Why Ministries to Millennials Are Attractive

10 Things You Won’t Find in a Church That Attracts Millennials

http://faithit.com/10-things-wont-find-church-attract-millennials-frank-powell/

“What differentiates a church culture that attracts Millennials from one that repels them?”

By Frank Powell

Many people are pessimistic about Millennials, but I believe the next generation is poised to transform the culture (and the world) for the good. For many churches and leaders, however, Millennials are (to borrow from Winston Churchill) “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

I would agree with Churchill’s statement on some levels, but the riddle can be solved. Once you find out what makes Millennials tick, they are not that puzzling. They simply have a unique set of passions, interests, and viewpoints on the culture and the world.

But the church has largely failed to take stock in this generation because they are different. This is a problem. A lack of knowledge breeds fear, and this is true of the church in relation to Millennials. Many churches do not take the time to know the next generation, so they are stuck with attaching stigmas (many untrue) to them.

There are churches, however, that are thriving with Millennials, and if you did some investigation I believe you would find similar results, regardless of the church locale.

So, what differentiates a church culture that attracts Millennials from one that repels them? There are many factors, but I want to highlight ten really important ones. If your church wonders why reaching the next generation is difficult, the following points might shed some light on your struggle.

1.) There is a strong resistance to change.

The next generation doesn’t understand why churches refuse to change a program, activity, or even an entire culture if they aren’t effective. Millennials don’t hold traditions close to their heart. In fact, for many (myself included) traditions are often the enemy because many churches allow traditions to hinder them from moving forward.

Is this right? Maybe. Maybe not. But it is a reality nonetheless. One that must be understood.

Millennials are tired of hearing the phrase “this is how we have always done it.” That answer is no longer acceptable. Millennials want to change the world. Many times traditions hold them back from this. Change is necessary to remain focused on the vision and being externally focused, among many other things. The next generation understands this.

2.) A compelling vision is lacking or non-existent.

If creating an environment totally void of the next generation is your goal, especially those with any initiative and talent, refuse to cast vision in your church. That will drive Millennials away faster than the time I saw a rattlesnake in the woods and screamed like a girl. Don’t judge me. I hate snakes…and cats.

It baffles me when a church doesn’t value vision and planning. In no other arena of life do we refuse to vision and plan, but for some reason the church is different.

“If your vision doesn’t compel, move or stir people, your vision is too small.” ~ Craig Groeschel

Millennials will not invest in a church that refuses to dream big because they see example after example of an infinitely powerful God doing amazing things through normal people. You might think they are naive, but most Millennials don’t believe they have to wait until they receive a certain degree or reach a certain age to start non-profits, plant churches, or lead businesses.

So, go ahead and believe “the Spirit is supposed to guide us, not a man-made vision” or just allow sheer laziness to lead the way, but your church will continue to be void of the next generation.

3.) Mediocrity is the expectation.

Quite simply…the next generation is not content with mediocrity. They believe they can (and will) change the world. Good or bad, they have a strong desire for the extraordinary. Failure is not going to drive the train. This also seems like a foreign concept to many in previous generations, but Millennials aren’t scared to fail. And they believe churches should operate with a similar mindset.

Failing and being a failure are mutually exclusive. They dream often and dream big because they understand they serve a God who works beyond their abilities.

Millennials have a collective concern for making the world a better place, and mediocrity fits nowhere in those plans.

4.) There is a paternalistic approach to leading Millennials.

If you want to push the next generation from your church, refuse to release them to lead.

This is one I have experienced personally. If you want to push the next generation away from your church, don’t release them to lead. Simply giving them a title means nothing. Titles are largely irrelevant to the next generation. They want to be trusted to fulfill the task given to them. If you micro-manage them, treat them like a child, or refuse to believe they are capable of being leaders because of their age and lack of experience, wisdom, etc., they will be at your church for a short season.

Millennials will not allow age to keep them from leading…and leading well. If you refuse to release them to lead, the next generation will quickly find another church or context where they can use their talents and gifts to their full capacity.

5.) There is a pervasive insider-focused mentality.

Traditional or contemporary worship? High church or low church? A plurality of elders, board of directors, or staff-led church? While past generations invested a lot of time in these discussions, most Millennials see these conversations as sideways energy. There might be a time and place for talking about acapella versus instrumental or high church versus low church, but the time is very rarely and the place is not from a pulpit or in a small group.

Millennials won’t attend churches that answer questions nobody is asking.

“When the faithful saturate their schedules with Christian events at Christian venues with Christian people, the world has a hard time believing we hold the rest of the world in high esteem.” ~Gabe Lyons

What is important to Millennials? How a church responds to the lost in the world, both locally and globally. How a church responds to the poor, homeless, needy, and widowed. If you want to ensure your church has very few Millennials, answer the questions nobody is asking, spend most of your resources on your building, and have programs that do little to impact anybody outside the church walls.

The next generation is pessimistic towards institutions…the church included. Millennials are not going to give their time and resources to a church that spends massive amounts of money on inefficient and ineffective programs.

Church leaders can get mad or frustrated about this, or they can consider changing things. Churches who value reaching the next generation emphasize the latter.

6.) Transparency and authenticity are not high values.

Despite what I often hear, most Millennials value transparency and authenticity. If your church portrays a “holier than thou” mentality and most of the sermons leave everyone feeling like terrible people, your church will be largely devoid of the next generation.

Why? Because the next generation knows something the church has largely denied for a long time…church leaders are not in their position because they are absent of sin, temptations, or failures. Millennials have seen too many scandals in the church (i.e. Catholic church scandal) and witnessed too many instances of moral failures among prominent Christian leaders [(i.e. Protestant church failures.)]

Millennials are not looking for perfect people…Jesus already handled that. Millennials are looking for people to be real and honest about struggles and temptations.

7.) Mentoring is not important.

This is a common misconception about Millennials. While they do not like paternalistic leadership, they place a high value on learning from past generations. I have a good friend who lives in Jackson, TN, and he occasionally drives to Nashville (two hours away) to sit at the feet of a man who has mentored him for years. He does this because his mentor has knowledge my good friend highly values.

He is not an exception. I have driven as far as Dallas to spend a weekend with a family I love and respect. I had no other reason for going than to watch how they parent and let this man give me nuggets of wisdom on following Jesus and loving others. Many might think this is ridiculous, but this is what makes Millennials unique.

They value wisdom and insight. It is a valuable treasure, and they will travel long distances to acquire it.

Millennials aren’t standoffish towards those who have gone before us. They place a high value on learning. But they want to learn from sages, not dads. If your church is generationally divided and refuses to pour into the next generation, you can be sure your church will not attract Millennials.

8.) Culture is viewed as the enemy.

Millennials are tired of the church viewing the culture as the enemy. Separationist churches that create “safe places” for their members, moving away from all the evil in the city, are unlikely to attract the next generation. The next generation is trying to find ways to engage the culture for the glory of God.

Millennials are increasingly optimistic about the surrounding culture because this is the model of Jesus. He loves all types of people, does ministry in the city, and engages the culture. They also know the church does not stand at the cultural center anymore.

In past generations, preachers could stand in pulpits and lecture about the evils of the culture because the church shaped the culture. Today, this is not true.

The goal of Christian living isn’t to escape the evils of the culture and finish life unharmed. To reach people today, the church must be immersed in the community for the glory of God.

9.) Community is not valued.

This might be the greatest value of Millennials. Community is a non-negotiable part of their lives. And they aren’t looking for another group of people to watch the Cowboys play football on Sunday…the next generation desires a Christ-centered community. They value a community that moves beyond the surface and asks the hard questions.

Community keeps Millennials grounded and focused. Community challenges them to reach heights never imagined alone. Jesus lived in community with twelve men for most of His earthly ministry. Jesus spent a lot of His time pouring into people. Community isn’t an optional part of a Millennial’s life…it is essential.

Personally, I have seen the value of community on so many levels. Without authentic Christian community, I wouldn’t be in full-time ministry today. I wouldn’t have overcome serious sins and struggles. I wouldn’t have been challenged to live fully for God.

In a culture becoming increasingly independent and disconnected, Millennials model something important for the church. There is power in numbers. As an African proverb states,

“If you want to go fast, go ALONE.
[But] if you want to go far, go TOGETHER.”

