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Author: James E. Larue
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692475355
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 188
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Book Description
The Church of Bible Understanding (COBU) had a presence in many cities in the United States during the late seventies and eighties. It was well known in New York City for its Christian Brothers Carpet Cleaning business, which was such a regular part of the fabric of city life that it was parodied (as Sunshine Carpet Cleaners) on an episode of Seinfeld. Its 39.95 Carpet Cleaning Special flyers were slipped under many doors and left in many apartment lobbies. Unlike other religious organizations whose zealous devotees stood on corners selling flowers, the COBU brothers and sisters gave live demos of the cleansing power of their carpet cleaning machines on city street corners. The carpet cleaning business raised money to start orphanages in Haiti. COBU still has a presence in the New York City and several other cities. It left the carpet business for its more successful architectural antique business called Olde Good Things. COBU was recently in the news when Haitian authorities threatened to close the orphanages down because of the poor conditions there. News stories contrasted the high earnings of these stores with the run down condition of the orphanages. This book describes how James LaRue, a young seeker of truth, was approached in a mall by a cult member and how he joined the group and stayed in it for fourteen years. It is not as much a history of The Church of Bible Understanding as it is a story from the viewpoint of the average member of a cult. Though James's descriptions of daily cult life, the reader has a front row view of the kind of manipulation, lies, harassment and abuse practiced by the cult's leadership and particularly by Stewart Traill, COBU's self-appointed pastor who had "the only true method of Bible interpretation," a man who portrayed himself as a right Christian example and the restorer of Christianity to its original purity (which he said had been lost since the time of the Apostles), who, behind closed doors, kept a harem of young women while denying marriage to his followers under the pretext that they were not faithful enough to God to be able to get married. He was a man who preached poverty, chastity and obedience to his followers, while amassing a private fortune, having many female devotees and being accountable to no one. Stewart Traill began his career preaching about being born again and the second coming of Christ, but over the years, his teachings increasingly centered on death, hell and damnation. The man who once told his followers to go out into the highways and byways to compel people to come to God's kingdom was now slamming the gates of heaven in their faces and telling them they were not worthy of entering and that instead, the fires of hell awaited them. Many people left the organization because of this treatment, but what this meant for those who remained was that there was a smaller and more dedicated group of those who believed in this way and who were willing to put up with this treatment. This meant an ever-tightening net of social pressure among members to conform to cult life. Fanaticism and a militant way of life replaced church members' original zeal to proclaim the gospel. It was a live-in situation where church members monitored one another and reported to "Brother Stewart," as he was called. The treadmill of work in the church's businesses and sleep deprivation caused by meetings that lasted until the early hours of the morning made sure members were too tired to think rationally, and combined with a highly loaded language and sloganizing that stifled thought, it created an undertow that swept members off the normal moorings of life and along with the current of cult life. The story documents James's entry into the cult as a true believer, his experiences there and finally, his effort to come to terms with this way of life, to understand the processes he was being subjected to and controlled by and finally, how he was able to break free from its influence.
Author: James E. Larue
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692475355
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 188
Get Book
Book Description
The Church of Bible Understanding (COBU) had a presence in many cities in the United States during the late seventies and eighties. It was well known in New York City for its Christian Brothers Carpet Cleaning business, which was such a regular part of the fabric of city life that it was parodied (as Sunshine Carpet Cleaners) on an episode of Seinfeld. Its 39.95 Carpet Cleaning Special flyers were slipped under many doors and left in many apartment lobbies. Unlike other religious organizations whose zealous devotees stood on corners selling flowers, the COBU brothers and sisters gave live demos of the cleansing power of their carpet cleaning machines on city street corners. The carpet cleaning business raised money to start orphanages in Haiti. COBU still has a presence in the New York City and several other cities. It left the carpet business for its more successful architectural antique business called Olde Good Things. COBU was recently in the news when Haitian authorities threatened to close the orphanages down because of the poor conditions there. News stories contrasted the high earnings of these stores with the run down condition of the orphanages. This book describes how James LaRue, a young seeker of truth, was approached in a mall by a cult member and how he joined the group and stayed in it for fourteen years. It is not as much a history of The Church of Bible Understanding as it is a story from the viewpoint of the average member of a cult. Though James's descriptions of daily cult life, the reader has a front row view of the kind of manipulation, lies, harassment and abuse practiced by the cult's leadership and particularly by Stewart Traill, COBU's self-appointed pastor who had "the only true method of Bible interpretation," a man who portrayed himself as a right Christian example and the restorer of Christianity to its original purity (which he said had been lost since the time of the Apostles), who, behind closed doors, kept a harem of young women while denying marriage to his followers under the pretext that they were not faithful enough to God to be able to get married. He was a man who preached poverty, chastity and obedience to his followers, while amassing a private fortune, having many female devotees and being accountable to no one. Stewart Traill began his career preaching about being born again and the second coming of Christ, but over the years, his teachings increasingly centered on death, hell and damnation. The man who once told his followers to go out into the highways and byways to compel people to come to God's kingdom was now slamming the gates of heaven in their faces and telling them they were not worthy of entering and that instead, the fires of hell awaited them. Many people left the organization because of this treatment, but what this meant for those who remained was that there was a smaller and more dedicated group of those who believed in this way and who were willing to put up with this treatment. This meant an ever-tightening net of social pressure among members to conform to cult life. Fanaticism and a militant way of life replaced church members' original zeal to proclaim the gospel. It was a live-in situation where church members monitored one another and reported to "Brother Stewart," as he was called. The treadmill of work in the church's businesses and sleep deprivation caused by meetings that lasted until the early hours of the morning made sure members were too tired to think rationally, and combined with a highly loaded language and sloganizing that stifled thought, it created an undertow that swept members off the normal moorings of life and along with the current of cult life. The story documents James's entry into the cult as a true believer, his experiences there and finally, his effort to come to terms with this way of life, to understand the processes he was being subjected to and controlled by and finally, how he was able to break free from its influence.
