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.