Millennials want to go far and want their life to have meaning. In their minds this is not possible without deep, authentic, Christ-centered community. I agree.

10.) The church is a source of division and not unity.

Nothing frustrates Millennials more than a church that doesn’t value unity. Jesus’s final recorded prayer on earth in John 17 has been preached for years. What many churches miss is one of the central themes in that prayer…unity.

On four separate occasions, Jesus explicitly prays for unity. It was important to him. He brought together tax collectors and Zealots (just do some research if you want to know how difficult it would have been to bring these groups together). He brought people together. This is why places like coffee shops are grounds (like my pun?) for a lot of Millennials. They want to be in environments where everyone feels welcomed and accepted.

Churches that value racial, generational, and socio-economic unity will attract Millennials. Why? The gospel is most fully reflected when all of these groups are brought together, and most of them are just crazy enough to believe the power of the Spirit is sufficient to make it happen.

Some churches and leaders don’t see the value of changing to reach this generation, but once they realize this mentality is wrong it will be too late. The Millennials are a huge part of the population today (about 80 million strong), and if your church is serious about the Great Commission, your church also needs to be serious about understanding this generation.

Are there other qualities or values you think are important to Millennials? Leave a comment below! Let’s continue the conversation.

I love you all! To God be the glory forever. Amen!

- FP

*About the Author Frank Powell: Devoted follower of Christ, college/young adult minister, husband to Tiffani Powell, dad to Noah and Micah, avid blogger/writer, sports fan. You can follow him on twitter here and read more blogs here!

The Toltecs - The Lost Ancient Civilization of MesoAmerica

Important facts about the lost ancient civilization of Mesoamerica, the Toltecs

https://m.thevintagenews.com/2017/01/27/las-lajas-sanctuary-the-second-wonder-of-colombia/

Jan 27, 2017

The Ancient Toltecs ruled Mesoamerica from 900 to 1150 A.D. The empire that once ruled central Mexico, can be described as a great nation of warriors, sculptors, and painters.

These people built a legacy so great that it inspired later generations until suddenly, they were no more. This is a mystery that has remained unresolved and has puzzled many archaeologists ever since.

Toltec pyramid at Tula, Hidalgo. Photo Credit

All that remains of the great Toltec people is what is contained in the scriptures of their alleged descendants, the Aztecs. The impact of this civilization was such that other great empires wanted to be like them to the point that they even claimed to be their descendants.

The Toltecs, who built monumental statues, detailed stone carvings, and were known as a warrior nation, are now one of the greatest lost civilizations. Here are some of the facts that are known about them:

The Toltec style. Photo Credit

They considered their religion to be their compass; it was known as the cult of Quetzalcoatl, in honor of their most revered deity who founded their capital Tula. They spared no expense in spreading his worship and they did this with religious vigor throughout their kingdom. Quetzalcoatl, who’s depicted as a feathered serpent, was the most revered of all their gods and was the inspiration for their existence.

Their warriors wore strong armor, such as chest-plates and a small arm shield. Their head-dresses were feathered to resemble Quetzalcoatl. He was not, however, the only inspiration for their warrior uniform – animals like the jaguar inspired their dress as well as other gods like Tezcatlipoca. Fierce warriors required the best weapons, and they had a sword called Atlatls which was able to fling darts at high velocity. They also had a curved weapon that was a mix between an axe and a club.

Tula was burnt to the ground and looted of its history:

Atlantes of Pyramid B at Tula Photo Credit

What exactly caused the Toltec’s destruction is still anyone’s guess. What is known, is that the capital city was burnt to the ground. Whether there were survivors is unknown, but the ruins of the city have seen many tragedies over time, including lootings. Even their alleged descendants, the Aztecs, who revered them, sent many parties to remove their statues, their stone carvings, and other relics from the ruined city.

After the demise of the Aztecs, many other looters picked the ruined capital of Tula clean, leaving little behind for modern day researchers to study. Despite this, there have been some significant finds, like the Atlante statue, considered significant because of its war engravings that show the emperors of the time dressed in wartime clothing.

The practice of human sacrifice was a big thing in Toltec culture:

The great ancient people of the region practiced the bloody ritual of human sacrifice to appease their gods and to ensure they avoided disaster. They believed it avoided natural disasters and kept their gods happy. From death comes life and the Toltecs practiced this with impunity.

Ce Atl Quetzalcoatl, the god-king, abandoned his people due to a disagreement about the bloody ritual. He was not a fan of the bloodlust in the sacrifice of so many people to appease the god Tezcatlipoca, yet his view was rejected even though some now consider him to be Quetzalcoatl, the ruler-turned-deity who founded the capital of Tula. Having an opinion on the ritual which was unpopular, he left and was said to have settled in Chichen Itza.

Quetzalcoatl, God of Wisdom. Photo Credit

Archaeological evidence regarding the practice is based on the discovery of the reclining men statues. These statues of a man on a rectangular base are called Chac Mool. The statues, which typically have the man with his head turned at 90 degrees, and a bowl on his belly, have been found at other ritual sites. The rack of skulls at the ceremonial plaza called tzompantli contains the skulls of sacrificed victims from the ceremonies.

There is a nexus between the Toltecs and the Maya of Chichen Itza:

Maya charcoal from Chichen Itza displayed at the National Museum of Anthropology Photo Credit

Considering the distance between Tula and Chichen Itza, they share striking similarities. Tula, which is 50 miles (80 km’s) north in Central Mexico, and Chichen Itza, which is in the Yucatan, have common features, raising certain theories. The first, which looks to be dispelled due to contradictory evidence, is that the Toltecs conquered Chichen Itza. This seems not to be the case, as said evidence points to the migration of expelled nobles from the Toltecs, settling in the area of Chichen Itza. Both areas have the same religious beliefs in the deity Quetzalcoatl. This has been explained by the idea that the expelled nobles brought their beliefs to the area. In Chichen Itza, Quetzalcoatl (Kulkulcan) was one of the great deities as well. Religion is not the only thing the areas shared; their architecture was also strikingly similar.

Both areas have the same religious beliefs in the deity Quetzalcoatl. This has been explained by the idea that the expelled nobles brought their beliefs to the area. In Chichen Itza, Quetzalcoatl (Kukulcan) was one of the great deities as well. Religion is not the only thing the areas shared; their architecture was also strikingly similar.

Olmec. Photo Credit

The Toltec’s had been trading goods:

Evidence shows that the Toltecs had conducted business with their neighbors – not to the degree of other well-known traders like the Maya but nonetheless they were able to trade items like pottery, seashells, and other items. Researchers believe that most of their income was from warrior expeditions, but evidence of seashells from the Atlantic and Pacific point to traded items as well. Most items may have been acquired as a tribute to the great nation. The items were made from pottery, textiles, and obsidian.

The Olmecs, who preceded the Toltecs, also worshiped Quetzalcoatl. There is a monument dedicated to him which predates the Toltecs. But the Toltec worship of him was far more devoted. They managed to spread the cult of Quetzalcoatl so widely that his worship reached areas as far as the Yucatan, to the Maya, who called him Kukulcan.

This was the reason the Aztecs included him in their worship – they revered the Toltecs, and that’s why he is considered the greatest of gods in the Mesoamerican pantheon of gods.

The Aztecs claim to be the descendants of the Toltecs:

Aztec wood mask. Photo Credit

The Aztecs comprised one of the greatest civilizations in history. This they attribute to being the descendants of the Toltecs. Though the Aztecs established themselves long after the demise of the Toltecs, their rulers claimed to be the descendants from the noble bloodlines of the Toltecs. This was the reason for looting the ruined city of Tula. In dedication to the Toltecs, the Aztecs built structures at the burnt palace.

Their disappearance is still a mystery:

What caused the demise of the Toltecs is still a question that remains unresolved. Their decline happened during the late 1150 A.D. Not much is known besides the great fire that burnt the city to the ground. Historians believe that they were attacked as retribution by their neighbors. This is perhaps in part due to the actions of the Toltecs, who were known to be very violent and ruthless. Others believe that internal war may have been a factor. Still, it remains a mystery as to who and what caused their downfall.

