses leading up to chapter 5 it talked about how that many of the Christians would sell what they had and distribution would be made among all; so nobody lacked; and people that had a lot would share by giving to others. This is a true example of how God intended for us to love one another.  The money wasn't tithe, nor was it being split up amongst the so-called 'men of God'; but it was being distributed among the needy saints.  Then along comes a pair of hypocrites that wants to change the way God has laid it upon the hearts of the real God-loving people to share and give.  Ananias and Saphira, lied to the Holy Ghost, to Peter and to the apostles and said, We sold our property; and here is all the money we got for the sale.  They lied not only to the people God loved but also to God Himself; just so that they could greedily keep part of it for themselves.  Nobody was commanded to bring their money to the apostles; but people did this thing willingly. But then along comes the two hypocritical Pharisee types that decide to corrupt one of the great miracles of all time.  They remind me of Jones and Davis and others in the organization; who are not transparent and want all the members to think that their money is going towards the work of Gawd.

These corrupt people are living large off of your gifts and sacrifices; and yet you don't think that God is angry at them?  I do. I think that Jesus drove off the money changers out of the temple with a whip; because He was disgusted with them for making merchandise out of the temple of God.  The ntcc is doing the same thing.

It's not biblical to demand that a brother pay not only his tithe, but also a full home offering for visiting only a few times per month.  In the New Testament Jesus didn't have a place to lay His head; and many of the people opened their homes to him.  Nobody asked the Son of God for a home offering or to pay tithes!  What is going on in the ntcc has nothing to do with God.  If these people were really saved they would gladly open their homes to Christians; and people would willingly give to each other and the work as God laid it on their hearts; and no preachers would be driving around in Cadillacs while their members were living from paycheck to paycheck.

Tony figured all of this out on his own, between him and God.  He really gets it; and it's not because he's read our blog or talked to others who have left; but he loves God and in his relationship, he knows the difference between right and wrong.  He said something to me the other day that really grabbed my attention and it gets deep down into what I believe is the key to Christianity:

"Material things don't fulfill, they just keep people distracted from what God really wants; and that is our attention."

That's amazing when you think about it.  God really just wants our love and attention, not our money or anything else we can be used for.

It seems like we strive to love God so much at times; but we don't realize how much we are loved. 

I'm not trying to get super spiritual or sell anything to anyone.  We don't exist on this blog to make money; nor do we ask for a cent. What we all have within our reach is priceless and not intended to belong to one religious group, nor to extend to a bunch of lying hypocrites.  It's for the broken hearted and those who are cast down or even cast out.  I'm in that category.  We might often feel broken; but we are so close to the One who can piece us back together.  This is not a story of doom or gloom; but this is great news.  What are the odds that Tony finds our blog while looking for material online to warn his son about cults?  I'm glad he found us.  We have not only gained a friend, but also a brother.