The Church of Jesus and The Apostles Today?

Kip McKean and the builders of the International Christian Church claim that the ICC is the reappearance in modern times of Jesus' Church.

God's One True Church!

YHWH's Sovereign Movement! Of Sold-Out Disciples!

(Aside: Ever think about the term, "Sold-Out"? And the fact that it refers to money? And materialism?)

They claim that the Faithful, Baptized members of the ICC are (almost without exception) the Only True Christians and Saved People in the Whole Wide World.

Let's see... These are pretty dramatic claims. Do you think they will hold up to scrutiny?

One, money. In Jesus' church, there was not a constant drumbeat for the members to give more and more and more money. In fact, many leaders in the early church took no salary, and those who did received the same meager amount that was given to widows in the church to live on. That's not much!

No $650,000 condos or $300,000 annual salaries like in Kip's churches in more recent times. Here's a blog post I wrote a couple months ago talking more in depth about how Kip's church treats the topic of money differently than Jesus' church did. And here's a bit more on the topic of money in Kip's churches. And there will be more still, later.

Two,

KipMcKean.com And Church Bullying

I'm starting to recognize a pattern here. So sad that it took me as long as it did to connect the dots.

Did you ever see the website KipMcKean.com? A former member of one of Kip's churches set it up to give the public information about Kip's controversial ministry and the story of the churches that he leads. That is, until Kip and his agents bullied the site owner into turning over the domain to the church so that they could use it as a propaganda tool. This is great for the church because all of the links that used to go to the objective website, KipMcKean.com, now lead to the propaganda website that Kip controls at the same address. So most Google searches that had previously lead to accurate, objective, and true information about the church, now lead to rosy-colored, "official," church-sponsored propaganda.

Kip used a bullying tactic to seize the domain, including legal threats like this letter, written, by the way, by a former roommate of mine.

Golden Nuggets of Advice

Here are some of the pieces of advice I received from my discipler, Victor Gonzalez Sr, while under his leadership in the City of Angels International Christian Church:

While dating my future wife, who came to the US as an adult non-English speaker: Don't let her learn English, so you can control her better. (For the record, I have helped and encouraged her to learn and improve her English, which is now very good).

A Letter To A Young Disciple - Control

This is the third in a series of letters written to new or prospective members of the International Christian Church (ICC) led by Kip McKean. These are things that I wish that someone had brought to my attention at age 18 when I joined, and before I wasted 15 good years of my life.

The purpose of the church is control. The church exists to control. If the church is not controlling, it is not fulfilling its function.

Letter To A Young Disciple - Lost And Saved

Are you baptized, or thinking about doing it? Is someone you love studying with the church or become a member already?

This is the second in a series of letters that I am writing about things that I wish I had known or fully realized before investing years of my life in Kip McKean's churches.

There is no other way to say this. Kip's church believes that it is the only one saved on the planet. Yes, they will say that this is not true, but this is more for political reasons than anything. Coming right out and saying, "We are the only saved ones on the planet!" tends to turn people off pretty quickly.

Letter To A Young Disciple - Money

Thinking of getting baptised? Already did? The following is the first in a series of letters describing what I wish I knew before I spent so many of my prime years in Kip McKean's churches.

Jesus is represented by the church in modern times and he - they - want(s) EVERYTHING. When I left the church, I was giving approximately 25% of my disposable income to the church, and they were pressuring me to give even more. I was also doing church activities 6-7 days a week besides working a full-time job and raising a family.

La Mentira, El Robo, y La Amenaza, Parte III

(Read this in English)

(Artículo Principal) (La Parte 1) (La Parte 2) (La Parte 3)

Entonces aquel día, no tantos meses después de las mentiras, robo y amenazas descritos en las partes uno y dos de mi historia, VGSr nos pidió ir a reunirnos con él en su apartamento, que quedaba cerca de donde vivíamos.

Fuimos a verlo, y ya tenía otra pareja de casados esperando, DJ y VJ. VGSr me dijo que estaba preocupado por como estaba yo espiritualmente. (El asunto verdadero fue que tenía unas semanas que no daba mi pago semanal a la iglesia.)

La Mentira, El Robo, y La Amenaza, Parte II

(Read this in English)

(Artículo Principal) (La Parte 1) (La Parte 2) (La Parte 3)

Entonces pasaron unos años. Mis dudas de la integridad de VGSr seguían acumulando. Desde que lo conocí, seguido tenía la sensación que estaba mintiendo. Pero nunca podía cacharlo en una clara mentira. Usualmente mis dudas estaban cerca de cosas que no podía verificar tan fácilmente, y las pocas veces que le pregunté acerca de detalles se ofendía, y entonces no le presioné. Razonaba, si está mintiendo, tarde que temprano va a salir a la luz. Y si no está mintiendo, voy a estar metiendo la pata no más.

Entonces, después de pasar la misma sensación por cientas de veces, o aproximadamente cada vez que VGSr abría la boca, llegó la hora cuando pude probar de una forma definitiva si mis sospechas fueran basadas en la verdad o no....

La Mentira, El Robo, y La Amenaza, Parte I

(Read this in English)

(Artículo Principal) (La Parte 1) (La Parte 2) (La Parte 3)

Cantidades chiquitas de dinero, prestadas poco a poco, y siempre recibidas con promesas y promesas de muy pronto devolverlo todo, se volvieron miles de dólares (ya sé, fui muy tonto). Una parte fue que le presté un teléfono en mi nombre, el cual agregó unos cientos de dólares cada mes por varios meses.

Pero llegué al punto donde me di cuenta que sus promesas de pagarme fueron vacías en su mejor momento, y más probablemente plenas mentiras no más. Mientras yo miraba, VGSr* gastaba dinero por todos lados y por muchas cosas tontitas que para mí eran mucho menos importantes que el intentar pagarme por lo menos un dólar de lo que me debía. Entonces dejé tajantemente de prestarle.

Pero él, siendo el tipo muy listo y manipulador que es, y yo, siendo el tonto lento y que presta demasiada confianza, me dejé atrapar una vez más...

El Porque Yo Salí De La Iglesia De Kip McKean

(Read the original version in English / Lée la versión original en inglés)

Mi historia, de la cual cada palabra es la mera verdad, ha sido dividida en tres partes:

La Parte Numero Uno, donde uno de los líderes principales de la iglesia me roba miles de dólares con mentiras y chantaje y luego me calla (por un tiempo) con sus amenazas.

La Parte Numero Dos, donde me entero que las mentiras llegan mucho más allá que yo me había dado cuenta; y donde me doy cuenta que el buscar ayuda con los líderes principales no sirve para nada. (liga en en inglés por ahora)

Y La Parte Numero Tres, donde Kip McKean y otros líderes amenazan con destruir a mi familia si intento mudarme para otro lado.

Lejos de ser fácil o divertido para mí hablar o escribir acerca de esas cosas, lo he evitado por mucho tiempo. Sin embargo, aquí estoy compartiendo a mi historia de una forma pública por primera vez para que otras personas puedan saber y en la esperanza que puedo evitar que otra persona pase por una trauma parecida.

Discúlpenme por mientras que traduzco a las tres partes de mi historia, y discúlpenme también por favor por mis faltas de ortografía y gramática en español.

Gracias por leer y que Dios les bendiga.