There are still discoveries to be made at Tula:

A depiction of an anthropomorphic bird-snake deity, probably Quetzalcoatl,
at the Temple  of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli in Tula, Hidalgo. Photo Credit

The city may have been destroyed and looted of its history, but hardworking researchers are still making discoveries that could unravel the Toltec history. In 1993, the “Cuirass of Tula”, a seashell chest-plate that was an offering, was discovered under a turquoise disc; it holds hope of more discoveries, like the 2005 excavation of Hall 3’s friezes.

This will make for further and better discoveries in the future, About Education reported.

Carved relief of a Jaguar at Tula, Hidalgo. Photo Credit

The Toltecs are not part of the modern day movement:

Miguel Ruiz is a modern day philosophical writer of the movement called the “Toltec spirit”. This movement is about guiding oneself, as addressed in his book, The Four Agreements. Other than using the name “Toltec”, it has nothing to do with the ancient civilization of Mesoamerica.

The Toltec’s, at the height of their civilization, were the most revered nation of Mesoamerica. They were a great nation whose history fell into obscurity, and over time has been lost. But the impact and legacy still have profound effects, long after their flame was extinguished. Hopefully, the future holds some answers to the mystery that was the Toltecs.

Abandoning God in a Socio-Political Era of Pagan Nationalism

Whose message is the more real? Our own - about God and the world's end?

Or Jesus' - when laying down His life as an example to us all of how the world

must end if it is to live?

In a new assessment of "cultural secularity" found in the post-postmodern era that is currently being experienced in the developing 21st century has come the revelation that it's racial discriminations and injustices is harder, broader, and wider than its forebearer of the 20th century. During the modern era these attitudes were somewhat ameliorated by the efforts of the church to bring peace and love to all mankind irrespective of the human differences of race, class, status, and so on. But with the passing of the postmodern era with its core messages of globalization, pluralism, tolerance, respect, and cooperation throughout all world cultures, has now come a much harsher view of life and human responsibility.

As hindsight, the 20th century's foray through secular modernism was marked by political destabilization of economies (civil and regional wars), capitalistic greed (corporate monopolies), and nationalistic interests to the exclusion of foreign national interests (applicable to all expansionist countries) which had shown its bankruptcy in healing the world's ills. It had been hoped in the late 20th century and early 21st century's reaction to these harmful affects of secularism that a kinder, gentler era would be ushered in. One promising goodwill, peace, and respect as found in postmodernism's reaction away from secular modernism. But this worldwide response seems to have only lasted a brief while as it collapsed under the impending weight of sin and evil.

Consequently, in place of a secular modernistic era we have sped through a brief postmodernistic era into its evil twin, a post-postmodernism era (PPM), which rejects both previous eras with equal disdain unparalled in its ferocious behavior and disregard to the sanctity of life. Now, nations are speeding towards an unkind protectionistic stance of national/cultural sovereignty over all else as each regress backwards away from Christian teachings of love and goodwill, peace and forgiveness, towards a more pagan identity of brutal disinterest to all racial/cultural groups but their own. Not only in America but across the world this PPM trend is rapidly disengaging nation-states from one another in trade, commerce, communication, and education.

Policies which were once outward looking are now vulgarly introspective bristling with rising police and military regimes to enforce whatever nationalistic policies seems to best advantage a nation's more politically and economically empowered classes. This extreme is made all the worse by the willful refusal to heed Christianity's call:

• to look away from oneself and unto the other's need;
• to serve those in need less fortunate than yourself;
• to forbear with one another showing mercy and forgiveness; and,
• in all aspects, live and behave in the love of God which reconciles all men and women to His grace.

These are clear clarion calls of the Christian faith made invalid whenever "Christian" nations refuse these commands, cheat and harm one another, refuse justice to the needy, and conduct domestic or international warfare on all those it refuses to help or recognize as the children of God.

Nor has today's churches made these tasks of godly living any easier when preaching virulent forms of heathen nationalism under the guises of patriotism. Or refusing to receive unto its fellowships those broken souls seeking refuge and strength. Or willfully excluding from its folds those people groups it prefers to label and hate. Rather than acting like Jesus, paganized Christians and unholy Christian churches are acting like Jesus' enemies and thus abandoning the world from any form of Christian role model to follow.

These are the dark times of both the church and ungodly nations and it is difficult to see a more hopeful future where God is honor through our live's conduct and work. Mostly, "the Christian faithful" wish to abandon both this world and each other by praying down God's "judgment" upon everyone-and-everything thinking a hellish Tribulation and fiery Armageddon is the healing God would give to a wicked world of sin.

But what if those end-time doctrines have read God's Word and Will incorrectly? What if we are to redeem creation with good environmental practises and loving relationships with one another? What if our impending judgment is that we kill i) both this earth we depend upon, ii) along with ourselves, so eager we are to see God's warlike hand descend upon this world to end it? How is it then that a great God of goodness and love is turned into a savage beast like ourselves? Whose message is the more real? Our own - about God and the world's end? Or Jesus' - when laying down His life as an example to us all of how the world must end if it is to live? That it is only by sacrificial atonement and reconciliation that this world may ultimately be redeemed rather than by judgment and fire?

This, it seems, is the truer of the visions and teachings of God rather than the church's more miserable depiction of giving up and waiting for God to end it all. Perhaps we are the more cowardly for waiting and praying in this fashion than being the more willing to give up our lives for the welfare of our communities? Perhaps we are the more prideful for refusing to repent from our wicked ways, thoughts, and attitudes than to pretend the rightness of our ungodlike beliefs? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

And perhaps it is easier to say, "Forgive us dear God for presuming upon your great love and diminishing it unto the filthy rags of sin and evil by refusing to love those whom you love." I think, my friends, this later is really the only choice we have: To repent. To forgive. And to love. If not, anarchy and chaos will continue to rule over human hearts of hate and sin regardless of its political eras. In hindsight, 

a heart which cannot reconcile the world has itself

become irreconcilable to its God and Savior.

This is a truism no less true than the proverbs we read of in the bible. Let us pray then for hearts of repentance, peace, and goodwill. Amen.

R.E. Slater

March 15, 2017

* * * * * * * * * * *

Photo Credit: Edmon De Haro

Breaking Faith

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/breaking-faith/517785/?utm_source=twb

The culture war over religious morality has faded;

in its place is something much worse. - Edmon De Haro

by Peter Beinart

April 2017 Issue

Over the past decade, pollsters charted something remarkable: Americans—long known for their piety—were fleeing organized religion in increasing numbers. The vast majority still believed in God. But the share that rejected any religious affiliation was growing fast, rising from 6 percent in 1992 to 22 percent in 2014. Among Millennials, the figure was 35 percent.

Some observers predicted that this new secularism would ease cultural conflict, as the country settled into a near-consensus on issues such as gay marriage. After Barack Obama took office, a Center for American Progress report declared that “demographic change,” led by secular, tolerant young people, was “undermining the culture wars.” In 2015, the conservative writer David Brooks, noting Americans’ growing detachment from religious institutions, urged social conservatives to “put aside a culture war that has alienated large parts of three generations.”

Why did religiously unaffiliated Republicans

embrace Trump’s bleak view of America?

That was naive. Secularism is indeed correlated with greater tolerance of gay marriage and pot legalization. But it’s also making America’s partisan clashes more brutal. And it has contributed to the rise of both Donald Trump and the so-called alt-right movement, whose members see themselves as proponents of white nationalism. As Americans have left organized religion, they haven’t stopped viewing politics as a struggle between “us” and “them.” Many have come to define us and them in even more primal and irreconcilable ways.

When pundits describe the Americans who sleep in on Sundays, they often conjure left-leaning hipsters. But religious attendance is down among Republicans, too. According to data assembled for me by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), the percentage of white Republicans with no religious affiliation has nearly tripled since 1990. This shift helped Trump win the GOP nomination. During the campaign, commentators had a hard time reconciling Trump’s apparent ignorance of Christianity and his history of pro-choice and pro-gay-rights statements with his support from evangelicals. But as Notre Dame’s Geoffrey Layman noted, “Trump does best among evangelicals with one key trait: They don’t really go to church.” A Pew Research Center poll last March found that Trump trailed Ted Cruz by 15 points among Republicans who attended religious services every week. But he led Cruz by a whopping 27 points among those who did not.

