Should We Be Afraid?

 Super Piety 
 In the ntcc holiness is a badge of honor. 
 "LOOK WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT FROM THOSE WICKED SINNERS".

One primary focus of the ntcc is to instill fear into the hearts of its members.  It's been shared by the ntcc that Jesus preached more about hell than he did about heaven.  There are, after all, only two choices in life that matter:  Heaven or Hell.  As X-ers we all share a certain amount of fear because of the fact that we once were members of a cult that used fear to keep us in our places for as long as possible.  Fear kept me in my place for thirteen years while I was in the ntcc and also fear controlled my life for fourteen years after leaving the ntcc.  A few months ago I was released from all that fear when God revealed to me that His plan of salvation has nothing to do with attending a cult or being super spiritual by living in accordance with the rules of the so called "Man of God" the most of which can not be explained reasonably by the bible.

In the ntcc we were very legalistic.  This is a word that I once thought was used only by God haters and reprobates but have since seen the true meaning behind the word.  The Wikipedia definition below accurately describes legalism that is practiced by cults and becomes destructive to all that subscribe to it.

Legalism, in Christian theology, is a sometimes-pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of law over the spirit.  Legalism is alleged against any view that obedience to law, not faith in God's grace, is the pre-eminent principle of redemption. Its opposite is antinomianism, which is the alleged view that believing in Jesus Christ is the only requirement for receiving eternal life.


While in the ntcc all of the sins and standards were emphasized much more than the Grace of God.  People were kept in their places by the warnings of hell rather than being allowed to grow in God's grace and to serve God out of love.  While Jesus did speak about hell it was mostly to the pharisees and hypocrites.  To sinner's, his followers and his disciples, Jesus spake less about specific sins or hell and condemnation then he did to the hypocrites.  Why are there very few if any references to Jesus preaching "holiness or hell" to his followers?  I would have to say that holiness is not a prerequisite to being saved.  In the ntcc holiness is a badge of honor.  "LOOK WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT FROM THOSE WICKED SINNERS".  In all of the apostles' teachings and admonishments we never hear hell used as an alternative for those who don't follow their man-made policies.  There are lots of teachings concerning holiness but never is there a threat that comes along with those teachings that you will go to hell for all eternity if you do not live by these teachings.  In the ntcc we have "super apostles that know much more than the bible teaches and have added policies and new sins to the bible:


If you date someone you love without the approval of the super spiritual orator of the church you are living in sin.  While in the past we have seen fondling and child molestation take place in the highest places in the ntcc, is this really God?


Facial hair on a man is wrong for what reason or reasons?  I must be very rebellious because I purposely grow facial hair.


You are not capable of deciding who your own friends should be and who you can have over to your house because that is a decision that only a super apostle can make for you.  If you are so flaky that you need someone to decide this for you, than you might just belong to a cult.


If you love God, you will do things for the pastor of your church, like clean his house, shine his shoes, wash his car, mow his lawn, etc.  I submit to you that if your pastor loves you, he will be a servant of all and do those things for you.  


Each church will extract as much money as possible out of its members' wallets and pocket books because large amounts of money are required to support the lavish lifestyles of the super god-like apostles in Graham that live in an entirely different world than all of their loyal subjects.


When there is no biblical justification for the rules or consequences that are preached in the ntcc they resort to the "end all, know all" scripture that is constantly being referred to over and over in the ntcc:  


Hebrews 13:17 "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your soul, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."  I've seen this used to their advantage more than for the good of the church member.  What a great chapter to read and to take in context.  I will never advocate that you should disobey your pastor if he is leading you in the truth; but if the dude is making up his own rules and threatening you with hell as a consequence of disobeying him, you might just be in a cult and would be served well by getting yourself and your friends and anyone who will listen to you out of there quickly.  


Should we be afraid of these people and the doctrine they tried to ram down our throats?  I would say absolutely not.  We believe that they should be scared.  There are many X-members of the ntcc that are so afraid to speak out against them; and I can understand that.  But I will say this to those souls that are afraid.  Do you think that they care for you?  If you came back to them, do you think it would be a prodigal son moment?  I know when I came back to God it was, but I would not even want to think about what it would have been like if I would have attempted to return to an ntcc church.  Let's look at them for what they are.  If they are right, than we need to take quite a few scriptures out of the bible and throw them away.   If they are wrong, then we need to realize that and stop being afraid of them.  


I am not advocating that informing current members of the ntcc that they are in a cult is going to help them.  It wouldn't have helped me.  But I do think that standing up for what we believe in and not being afraid to disagree with the false teachings of the ntcc is a step in the right direction.  If we live in fear of the ntcc, it will not help anyone but them.  They want us to live in fear.  They don't want us to post things that bring attention to their corruption and would love nothing more than for us to go away.  We will bring attention to their evil ways over and over and over again because they have built their kingdom upon the souls that they have discarded and they prosper because of the thousands that are no longer with them.  Have they sought us out one by one to get us back? No. Neither will they.  They don't want us back because we have been used up.  They want new blood that has many more years of life that can be shaped and formed into what best serves them.  


We are X-ers and we feel it is our moral responsibility to bring to light what the ntcc wants to keep in darkness.  We will continue to shine the light into the abyss of the ntcc and maybe others will see the light and escape.  From thirteen years of experience written by an ex cult member we continue to warn and admonish current and ex cult members to escape for your lives while you still can.  There is life outside of the ntcc; and we are are determined to live it.

