Faith Assembly a cult then whats the definition of a cult

[Anonymous (208.23.9.104)]

I am curious what the definition of a cult might be. Who ever determined this group to be a cult did you sit under Hobart Freeman's ministry? May want to get all the facts, before we start labeling people, places, and things we know all to little about. Thanks

[anita rosenthal (208.20.45.242)]

Hello,
I sat under the teachings of Hobart freeman from almost the beginning of the glory barn days. While it was wonderful in the early 70's the teachings did progress in cult like proportions as time went on.

People were encouraged to hunker down and close in after the death toll started rising.

People were using peer pressure and the fear of loosing the faith as a tool of intimidation.

People slipped into a mindset of being in possession of the truth and that other's were teaching a watered down gospel.

When the message didn't work it was the fault of the victim.

These are signs of cultish theology.

[Fivefold (68.104.146.43)]

Simply because different people reacted differently to, "The Biblical Teachings," at Faith Assembly and, allowed themselves to be intimidated, who's fault is that?

If you give in to peer pressure, who is at fault?

The definition of a cult is? That depends on which type of Cult? Religious, secular, etc.?

In Religious Cults, the persons deny the Deity of Christ for starters!

"Judge not, lest ye be judged!"

Fivefold.

[Anonymous (68.104.146.43)]

http://frontpage.kconline.com/faithassembly/sermonsonpaltalk.htm

[Anonymous (66.31.28.164)]

To what purpose is posting the weblink to Faith Assembly?

[Anonymous (66.31.28.164)]

To what purpose is posting the weblink to Faith Assembly? It does not give you any information except about books and tapes and the schedule of the meetings.

[countmyhair (countmyhair)]

I wanted to respond to the question about what constitutes a cult. I believe the criteria is a non-belief in hell, the rejection of Jesus as the eternal Son of God, and the rejection of the substitutionary blood atonement for sin by Jesus Christ.

Since Faith Assembly believe in all these doctrines, it would not fall under the label of a cult doctrinally.

Emotionally, however there were similarities of peer pressure and legalism that are prevalent in cults where people are ostrasized or shunned if they choose not to believe exactly like everyone else, or want to go to a different group or church.

It is good to look honestly at the teaching, and the mindset that developed and distiguish between the good and the bad. Both were present and it is our responsibility before God to take our hurts to him and find out what his will is for our lives. It is much easier to have someone tell you how you should trust God, but God wants us to seek Him. He refuses to be put into a box by us. So we should seek God for ourselves, and encourage others to seek him as well. Then we shouldn't judge them if we are in a different place spiritually, or God tells us something different to do. We are not other's god, not does God need our help to force someone into His image.

Don't forget that Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord with all our hearts, and our neighbors as ourselves. If we do that we will fulfill the other commandments, and will seek to do His will and help encourage others to do the same.

Remember they will know we are Christians by our LOVE - not our doctrine. Jesus spoke the truth to people in a loving way that challenged them but didn't condemn them. We should do the same.

I challenge all the anonymous posters to stop hiding in fear and freely have an open conversation about Faith Assembly. I am not ashamed by what I have learned, nor am I afraid to print my name.

Patty Smith

[elijah (elijah)]

It is my experiance and observation that a church, group, or movement may have a basic orthodox and even evangelical doctrinal statement, but still exhibit on going patterns of negative,abisive, and destructive cultic like behaviour. That was certainly the case in my former church.

My curiosity about this thread comes from having been in the early 70's at GT Seminary in Winona Lake, IN where I beleive Hobart Freeman used to teach before he became charismatic. I remember talk about the "glory barn". Never visited myself... I can not speak to the current question of Faith Assembly being cultic or not. ..,only to say basic orthodoxy does not preclude cultic behaviour.

elijah

[healed (healed)]

WAKE UP! LOOK AT THE SITE THIS TOPIC FALLS UNDER! FACTNET.ORG, CULT CATAGORY. IT WAS A CULT AND ALWAYS WILL BE.

[healed (healed)]

You know there is no defending it to me. We were not allowed to associate with other kids of other churches or schools, pretty much everything was sterilized, no logo on the T shirt or other ridiculous mess and relegious immunizations etc. I mean come man, you can quote some dictionary definition of a cult, but obvisouly some authority or authorities thought that Hobart and the FA thing was a cult or it wouldnt of ended up on this site! I know that they didnt want us to have anything to do with the "world" and I am lucky I even got to attend a public school.

[healed (healed)]

This article I have posted below hits it right on the mark, its what I have been thinking all along. See you joined it as an adult, others were drafted into it as a child. Read and take heed man! While I dont belive that the FA was as extreme as other cults out there, it does have many cult characteristics about it.



Children born in cults or brought into cults at
an early age do not have a mature pre-cult personality to awaken. They are socialized into an environment that denigrates independent critical thinking, maintains members in a state of dependency, and fosters a private insecurity by attacking members' while demanding that they not protest and show a positive front to the world. Thus, the cult environment can create an anxious dependent personality (Martin, 1992). In the case of adults, this is a "pseudopersonality," ergo the rapid and large decline in dependency after cult rehabilitation (Martin, 1992). For children, however, anxious dependency may indeed be fundamental to the child's character.