Why did these religiously unaffiliated Republicans embrace Trump’s bleak view of America more readily than their churchgoing peers? Has the absence of church made their lives worse? Or are people with troubled lives more likely to stop attending services in the first place? Establishing causation is difficult, but we know that culturally conservative white Americans who are disengaged from church experience less economic success and more family breakdown than those who remain connected, and they grow more pessimistic and resentful. Since the early 1970s, according to W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, rates of religious attendance have fallen more than twice as much among whites without a college degree as among those who graduated college. And even within the white working class, those who don’t regularly attend church are more likely to suffer from divorce, addiction, and financial distress. As Wilcox explains, “Many conservative, Protestant white men who are only nominally attached to a church struggle in today’s world. They have traditional aspirations but often have difficulty holding down a job, getting and staying married, and otherwise forging real and abiding ties in their community. The culture and economy have shifted in ways that have marooned them with traditional aspirations unrealized in their real-world lives.”

The worse Americans fare in their own lives, the darker their view of the country. According to PRRI, white Republicans who seldom or never attend religious services are 19 points less likely than white Republicans who attend at least once a week to say that the American dream “still holds true.”

But non-churchgoing conservatives didn’t flock to Trump only because he articulated their despair. He also articulated their resentments. For decades, liberals have called the Christian right intolerant. When conservatives disengage from organized religion, however, they don’t become more tolerant. They become intolerant in different ways.

Research shows that evangelicals who don’t regularly attend church

are less hostile to gay people than those who do. But they’re [also]

more hostile to African Americans, Latinos, and Muslims.

In 2008, the University of Iowa’s Benjamin Knoll noted that among Catholics, mainline Protestants, and born-again Protestants, the less you attended church, the more anti-immigration you were. (This may be true in Europe as well. A recent thesis at Sweden’s Uppsala University, by an undergraduate named Ludvig Bromé, compared supporters of the far-right Swedish Democrats with people who voted for mainstream candidates. The former were less likely to attend church, or belong to any other community organization.)

How might religious nonattendance lead to intolerance? Although American churches are heavily segregated, it’s possible that the modest level of integration they provide promotes cross-racial bonds. In their book, Religion and Politics in the United States, Kenneth D. Wald and Allison Calhoun-Brown reference a different theory: that the most-committed members of a church are more likely than those who are casually involved to let its message of universal love erode their prejudices.

Whatever the reason, when cultural conservatives disengage from organized religion, they tend to redraw the boundaries of identity, de-emphasizing morality and religion and emphasizing race and nation. Trump is both a beneficiary and a driver of that shift.

So is the alt-right. Read Milo Yiannopoulos and Allum Bokhari’s famous Breitbart.com essay, “An Establishment Conservative’s Guide to the Alt-Right.” It contains five references to “tribe,” seven to “race,” 13 to “the west” and “western” and only one to “Christianity.” That’s no coincidence. The alt-right is ultra-conservatism for a more secular age. Its leaders like Christendom, an old-fashioned word for the West. But they’re suspicious of Christianity itself, because it crosses boundaries of blood and soil. As a college student, the alt-right leader Richard Spencer was deeply influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche, who famously hated Christianity. Radix, the journal Spencer founded, publishes articles with titles like “Why I Am a Pagan.” One essay notes that “critics of Christianity on the Alternative Right usually blame it for its universalism.”

Photo Credit: Edmon De Haro

Secularization is transforming the left, too. In 1990, according to PRRI, slightly more than half of white liberals seldom or never attended religious services. Today the proportion is 73 percent. And if conservative non-attenders fueled Trump’s revolt inside the GOP, liberal non-attenders fueled Bernie Sanders’s insurgency against Hillary Clinton: While white Democrats who went to religious services at least once a week backed Clinton by 26 points, according to an April 2016 PRRI survey, white Democrats who rarely attended services backed Sanders by 13 points.

Sanders, like Trump, appealed to secular voters because he reflected their discontent. White Democrats who are disconnected from organized religion are substantially more likely than other white Democrats to call the American dream a myth. Secularism may not be the cause of this dissatisfaction, of course: It’s possible that losing faith in America’s political and economic system leads one to lose faith in organized religion. But either way, in 2016, the least religiously affiliated white Democrats—like the least religiously affiliated white Republicans—were the ones most likely to back candidates promising revolutionary change.

The decline of traditional religious authority is contributing to a more revolutionary mood within black politics as well. Although African Americans remain more likely than whites to attend church, religious disengagement is growing in the black community. African Americans under the age of 30 are three times as likely to eschew a religious affiliation as African Americans over 50. This shift is crucial to understanding Black Lives Matter, a Millennial-led protest movement whose activists often take a jaundiced view of established African American religious leaders. Brittney Cooper, who teaches women’s and gender studies as well as Africana studies at Rutgers, writes that the black Church “has been abandoned as the leadership model for this generation.” As Jamal Bryant, a minister at an AME church in Baltimore, told The Atlantic’s Emma Green, “The difference between the Black Lives Matter movement and the civil-rights movement is that the civil-rights movement, by and large, was first out of the Church.”

Black Lives Matter activists sometimes accuse the black Church of sexism, homophobia, and complacency in the face of racial injustice. For instance, Patrisse Cullors, one of the movement’s founders, grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness but says she became alienated by the fact that the elders were “all men.” In a move that faintly echoes the way some in the alt-right have traded Christianity for religious traditions rooted in pagan Europe, Cullors has embraced the Nigerian religion of Ifa. To be sure, her motivations are diametrically opposed to the alt-right’s. Cullors wants a spiritual foundation on which to challenge white, male supremacy; the pagans of the alt-right are looking for a spiritual basis on which to fortify it. But both [black and white secularists] are seeking religions rooted in racial ancestry [pagan (European or African)] and disengaging from Christianity—which, although profoundly implicated in America’s apartheid history, has provided some common vocabulary across the color line.

Critics say Black Lives Matter’s failure to employ Christian idiom undermines its ability to persuade white Americans. “The 1960s movement … had an innate respectability because our leaders often were heads of the black church,” Barbara Reynolds, a civil-rights activist and former journalist, wrote in The Washington Post.

“Unfortunately, church and spirituality are not high priorities for Black Lives Matter, and the ethics of love, forgiveness and reconciliation that empowered black leaders such as King and Nelson Mandela in their successful quests to win over their oppressors are missing from this movement.”

As evidence of “the power of the spiritual approach,” she cited the way family members of the parishioners murdered at Charleston’s Emanuel AME church forgave Dylann Roof for the crime, and thus helped persuade local politicians to remove the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s Capitol grounds.

Black Lives Matter’s defenders respond that they are not interested in making themselves “respectable” to white America, whether by talking about Jesus or wearing ties. (Of course, not everyone in the civil-rights movement was interested in respectability either.) That’s understandable. Reformists focus on persuading and forgiving those in power. Revolutionaries don’t.

Black Lives Matter activists may be justified in spurning an insufficiently militant Church. But when you combine their post-Christian perspective with the post-Christian perspective growing inside the GOP, it’s easy to imagine American politics becoming more and more vicious.

In his book Twilight of the Elites, the MSNBC host Chris Hayes divides American politics between “institutionalists,” who believe in preserving and adapting the political and economic system, and “insurrectionists,” who believe it’s rotten to the core. The 2016 election represents an extraordinary shift in power from the former to the latter. The loss of manufacturing jobs has made Americans more insurrectionist. So have the Iraq War, the financial crisis, and a black president’s inability to stop the police from killing unarmed African Americans. And so has disengagement from organized religion.

Maybe it’s the values of hierarchy, authority, and tradition that churches instill. Maybe religion builds habits and networks that help people better weather national traumas, and thus retain their faith that the system works. For whatever reason, secularization isn’t easing political conflict. It’s making American politics even more convulsive and zero-sum.

For years, political commentators dreamed that the culture war over religious morality that began in the 1960s and ’70s would fade. It has. And the more secular, [the] more ferociously national and racial [the] culture war that [follows is making it] worse.

Biologos - Mountains, Meadows, and Marmots: Creation or Judgment?

In today's article by Joel Duff the observation could be made that "What one sees as the pinnacle of God's creative work another claims as all wreck and ruin." As posted in Relevancy22's many topics on Creation is the thought that:

"Christian cosmologies need a definitive upgrade from their

traditionally bleak judgments and bleaker future expectations

ingrained so deeply within the church tradition."

Joel attests to this fact too - that all we see in our present day world is God's greatest gift and glory to mankind.

