• “What is a Cult?” ~Barbara Grover
  
  “A cult is a needy attitude, weeping for acceptance. Some groups or religions encourage it, resulting in being called a cult. A cult is like an idol taking the place of the worship of God, desiring man’s approval instead of God’s approval. This process can begin anywhere for any reason, in the pressure cooker of any group or peer group.
  
  Some churches and sects will take advantage of this very human need, grooming followers for approval worship. Consider Jim Jones, who led his followers into the Valley of Death.
  
  What about religions teaching doctrines contrary to God’s Word? None of these would succeed if it were not for the followers who do not study God’s Word for themselves, but prefer to believe whatever they are told, to simply “belong” to the group/religion of which they belong.”
  
• ► “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Tenneson
  Explains how men would prefer death over losing honor within their group.
  
   ‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’
  Was there a man dismay’d?
  Not tho’ the soldier knew
  Someone had blunder’d:
  
  Their’s not to make reply,
  Their’s not to reason why,
  Their’s but to do and die:
  
  Into the valley of Death
  Storm’d at with shot and shell,
  Boldly they rode and well,
  Into the jaws of Death,
  Into the mouth of Hell
  
  • The mouth of death and hell is the future for followers of evil leaders who twist the truth for their own gain, or inept leaders where “Someone had blunder’d”.
    
  • Revelation 6:8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them (the riders) over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
    
• ►The Mexican Mafia
  
  Frank Limón chose to join the Mexican Mafia and shot a black male named Eric Green.
  
  Green and a friend of his were stopped at a stop sign on 11th Street and Pomona (in Pomona), and Limón just came up to him and shot him in the head, wounding him severely. Green is partially paralyzed, he’s developed cognitive disorders, and he walks slowly, because the bullet is lodged in his brain and can’t be removed.
  
  Limón grew up next to black families in the neighborhood. He and Green knew each other and had no problems with each other personally. In fact, Limón used to go to Green’s birthday parties when they were kids.
  
  Limón started shooting at black kids because his Mexican Mafia had “green lighted” (an ethnic cleansing) all blacks in the neighborhood. And when you hook up with a gang that’s loyal to the Mexican Mafia, the Mexican Mafia comes before God, your family, and your friends, even childhood friends. When they tell you to do something, you gotta do it.
  
  You have to understand, these gang members are looking to go to jail or prison. They expect it. To them, it’s just an extension of the streets. All their friends are there, their family’s there, all their ol’ homies from growing up in the ‘hood, they’re all there. But if they want to remain a part of that culture, and if they want to be under the Mexican Mafia’s protection, they have to obey the Mexican Mafia’s rules and follow their orders, inside and outside the penal system.
  
  https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2007/gang-expert-tony-rafael-discusses-mexican-mafia-known-la-eme
  
• ► Jim Jones Kool-Aid Poisoning
  
  Thousands died when they voluntarily or forcefully took poison because they were told to.
  
  Ms Wagner-Wilson, the sole survivor of the Jonestown massacre, told Fox News: “There’s a need. People want to be a part of something. They want to feel safe; they want to feel a sense of community. And all the time, Jones was convincing his followers to sell their homes and sign over their salaries to his movement. The press began asking questions.
  
  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jonestown-massacre-documentary-40-years-drink-kool-aid-jim-jones-what-happened-mass-suicide-cult-a8232856.html
  

Ironically, a cult cannot exist in a church, a school, a prison, or any other place unless there are two elements: a cult leader and a very needy person eager to belong.

This fact alone behooves us to “examine ourselves”.

1. How “needy” are we to belong to a group?
2. If we are needy to belong, are we also needy to have “followers”? (Do we need to be needed?)
3. When it comes to a relationship with God, do we simply follow church doctrine, or do we read the scriptures for ourselves?
4. Are we allowed to ask questions without being judged or punished?
5. Do I question what I am told, or do I do further research?
6. Can I say “no” to a request? (If I can’t say ‘no’, then I’m really not saying yes).
7. Do I feel guilty about saying “no”?
8. Am I passive, assertive, or aggressive? (Assertiveness is not being Aggressive. It’s being honest and authentic.)

• “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Matthew 10:16
  

Don’t Be Naive

A cult is located within our sinful nature and our empty hearts, which cannot be healed without a true relationship with God.

The miracle of the Bible (among many) is that when read, it can speak to anyone at any level of understanding through the Holy Spirit, from the “waders” to the “deep divers”.

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