. Ironically, those children who were most uncooperative in the cult, those who rebelled may be most likely to make an effective transition into mainstream society, because they will not have imbibed the group's world view so completely as others.

[healed (healed)]

Cougar an interesting person, he says " I really dont understand much of what the article says". What he really means is he is turning a blind eye towards it and beliving what he wants to belive. You say you went to college, I know the text in the article isnt that hard to understand for you.

[healed (healed)]

LOL. Your something else. You sure like to reference those malpractice deaths. I remeber Freeman getting off on that. He even would reference this book about it and one of my relatives bought it and would shake their head in disbelief at what they had read, hanging on to Freemans every word. It was just one more of his tatics he used to back up his wacky teachings. You said something about your sure there was 1000 malpractice deaths when there was only 100 deaths in FA at that time...dude are you for real? lol, i mean there is nothing funny at all about people dying at FA, but for you to defend it like that shows your true alligence to Freemans teaching. Kids died man, and Im not blaming the parents at all. Im blaming Freeman. I dont care about your research or your opinion. From the post I have read so far, your opinions are seriously tainted with Freemans teaching, aka flawed and wacked. Im sure that David Koresh taught some truths, or the ohm cult, the jones, all of them Im sure had things that are considered normal about their movement. Just like you, their members would surely say after it was all said and done, well, I dont agree with all he taught, but you shouldnt be calling it a cult.

[mark1124 (mark1124)]

Thus saith the false prophet

[healed (healed)]

FYI Cougar, RA comes and goes, the symptoms disappear only to reappear latter in life. I have a family member with an extreme case of it. When the symptoms reside, oh look Im healed they say, only to come back latter.Just like the dudes dad that died of the tumor on this board, he thought he was " healed " but only to die a few years latter.

[healed (healed)]

You are always referencing some medical malpractice or something about the Catholic Church or some defense of Freeman. How can you explain the death of a person with a PROVEN CURE RATE of meningitis, pnenomia, hernia, etc? Do you think relegious imunizations work? Im not talking cancer here, thats irrelavant. Of course people die of cancer with or without prayer, there is no cure yet, at least for some types. If I am bitten by a rattlesnake, do you think prayer or a shot of snake antidote is going to cure me? I mean come on, get a clue.

[healed (healed)]

Let me break it down like this. Say some member of FA fell down and broke their arm with the bone protruding out of the skin. Do you belive prayer is going to reset the bone? Another member would likely try to put it back in, as this is what she felt the Lord telling her to do, and there might be some washing it off. then, what next? Prayer. Everyone is praying like there is no tommorow, maybe with an image in their head like you see on some sci fi TV show, somebody just passes their hand over the broken bone sticking out, and it when they pass their hand the other way, you see a closed wound. Insane. Like some third world country relegion. Who knows how it would grow back. There would be absoulutly no medical attention given or taken, because of FEAR of comprimising beliefs instilled by Freeman. If that person did recover with a crooked arm, well its just a symptom, because they have their healing according to Freeman. Problem is they would die with their "symptom" just as Freemand died with his polio. They would have that crooked arm with them until they died. You must of been shielded from the more extreme side of it, thats the only way I can see you justifying it like you do.

[healed (healed)]

The ailments people died of at FA were easily preventable and could of been cured with simple treatments, thus making that activity criminal. Your questions are vague and ambiguous. Your mind is set on defending FAs activities and teachings to support some kind of belief that you dont want to let go of.

[hombre (hombre)]

Quote:
Thus saith the false prophet.
___________________________________

Thank you Mark.
I might also add: rabid unbeliever.

Hey!

That's not as bad as:

'blind fools who swallow a camel
and strain at a gnat'..... is it?

Boy.

I am always amazed at my Savior.

You know....I love the Lord,
and I am sooooooo thankful for His grace and mercy in my life.
Just think, Mark; the world will never be able to take Him away from us.

Quote:
WAKE UP! LOOK AT THE SITE THIS TOPIC FALLS UNDER! FACTNET.ORG,
CULT CATAGORY. IT WAS A CULT AND ALWAYS WILL BE.
___________________________________

Uh........what can I say........
The internet is not the holy book of my faith?

Sidebar:
( Mark, I guess that what Unhealed is trying to say is:
that we should disregard the archaic teachings of the Bible, due to the fact
that the internet is far more verifiable. )

Anyhoo, has anyone here ever read 'Pilgrims' Progress' by John Bunyon?

Fantastic book, even though it is too, quite archaic by todays' standards.
Soooo....... the story starts out like this:
The subject of the book, 'Christian' comes from this miserable little town called
'city of destruction', which is incidentally close to the 'Town of Carnal Policy',
where a certain fellow named 'Worldy Wiseman' enjoins
Christian prior to Christians salvation.
Worldly Wiseman has quite a bit of good advice on how to obtain freedom from
the burden that 'The Book' has placed upon
Christians' back, however, surprisingly (?), none of it has to do with Christ.

Without going into an endless recitation,
one can read the conversation here:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bunyan/pilgrim.v.i.html#v.i-p0.2

Fascinating stuff, even if it is 500 years old.