Enjoy,

R.E. Slater

March 12, 2017

Photo Credit: Joel Duff

Mountains, Meadows, and Marmots: Creation or Judgment?

http://biologos.org/blogs/guest/natural-and-biological-diversity-a-testament-to-gods-creative-power-or-a-consequence-of-sin

by Joel Duff (guest author)

March 9, 2017

This past summer I had the pleasure of sitting on a 13,000 foot ridge of La Plata Peak in Colorado for two hours while my oldest son ran up the final 1,300 feet to the top of the mountain. From this amazing perch I enjoyed looking out over dozens of mountain peaks topped with patches of snow and the presence of some friendly pikas and marmots while numerous forms of insects visited dozens of species of high alpine flowers.

My encounter with creation brought to mind Psalm 104, which recounts the acts of creation and proclaims that that:

“O LORD, how manifold are your works! 

In wisdom have you made them all; 

the earth is full of your creatures.” (v. 24 ESV)

Earlier in the same Psalm, mountains are mentioned: “The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers” (v. 18). Likewise in Psalm 19, David proclaims that the “heavens declare the Glory of God.” In the book of Job we find God exhorting Job to look at a wide variety of attributes with which He endowed His creatures, asking Job who he is to question the wisdom of His creation.

At no time while gazing over the mountain tops, as I interacted with the animals and took pictures of the flowers, did it occur to me that what I was witnessing was anything less than the glorious, good creation of God.

More recently I found myself in a theater taking in scenes of God’s creation through the documentary Is Genesis History? hosted by Del Tackett. This beautifully produced film transported myself and the rest of a clearly awed audience to many natural wonders of this world. Even though my interpretation of Genesis is much different than his, I could share with the Tackett (and the audience) a great sense of wonder at these magnificent scenes. So you can imagine my surprise[1] as I watched the final scene which found Dr. Tackett looking out over a landscape similar to my mountain experience and proclaiming, “It’s glorious, but represents the judgement of God.”

As surprising as this statement may sound, Dr. Tackett was only stating the logical conclusion which flows from his young-earth creationism (YEC) worldview. For him, what you and I experience is not so much God’s good creation as it is the end-product of God’s judgement.

How so? According to Tackett and like-minded YECs, geological processes such as earthquakes, floods—including Noah’s Flood—volcanism, plate tectonics, uplift, subsidence, and the like, could not have been a part of God’s “very good” creation. Instead, they were brought into the world by Adam’s sin, which affected every aspect of creation—possibly including extraterrestrial planets and stars. But these very same processes are the immediate cause of every geological formation we see today. Thus, had Adam never sinned, there would be no Grand Canyon, no Niagara Falls, no Mt. Kilimanjaro, and no Mt. Everest. In fact, there might have been no high mountains at all.

Is the present-day diversity of living things also the result of the judgement of God?

Despite a lack of YEC literature addressing ecological interactions in the pre-Fall world, it is evident that the young-earth view of the radical reconstruction of the world following Adam’s sin touches far more than the physical surface of the Earth. It also applies to the living inhabitants of creation as well.[2]

Rather than looking out over a mountain vista, Dr. Tackett might also have taken us to a zoo and said: “Look at all of these magnificent creatures complete with marvelous adaptations for survival in deserts and mountain tops. They remind us of God’s judgment for sin.”

Why? Consider that YECs believe the in the pre-fall world, no animals with the “breath of life” experienced death. This biological “perfect” paradise precludes disruptive events such as mutations and natural selection resulting from resource competition. If immortal animals had all the plants they could ever need for food and were all able to reproduce without impediment, then the need for adaptations for protection, competition, and even mate attraction would be unnecessary. One wonders what the function of variation among individual members of a “kind”—if any existed—could have been. Was diversity solely aesthetic?[3]

According to Tackett, after Adam and his offspring’s sin brought radical climatic change and geological destruction to the face of the whole earth, especially at the time of the Flood, a great diversity of species and all their amazing features sprang forth as they adapted via evolutionary mechanisms—albeit at an impossibly fast pace—to new habitats, especially as a result of the Flood.

Where did the genetic information come from that allowed for this post-fall explosion of new species? The film explains that the initial “very good” creation included organisms front-loaded with immense genetic variation and thus the capacity to evolve into new species after sin entered the world. In addition to raising some difficult questions of theodicy and God’s foreknowledge, this doesn’t make any biological sense.

Hibernating pikas and marmots? Alpine species of plants? Polar bears and arctic foxes? None of these existed in the original creation, according to YECs. Just how few species existed in the original creation? The YEC literature is very sparse but extensive speciation proposed by Answers in Genesis points to an initial creation with low diversity. For example they speculate that the 1100 species of bats alive today, in addition to all fossil species, originated from a single bat ancestor.

Each of these modern bat species has remarkable and unique adaptations to diverse environments that may not have existed in the pre-Fall world, sculpted by the mechanisms of evolution unleashed by Adam’s sin. Therefore, from a YEC perspective, the diversity of life on Earth at which we— and so many biblical authors—marvel is not representative of God’s original creation.

God’s invisible qualities clearly seen in the post-Fall world?

Finally, as the last scene of the Colorado landscape faded from view, Romans 1:20 appeared on the screen: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Yet if the characteristics of living things and the very shape of the earth’s surface is evidence not of God’s power but of creation falling apart because of sin, how can God’s eternal power and divine nature be clearly seen in the world around us?

Mountains, weather, and biological diversity are consistently described in the Bible as being authored by God. In most contexts these natural features of the world are viewed with awe and reverence as good and wonderful things. We don’t find the psalmist blaming the existence of mountains on Adam’s sin nor even a global flood. Psalm 104 doesn’t attribute the lion roaring for its prey to Adam and Eve’s primal disobedience.

When Abraham and Lot, as recorded in Genesis 13, look down into the Dead Sea Valley, they don’t bemoan the fact that because of Adam’s sin a great rift in the Promised Land had opened up, creating the Dead Sea and a difficult passageway allowing access to the valley floor. But following the young-earth view to its logical end, had Adam not sinned the land before them would have had no sharp cliffs, barren spaces, or extreme heat or cold.[4]

Lot described this place as “like the garden of the Lord.” (Gen 13:10) But his response makes no sense in the young-earth perspective. How could this in any way be like the garden of the Lord if every plant, animal and even rock of the valley had been radically transformed as a result of Adam’s transgression? In the YEC worldview, this land would not have been recognizable to Adam and Eve in the prelapsarian world.

The evolutionary creationist sees God’s hand in every aspect of creation, present and past. For us, the beauty of creation is much more than just a shadow of a former time. Nature is damaged, in our view, not by a radical physical transformation at the moment of the first sin, but by the ravages of a broken humanity who does not worship the Creator as they should. We are not tending and keeping the “Garden” as it was intended.

It is difficult not to conclude that the original creation, as envisaged by YECs, must have been a rather monotonous place, lacking much of the geological and biological diversity of God’s creation that we can observe today. This perspective doesn’t align with the world that the biblical authors wrote about, nor does it align with the evidence from the world that we see today. We need a better way to understand what God has told us about who we are and how He formed this world we live in. At BioLogos, we are pursuing that better way.

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Notes

References & Credits

[1] My reaction is not unique, others—Reasons to Believe, in particular—have made similar observations in response to this scene.

[2] “Creation’s Original Diet” (Answers in Genesis), is one of a few articles that explores the pre-Fall creation ecology. Especially notable in this article are the emphasis on the lack of resource scarcity and availability of all plants—and presumably all plant parts—as food in the pre-Fall world. But whether speciation could have occurred or even if there were diversity of climates and ecosystems in the pre-Fall world is rarely discussed in the YEC literature (at least, that I am aware of, but I’ve read most of the popular literature on this subject). See also: “Did Adam step on an ant before the fall?” (AiG) in which the we are told that “accidents never happen in a perfect world.”

[3] Even the names given to animals by Adam (if we assume that they were passed from Adam to the Israelites) are inconsistent with the YEC understanding of the Edenic ecology. Many animals are given names that reflect their adaptations for survival in a world of death. For example, the root word for Lion in Hebrew is “'ariy”, which means “in the sense of violence.”

