One of the most glaring indicators that this is so is that you have been lead to believe you get all your Christian knowledge and instincts from the leader or pastor. If you have not, possibly for years, done any of your own learning from the Bible, and if you often say things like, "Pastor Wonderful says thus and so.....," you are in a cult church.
If you believe your local church is the only church that is totally correct in its teaching, you are a cult member.
If you invite people you meet to your church instead of inviting them to Jesus Christ, you are in a cult church.
If you got your standards for living from the pastor, or from the Bible college he attended, you are in a cult. You have not come to your standards by study of the Bible and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
If your pastor can demand you attend every service of the church no matter what amount of suffering or trouble it causes you, you are in a cult.
If your pastor, sir, puts demands on your wife and older children, and you let him do it, you are in a cult.
If you cannot be right with God unless you are right with your pastor, you are a slave of a cult leader.
If you defend your pastor's behavior no matter what stupid thing he does, you are in a cult.
If you give until you are depriving your kids and wife of things they need, you are a dog, and you are in a cult.
If you believe your local church is the only church that is totally correct in its teaching, you are a cult member.
If you invite people you meet to your church instead of inviting them to Jesus Christ, you are in a cult church.
If you got your standards for living from the pastor, or from the Bible college he attended, you are in a cult. You have not come to your standards by study of the Bible and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
If your pastor can demand you attend every service of the church no matter what amount of suffering or trouble it causes you, you are in a cult.
If your pastor, sir, puts demands on your wife and older children, and you let him do it, you are in a cult.
If you cannot be right with God unless you are right with your pastor, you are a slave of a cult leader.
If you defend your pastor's behavior no matter what stupid thing he does, you are in a cult.
If you give until you are depriving your kids and wife of things they need, you are a dog, and you are in a cult.
If you got excommunicated for asking your pastor a clarification of a claim he made, you just got tossed out of a cult. Be thankful, and............... don't do it again please.
THE SOLUTION:
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Only a simple dim bulb fool hangs around a mob where he is the slave of an ego driven man.
THE SOLUTION:
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Only a simple dim bulb fool hangs around a mob where he is the slave of an ego driven man.
If you are going to learn doctrine, as verse 17 suggests, you will have to study the Bible for yourself. If you refuse, you may not even be born again. When, and if, you get to Heaven, a man will walk up to you and ask, "I am Habakkuk. Did you happen to read my book?" And, you will say, "I did not read the book, but I think I saw the movie on Netflix. Wasn't John Wayne the star of that one?"