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

A)  Sounds True

B)  Sounds Cultish

C)  I Read It

D)  ntcc puts too much emphasis on outward appearance

E)   God saves by grace

F)  Create Your Own By Leaving A Comment:  Example:  "F"  ntcc rules contradict God's Word 

G)  Glad To Be Out of ntcc

H)  Create Your Own

I)    I'm Thinking Of Leaving ntcc

J)  Create Your Own

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Holiness or Hell? Part 1

During our combined twenty two + plus years in the ntcc, we have heard the term "Holiness or Hell" used from behind the pulpit, during bible studies, and in general conversation many times.  Without going into our own personal opinions and convictions that might agree or disagree with the ntcc on many holiness issues, we think that it is important to get down to the root of the problem or matter however you might see it.

My issue with holiness preachers has nothing to do with the content of holiness teachings but with the way it comes across.  With the ntcc every thing comes across the pulpit as:

• "Do or Die."
• "My Way or the Highway!"
• "Heaven or Hell!"
•  etc... 

But they also throw around the question,

• "What would Jesus do?"

That is a great question; and one we all should strive to achieve.  I do not ever remember Jesus saying follow me or you will die and go to hell.  It seemed to me that the ones that followed him did so more so out of love than fear.

The reason that the ntcc is so cut and dry on many issues is that they are a cult.
They use these teachings as ultimatums:

• to gain more control
• to create fear
• to make their group seem more elite
• to make it harder to obtain membership in their exclusive club

This is a very dangerous road to travel down; because the group that usually gets excluded are the people that are the opposite of proud, the least of God's children, and the ones that are the most easily offended. The ntcc have said in the past that "It's God's word that is offending them not our preaching."  By saying this they are displaying their lack of forgiveness and a judgmental attitude that runs many off; in spite of the fact that they do preach Christ crucified. It's counter-productive to introduce holiness or hell after you just got done preaching Jesus' blood or hell.

While there are many teachings in the bible that are the "do's and don'ts" of Christianity there are also teachings that we adhere to that are not all "cut and dry".  Many things in the bible apply to customs of the time and Old Testament Law.  Tithe is a concept that has absolutely no supporting New Testament Scripture; but it is a huge part of ntcc's teaching; because in ntcc tithe is used to separate Christians from sinners and to distinguish those that are saved from those who are not.  And, more importantly to the ntcc, tithe is used to gain revenue ($$$$$$).  Not only do they hammer tithe; but they add all kinds of offerings and use more cult loaded jargon to guilt people to give.  There were many times that I was encouraged to give more than I could; and it was done in a way that made me feel that if I didn't pledge money that I didn't have that I lacked the faith to trust God [manipulation].  Now, I'm finding out that what I did give was funding the higher-ups' lifestyle more than it was helping those for whom the money was designated.  I do not have any problem with somebody paying their tithe; but when it is preached as a stipulation to being saved it takes the blessing away from the giver; and I have to say that there is no scriptural evidence that supports this teaching.

The same applies with holiness teaching.  If someone is taught holiness or hell, it makes holiness an ultimatum and people live it out of fear instead of love.  Most of what the ntcc preaches and teaches is not necessarily un-biblical, although some of it is; but it is the way in which they erupt from the pulpit and spew out ultimatums that makes it wrong.  I could take a dog that dumps on the carpet and stick its nose in it and beat the dog until it can barely walk; and it fears me every time I come near it.  Or I can choose a method like putting a dog door in the house and showing the dog his mess, give the dog some verbal reprimand and possibly a small swat to get his attention and then put him through the dog door.  I wonder which method works the best with Christians?  I wonder which method would bring in the most money into the offering plates?  I wonder if holiness was not preached as a prerequisite to make it into heaven if you might find more takers?

Part of the problem that I have with the ntcc's preaching is that they add to and take away from true holiness.  The ntcc's stand on facial hair on men is not scriptural in any way and has no place being preached as a requirement to being a Christian whether or not it is implied or in the form of public rebuke.  Is not holiness an outward appearance for an inward work?  How does the ntcc's stand on encouraging divorce not apply to "holiness or hell" preaching?  It seems like this is allowed because it would call into question the legitimacy of the entire organization, its founder, and the reasons he started a cult instead of adhering to the principles of the organization that would not allow him to do his own thing.   I could go into how tanya kekel dresses and how michael c. kekel has conducted himself, and whether or not football pants are lascivious, and many other questionable doctrines of  the ntcc; but I think that we have covered this sufficiently.  The holiness or hell doctrine that was preached the entire time that I was in the ntcc, which was 1983 - 1997 [Don] and 1990 -1999 [Ange], has been broken and changed many times by the ntcc leadership to cover their own shortcomings [compromise].

We have found that serving God is not supposed to be this difficult; and that God is much more forgiving than the ntcc.  We appreciate all that contribute to this blog; but we especially recognize the X-ers for what they have had to endure over the years.  We were all made to live as slaves to a machine that tried to control our thoughts and actions by the use of intimidation, public embarrassment and humiliation.  I really believe as said before that there will be a special dispensation of grace for those that had to endure this kind of spiritual abuse; and that God has not forsaken us because we have left this evil and wicked organization; but rather it is the first step in a long process of healing and definitely a move in the right direction toward inward holiness without hell being rammed down our throats.

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)  Holiness Comes After Salvation So It Is Not A Prerequisite For Heaven.

E)   Holiness Comes From The Heart, Not From Rules.

F)  Create Your Own By Leaving A Comment:  Example:  "F"  ntcc preaches holiness to gain control of its members' lives and finances.

G)  Glad To Be Out of ntcc

H)  Create Your Own

I)    I'm Thinking Of Leaving ntcc

J)  Create Your Own

**You Can Choose Multiple Answers**