[4] George E. McCready Price, one of the intellectual founders of modern young earth creationism,provides a vision of the prelapsarian world that comports well with the sentiments expressed by Tackett in that final scene: “The earth, as Adam first saw it, was supremely beautiful. No bare, rocky cliffs towered up between him and the sunlight, frowning destruction upon his feeble steps; no wide, dreary swamps breathed pestilential vapors into his Eden home; no pathless deserts intervened between him and distant lands.”

And later: “Even the mild, soft climate, of singular uniformity over all the earth, north and south, was little changed after the expulsion from Eden, until that awful time when "all the fountains of the great deep" were "broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened," and a third dreadful curse rested upon the earth as the result of sin.”

Source: Outlines of Modern Science and Modern Christianity, p. 154 and 155 (pub. 1902)

About the Author

Joel Duff is a professor of biology at The University of Akron. He earned his B.S. in biology from Calvin College, and a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Tennessee. He research focuses on understanding biological diversity by examining differences in DNA sequences and genome structure. He has worked on numerous plant and animals systems and has authored more than 40 research articles in science journals. He is an active writer and speaker exploring the intersection of science and Christian faith. He is a contributor to the book Grand Canyon: Monument to an Ancient Earth and blogger at Naturalis Historia (thenaturalhistorian.com). He is an avid nature photographer and enjoys exploring God’s creation with his wife and five children.

What the Christian Faith is NOT - The Christian World of Abusive Religion

Sadly, the world of Christian terror and abuse is real. As said, it is abusive, controlling, and very effective in creating fear amongst households and congregational members. As a last resort to controlling a person, controlling families and churches will shun and excommunicate sons, daughters, wives, and church members from their family or faith assembly. Here is a report by The Associated Press following up on the worldwide church assembly of faith believers known as Word of Faith Fellowship. It is a story full of tragedy.

Should you or your family be a participant in a church fellowship like this than its time to leave. If you're shunned consider it a mercy. I have met too many of these tragic individuals to think kindly of their abusive family, friends or church. The world of religion gone wrong is a toxic world full of mangled good intentions become abusive and ungodly. It is not how faith is born, acts, or lives.

Always remember, the love of God is gentle, kind, tender, nourishing, and forgiving. If your faith assembly is not this than leave. Do not remain. Once escaped you can deal with the results afterwards. But you need to be in a safe place and to know the love of God is not this. Nor the Bible. Nor Christian teaching.

Sure, the bible has a lot of hard words to say to followers of God but remember these believers were struggling to understand God too. Just because they believed God to say do this, or to do that, doesn't mean they understood Him. More likely they understood him through their own "depraved religious" hearts than truly as Jesus heard Him centuries later. Jesus followed the same bible as Israel did but He rewrote its entirety underscored in the love of God over and over and over, again and again and again.

What abusive religions are teaching and saying - and you are experiencing - is the sin and evil of the religious human spirit. Sin cannot be beaten out of you - nor can holiness be brought into you - by coercive human act. Nor can godliness be made more real by acts of more restrictive penitence, or by denying bodily needs, and so on. These are human works trying to purchase God's love and acceptance by human means.

All of salvation - all of it - is based upon God's love and sacrifice for you on the Cross of Jesus. This is where salvation occurs - in God alone. It is freely given to you without need for anything on our end except that of acceptance and faith. The only result you should seek thereafter are the Christian graces (fruits) of love and forbearance, peace and hope, mercy and forgiveness. But not as threats, denials, or religious acts. There are no religious or human acts that can further effect the atonement God has wrought on your behalf. None. The grace of God is restorative.

And with restoration will come grace acts upon the soul by the Spirit as a consequence to God's love. Not ourselves. Though it may be awhile before this may happen. Abused souls have learned not to trust. Their hearts are hardened to any religious acts or promises made to them about God. No, recovery may take years. But through all the deep bitterness and anger know you are loved.

Further, no matter how sinful owe may feel about ourself or our actions know God loves you. Too often we are our worse judges made doubly so by the guilt and abuse we have grown up with from toxic relations brought upon us from significant people in our lives. If this is where you are then know you are deeply loved. It is one of the fundamental truths of the Christian faith. Jesus showed this in hundreds of ways in the bible to all kinds of people even though the church has failed to love a thousand times over in understanding, practicing, or preaching God's love. How deeply ironic and sad, don't you think?

Know that the only acceptable Christian faith is the one that is founded on love - not judgment. Not beatings. Not coercion. Not fear and threats. Love. Remember this. Its the stuff that will heal a broken soul and abused life. It is what I have learned against what religion taught me to be. You can too. A godly religion is one of love, peace, and deep spiritual satisfaction. This kind of faith - the one of love and loving - is hard enough - we don't need to add more chains to our souls by adding to God's perfect plan of atoning reconciliation by adding religious acts that gets us nowhere. Yes? Yes!

Peace my friend. Peace,

R.E. Slater

March 12, 2017

*The links below are related but caution is always urged the reader to discern what they read. - res

Related Links

Religious Cults Information - http://religiouscultsinfo.com/tag/broken-faith/

Religious Cults Quick Links - http://religiouscultsinfo.com/quick-links-by-subject-and-survivor-stories/

Ex-sect members tell AP: Prosecutors obstructed abuse cases, Mar. 6, 2017 4:20 PM EST

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Amazon Book List on Toxic Faith, Healing from Spiritual Abuse, etc - click here

Amazon Link

Amazon Link

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Ex-congregants of NC church reveal years of ungodly abuse

http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20170227/ex-congregants-of-nc-church-reveal-years-of-ungodly-abuse

by The Associated Press

Posted Feb 27, 2017 at 9:18 AM

Updated Feb 27, 2017 at 9:22 AM

Congregants of the Word of Faith Fellowship were regularly punched, choked, slammed to the floor or thrown through walls in a violent form of deliverance meant to "purify" sinners.

SPINDALE — From all over the world, they flocked to this tiny town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, lured by promises of inner peace and eternal life. What many found instead: years of terror — waged in the name of the Lord.

Congregants of the Word of Faith Fellowship were regularly punched, smacked, choked, slammed to the floor or thrown through walls in a violent form of deliverance meant to "purify" sinners by beating out devils, 43 former members told The Associated Press in separate, exclusive interviews.

Victims of the violence included pre-teens and toddlers — even crying babies, who were vigorously shaken, screamed at and sometimes smacked to banish demons.

"I saw so many people beaten over the years. Little kids punched in the face, called Satanists," said Katherine Fetachu, 27, who spent nearly 17 years in the church.

Word of Faith Fellowship, an evangelical church with hundreds of members in North Carolina and branches in other countries, also subjected members to a practice called "blasting" — an ear-piercing verbal onslaught often conducted in hours-long sessions meant to cast out devils.

As part of its investigation, the AP reviewed hundreds of pages of law enforcement, court and child welfare documents, along with hours of conversations with Jane Whaley, the church's controlling leader, secretly recorded by followers.

The AP also spent more than a year tracking down dozens of former disciples who scattered after leaving the church. Many initially were reluctant to break their silence because they had hidden their pasts from new friends and colleagues — and because they remain afraid of Whaley.

Those interviewed — most of them raised in the church — say Word of Faith leaders waged a decades-long cover-up to thwart investigations by law enforcement and social services officials, including strong-arming young victims and their parents to lie. They said members were forbidden to seek outside medical attention for their injuries, which included cuts, sprains and cracked ribs.

The former members said they were speaking out now due to guilt for not doing more to stop the abuse and because they fear for the safety of the children still in the church, believed to number about 100.

Several former followers said some congregants were sexually abused, including minors. On one recorded conversation, Whaley admits to being aware of the sexual assault of three boys but not reporting it to authorities.

In the past, Whaley has strongly denied that she or other church leaders have ever abused Word of Faith members and contended that any discipline would be protected by the First Amendment's freedom of religion tenets.

She and church attorney Josh Farmer turned down repeated AP requests for interviews to discuss the fresh allegations from the dozens of former congregants.

The ex-members said the violence was ever-present: Minors were taken from their parents and placed in ministers' homes, where they were beaten and blasted and sometimes completely cut off from their families for up to a decade. Some male congregants were separated from their families and other followers for up to a year and subjected to the same brutal treatment.

Teachers in the church's K-12 school encouraged students to beat their classmates for daydreaming, smiling and other behavior that leaders said proved they were possessed by devils.

"It wasn't enough to yell and scream at the devils. You literally had to beat the devils out of people," said Rick Cooper, 61, a U.S. Navy veteran who spent more than 20 years as a congregant and raised nine children in the church.

Word of Faith Fellowship has been scrutinized on numerous occasions by law enforcement, social services agencies and the news media since the early 1990s— all without significant impact, mostly because followers refused to cooperate.

Some former members offered a more doctrinal explanation for their decades of silence — frequent warnings by Whaley that God would strike them dead if they betrayed her or her church.

"We were warned to keep the abuse to ourselves. If we didn't, we knew we would be targeted. ... You lived in total fear," said Liam Guy, 29, an accountant who fled in 2015 after nearly 25 years in the church.

Word of Faith was founded in 1979 by Whaley, a petite former math teacher with a thick Southern accent, and her husband, Sam, a former used car salesman.

They are listed as co-pastors but all of those interviewed said it is Jane Whaley — a fiery, 77-year-old Christian Charismatic preacher — who maintains dictatorial control of the flock and also administers some of the beatings herself.

She has scores of strict rules to control congregants' lives, including whether they can marry or have children. At the top of the list: No one can complain about her or question her authority. Failure to comply often triggers a humiliating rebuke from the pulpit or, worse, physical punishment, according to most of those interviewed.

Under Jane Whaley's leadership, Word of Faith grew from a handful of followers to a 750-member sect, concentrated in a 35-acre complex protected by tight security and a thick line of trees.

The group also has nearly 2,000 members in churches in Brazil and Ghana, and affiliations with branches in other countries.

It was Whaley's personality as much as her message — "strong prayer" and deliverance turn around troubled lives and assure salvation — that attracted people to the church, former members said.

When she started Word of Faith in her early 40s, some of the former members recall her as a motherly figure offering hope to those struggling with alcohol and drugs, or stuck in bad marriages. She filled a spiritual and emotional void, showering new congregants with love and attention.

Those attending the church's twice-a-year international Bible seminars were encouraged to move to Spindale, a community of 4,300 midway between Charlotte and Asheville. It wasn't until they sold their homes and settled in North Carolina that the church's "dark side" gradually emerged, former members said.

By then — isolated from their families and friends, and believing Whaley was a prophet — they were afraid to leave, they said.

Looking back, some former members told the AP they that consider Word of Faith a cult.

"You had a strong leader who controlled everything in your life — where to live, work, who to talk to," Guy said. "You couldn't do anything without her permission. And she had people around her enforcing her law. Soon, you couldn't think for yourself. You had to do everything she said."

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SEXUAL ABUSE AND SCHOOL BEATINGS

The church's obsession with controlling sexual thoughts and "ungodly" carnal pleasure — especially lengthy interrogations of pre-teens and teens about masturbation — spilled into every aspect of congregants' lives, the former members say.

And, they say, when allegations of sexual abuse arose within the church, Whaley not only didn't report it but tried to hide it.

In 2012, in a three-hour conversation with a former congregant recorded without her knowledge, Whaley acknowledged she was aware of several instances of sexual abuse at Word of Faith.

In one case involving two boys, she said she failed to report the incident "because it had all stopped, and they were serving Jesus, and I found out about it way later." She also said that "because of ministerial confidentiality, I don't have to."

In fact, there is no such waiver for clergy in North Carolina. Whaley is required to report even allegations of abuse.

On the recording, Whaley explained why she had kept secret the sexual abuse of "an older youth" by another church member, saying she'd asked the victim: "'Do you want me to go to someone and report it? I'll report it to the police.' And he said no because it would smear his name."

One of the former members interviewed by the AP said he was sexually assaulted by a church member in 2009, when he was 15. The man, whose name is not being used because the AP does not identify victims of sexual assault, said Whaley convinced him not to go to the authorities by telling him he would be forced to relive the terrible details in court.

He said he didn't know then that Whaley was wrong when she warned him his "name would be in the newspapers. ... She said she was protecting me. She didn't want me to face an investigation."

Another former member said he was molested by a male church leader but was "too ashamed" and scared how Whaley would react to tell anyone. He said he saw the same leader inappropriately touch several male teens living in the minister's house, but did not report those incidents for the same reasons.

According to court records, a church leader was convicted in 1995 of molesting a 13-year-old girl placed in his home. Of that victim, Whaley said on the 2012 recording, "She was 13, but she looked 20."

Whaley recounted telling the local district attorney that the girl was partially responsible for the abuse because she previously had been sexually assaulted by a family member and others.

Whaley's teachings are rooted in the modern Word of Faith Movement, founded by the pastor Kenneth E. Hagin of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who preached the "prosperity gospel": Pray loud enough and God will answer your prayers.

Hagin said that if his followers faithfully prayed — and tithed generously to church leaders — they would see their reward this side of heaven, including financial riches, good health and sobriety.

It's a philosophy adopted by many televangelists with millions of followers, including Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer and Creflo Dollar.

But while other evangelical churches practice loud prayer and deliverance ceremonies to cleanse worshippers of devils, all those interviewed said Whaley's methods routinely carry discipline to violent extremes: She believes the devil has to be beaten out of sinners.

"I've seen her on multiple occasions ask: 'Did you throw her on the ground?' And when the person says 'Yes, we got the demon out,' Jane will say: 'I love it. I love it. Thank you, Jesus!'" said Sean Bryant, 29, who left the church last year.

Jay Plummer II of Tulsa, Oklahoma, now 28, remembers being subjected to deliverance as a teenager, where "they would shove you backward and grab your head — and just shake your head back and forth."

While a group of people screamed in his ears, Plummer said others jolted and hit him, "screaming and yelling: 'Come out devil!' 'You're unclean!' It was so violent — all those people around you, beating you, shaking you, yelling at you."

For several years, men and boys perceived as the worst sinners were kept in a four-room former storage facility in the compound called the Lower Building. They were cut off from their families for up to a year, never knew when they would be released, and endured especially violent, prolonged beatings and blastings, according to more than a dozen of those interviewed.

There is little Whaley does not control at Word of Faith, the former followers said:

Members can't watch television, go to the movies, read newspapers or eat in restaurants that play music or serve alcohol. Men cannot grow beards, and no one can buy a house or even a car without permission.

Sexual thoughts and intercourse are considered "ungodly" or "unclean," so adult members need permission to date, get married and even have sex after marriage. Ministers dole out condoms because couples are not allowed to have children without Whaley's authorization.

Several couples said they had to wait up to a year after their weddings before they were allowed to have sexual relations.

Two former members said a 20-year-old woman was repeatedly smacked and punched by a church leader who blamed her late menstrual cycle on pregnancy, when she hadn't obtained church permission to have a child. In fact, the victim said she'd never had sex with her husband; they'd only kissed — once.

"That was one of the worst beatings," said Rachael Bryant, 28, who left the church last year. "She started punching her in the chest, punching her in the stomach, slapping her in the face. It went on and on."

Sixteen of the former members said they were hit or beaten by Whaley, including two who said she banged their heads against a wall repeatedly. Another 14 said they saw her smack or assault others — including grabbing crying babies at services and aggressively shaking them to drive away the demons.

Tim Cornelius, 44, a nurse who left in 2013 after more than 20 years in the church, said that in the eyes of Word of Faith leaders, "The baby isn't hungry or needs to be changed. The baby is crying because they're possessed by a devil."

Some of the worst abuse involving children and teenagers took place inside the church-run school, according to former congregants.

Nearly half of the 43 ex-members interviewed said they themselves were hit dozens of times as students with wooden paddles and other objects, leaving deep welts, cuts, lacerations and other bruises that often made it difficult for them to sit and walk.

Among their transgressions: Smiling too much or not enough. Fidgeting in their seats. Answering a question too slowly.

Most of those interviewed said all it took to prompt a beating was for a teacher to believe a student was possessed by demons.

Whaley believes in all types of devils, the ex-members said. Ask too many questions, it's the "sneaky devil." It's the "buddy-buddy devil" if you become too friendly with another church member, and the "birthday devil" if you celebrate your special day. Worst of all is the "unclean devil," linked to dirty thoughts.

"You lived in fear," recalled 34-year-old Natasha Cherubino, who broke with the church in 2015 after nearly 20 years. "You could hear the yelling and screaming and the teachers being verbally abusive. You would sit at your desk and think 'I don't want to be hit like that.'"

Fourteen of those interviewed reported being blasted or beaten by classmates or having witnessed such attacks, violent behavior they said was sometimes encouraged by their teachers, including Whaley.

"I can't tell you how many times, in the middle of class, one child will turn to the other and say they have demons and the others will surround the child," said Rebeca Melo, 28, who taught at the school until she left Word of Faith in 2015."They're thrown to the floor and they're beaten. We're told not to stop it," she said.

Natasha Cherubino and her husband, Tiago, recall a time their then-6-year-old was giggling in school when classmates surrounded her.

"They started praying for my daughter and grabbed her by the neck. They started strangling her," Tiago Cherubino said.

John Cooper, who spent a few years working as a teacher's aide in Jane Whaley's class, said Whaley encouraged the violence and warned students not to say anything to their parents.

Many of those interviewed recalled frequent interrogations focused on sexual thoughts and practices, especially masturbation by boys and young teens.

"They wanted to know how I masturbated," said ex-member Jamey Anderson, 28, who spent much of his childhood inside Word of Faith. "They just had this creepy obsession with sex. Why would you ask kids about masturbation? Most of us didn't know what the word meant."

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'THE TRUTH NEEDS TO BE TOLD'

Over the years, various investigations into Word of Faith Fellowship have failed in large part because of the lack of cooperation from church members, according to the hundreds of pages of documents obtained by the AP.

In 1995, for example, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation interviewed dozens of former members, along with Whaley and other sect leaders, about abuse allegations.

ven though investigators determined congregants, including children, had been abused — and a few said they'd be willing to testify — the district attorney ultimately declined to prosecute. Then-DA Jeff Hunt concluded that the evidence was weak and any prosecution would be stymied by most victims' recalcitrance.

Many of those interviewed said they were ordered at an early age to lie to and mislead investigators to protect Whaley and her closest confederates.

They said strategy sessions were convened where children and parents were coached on how to answer key questions. Several church members who work in local government offered insider advice on how to sidestep pointed inquiries, the ex-congregants said.

Whether the injuries were black eyes, cuts, bruises, bloody noses, sprained limbs or possibly broken bones, the former members said victims were ordered by ministers to "take hold" and deal with any pain internally.

In the one pending criminal case related to the church, five congregants were indicted on kidnapping and assault charges, accused of trying to beat the "homosexual demons" out of member Matthew Fenner during a Jan. 27, 2013, deliverance session.

"I thought I was going to die," Fenner told the AP.

Fenner said he spent nearly two years pushing law enforcement to investigate before the district attorney finally presented the case to a grand jury. Four ex-followers interviewed by the AP said they witnessed the attack.

The case remains pending and has been delayed multiple times due to legal wrangling, including an unsuccessful attempt by the church to have the same law firm represent all five defendants. The law firm's principal partners are Word of Faith members.

The legal delays have raised concerns among those interviewed that the abuse might never be stopped.

"Jane's core beliefs are blasting and violent deliverance. She will not stop until she's put in prison," Sean Bryant said. "Everybody inside the church — especially the children — are at risk."

Bryant spent more than half of his life in Word of Faith, but said he left to protect his wife and their 1-year-old daughter.

He recounted a time in 2015 when Whaley interrupted her sermon to grab his crying daughter from his wife. When a worshipper asked Rachael Bryant what happened, Whaley snapped, he said.

"Jane started screaming at her to shut up and to stop releasing the demons at the baby," he said. "She totally humiliated her in front of 500 people. I was so freaking mad, but I just stood there like stone."

Many former members said they also are upset that prior investigations have gone nowhere or resulted in "slaps on the wrist."

"I feel like the truth needs to be told because the truth has been hidden for so long," said Benjamin Cooper, the 30-year-old son of Rick Cooper.

Given what they characterize as Whaley's record for retribution against those she sees as traitors, the former members said they hope there is strength and protection in speaking out in numbers.

"For most of my life, I lived in fear. I'm not scared anymore," John Cooper said.

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LASTING EFFECTS

Many of those interviewed by the AP were young children when their parents joined the tight-knit Word of Faith community. As mandated, they attended the school on the compound grounds and were ordered to mix only with other congregants when off church property.

Almost all the church's followers live clustered in neighborhoods near the compound, with as many as two dozen disciples crammed into a single house.

Fifteen of the former members spoke of being removed from their parents and made to live with church elders, sometimes shuffled from house to house. During that time, they said, they were mostly forbidden to have contact with their parents.

Some of those ex-followers said they were made to work in businesses owned by the ministers housing them, often for little or no pay.

"We grew up as if we were orphans because our parents were so removed from our life. All of us were to the point that we believed that there was almost no chance we would be saved," said Benjamin Cooper, one of those kept from his family for a decade.

Most of the abuse occurred within the compound, the former followers said, but 12 of those interviewed said they were beaten in the homes of church leaders.

Another Cooper sibling, Jeffrey, a 34-year-old attorney, said he's still haunted by an attack he witnessed in 2013.

Hearing screams from down a hallway, he said he opened a bathroom door and saw a church leader standing over a teenager pinned to the floor.

"He hit him at least 25 times. You could hear the whacks down the hall," Cooper said, fighting back tears.

Cooper said he considered the violence "felony child abuse." But like others interviewed, he said he didn't try to stop the beating or report it to police because he was afraid he would become a target of God's wrath — or Whaley's.

John Cooper recounted what happened to him at a meeting of nearly three dozen young ministers on April 12, 2012, when he was 19.

One by one, the ministers were sharing stories of how they were serving God. When it was Cooper's turn, a church elder interrupted and accused him of "giving in to the unclean" — a catchall phrase covering a wide array of sins. Suddenly, Cooper said, he was pinned to the floor and pummeled for a half-hour, accused of having erotic fantasies.

When the assault ended, Cooper said his body was covered with bruises and he had trouble breathing for weeks.

Danielle Cordes, a 22-year-old business major at the University of Florida who spent 17½ years inside Word of Faith, recalled numerous beatings by Whaley and other church leaders.

Seemingly innocuous behavior warranted a beating to expel the devil — perhaps asking a question, or wanting to play outside.

"We would be in the bathroom for hours and hours and hours," she said. "They would hit you 12, 15 times, then they would stop and pray for you, and shake you. Then they would do it again."

"When you're young, you don't understand what's going on, why they're hitting you," said Cordes, who left Word of Faith in 2013. "You didn't do anything wrong. You weren't causing trouble, but you think you're a bad person because they're beating you in the name of God."

Former member Anna Eiss recalled a sexually tinged incident at the church school, when she was 6. While resting on the floor during naptime, she said she put her hands between her legs to keep warm. A teacher saw her and accused her of masturbating.

"I didn't even know what that meant," said Eiss, now 20 and a military policewoman in the South Carolina National Guard.

Eiss said she was forced to sleep with her hands touching her head and that the ministers she was living with would wake her and beat her if her hands weren't in the correct position.

"You're living in total fear," she said. "There's no one to help you. You're all alone."

For the former church members, the memories — and the nightmares — never seem to fade, and they said they live in fear for their family members and the children still inside.

Cordes said she has deep psychological scars from spending more than three-quarters of her life in Whaley's world.

She remembers the last time she tried to visit her parents' house, three years ago. Her father slammed the door in her face without saying a word.

To this day, whenever she calls, family members hang up.

"I need my family and they're gone," she said.

Many spoke of experiencing severe depression and anxiety.

Greg Parker, 42, who changed his surname to his grandfather's when he left in 2003, said he went to therapists for years.

"They likened it to someone being in a war and coming out," he said.

In May, 10 years after fleeing the church, Jamey Anderson graduated from the University of North Carolina law school. But he remains emotionally broken; his mother and brother still belong to the church and will have nothing to do with him.

"What they did to us was sick," he said of the church's leaders.

The patriarch of the large Cooper clan agrees.

"You're cut off from everyone in the world. The church — and Jane — is the only thing you know," Rick Cooper said. "You believe she's a prophet — she has a pipeline to God. So you stand by while she rips your family apart. I'm not sure how you ever get over that."

Recalling other church groups that have led to deadly confrontations, John Cooper said it is critical to break the "cycle of abuse" before the violence escalates.

"What's going on now isn't right," he said.

Added Melo, the former teacher: "The children are in danger."

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The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at investigate@ap.org