Author: S K Tham
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1514442264
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 202
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Book Description
In this book, I would like you to come on a journey with me. It is a journey that I have been on, and I want to retrace the route that I have taken. Some parts of the journey may be familiar to you, but other parts may be new and sometimes scary. My journey is by no means at its end yet, but the delight that I have experienced beckons me to tell others and to take others along this journey. Many times along the way, I had to discard the cultural baggage that I had carried along because they became burdensome and prevented me from going further. I then had to adorn a totally new attire and at times change my lenses to see things clearer. I was reluctant to do that at first, but the moment I tried on the new lenses, I saw things that I had never seen before. That was exciting. Things came into much sharper focus. However, the distant view remained hazy, but this only made me more determined to journey on. With each new step I took, I saw a little more. Somehow the haze of the distant hills never lifted. It remained. I was only given a clear view of the immediate surroundings. Over time I became contended with that view knowing that in this journey the delight is limitless. (S K Tham) Those who have struggled with cross-cultural communication of the Word of God will find this book a great assistance. It is not that here at last is a method we can employ that will remove the barriers we face, but there is an explanation and one that is not restricted to any particular ‘Christian’ cultural group. Siew Kiong Tham has argued that the basic problem is not anthropological or cultural—it is theological. Knowing the triune God and having that knowledge effect Christian living and relationships lies at the heart of all we are about as believers and proclaimers. (Rev Dr Ian Pennicook, New Creation Teaching Ministry, NSW) We see our own culture as inviolable. Apart from Christ, it represents our lasting and ‘sacred’ endeavours. It fits us with ‘the way things are done’. Dr Tham shows us that we may not simply overlay our culture with a form of external Christianity. The delivery of grace by the present reigning Lord Jesus can never be drooped over our culture as a better moral system that simply tidies up some minor cultural loose ends. The culture of the Father’s family must break through as the culture of love seen and known only in the Cross. Only there do we discover the Father’s lasting and sacred endeavours to form His culture within humanity. (Brian Arthur, Pastor, Bethel Christian Church)
Author: Samuel C. Heilman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351487264
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 398
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Book Description
Via a participant-observer approach, Synagogue Life analyzes the three essential dimensions of synagogue life: the houses of prayer, study, and assembly. In each Heilman documents the rich detail of the synagogue experience while articulating the social and cultural drama inherent in them. He illustrates how people come to the synagogue not only for spiritual purposes but also to find out where and how they fit into life in the neighborhood in which they share.In his new introduction, Heilman discusses what led him to write this book and the process of personal transformation through which he, as an Orthodox Jew, had to go in order to turn a disciplined eye on the world from which he came. Rather than using the stranger-as-native approach of classic anthropology, he had instead to begin as a native who discoverd how to look at a once-taken-for-granted synagogue life like a stranger. In the afterword, arguing for the efficacy of this approach, Heilman offers guidance on how natives can use their special familiarity and still be trained to distance themselves from their own group, making use of the disciplines of sociology and anthropology. Synagogue Life offers a fascinating portrait that has something to say to social scientists as well as all those curious about what happens in the main arena of Orthodox Jewish community life.
Author: Andrew Newman
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469643464
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 237
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Book Description
Presenting an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to colonial America's best-known literary genre, Andrew Newman analyzes depictions of reading, writing, and recollecting texts in Indian captivity narratives. While histories of literacy and colonialism have emphasized the experiences of Native Americans, as students in missionary schools or as parties to treacherous treaties, captivity narratives reveal what literacy meant to colonists among Indians. Colonial captives treasured the written word in order to distinguish themselves from their Native captors and to affiliate with their distant cultural communities. Their narratives suggest that Indians recognized this value, sometimes with benevolence: repeatedly, they presented colonists with books. In this way and others, Scriptures, saintly lives, and even Shakespeare were introduced into diverse experiences of colonial captivity. What other scholars have understood more simply as textual parallels, Newman argues instead may reflect lived allegories, the identification of one's own unfolding story with the stories of others. In an authoritative, wide-ranging study that encompasses the foundational New England narratives, accounts of martyrdom and cultural conversion in New France and Mohawk country in the 1600s, and narratives set in Cherokee territory and the Great Lakes region during the late eighteenth century, Newman opens up old tales to fresh, thought-provoking interpretations.
Author: Raymond Rivera
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802869017
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 173
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Book Description
Liberty to the Captives is a book for any Christians who want to learn how to bring hope and redemption to their communities — for those who are ready to step beyond their comfort zone, leave the status quo behind, and take up Christ's call to minister within a world crying out for the freedom only God can bring. Longtime pastor Raymond Rivera's testimony of a life completely turned around — from gang member to RCA pastor — underscores his powerful message. Full of practical advice about how holistic community-based ministry can bring transformation, healing, and liberation from captivity, Liberty to the Captives encourages Christians to respond to God's call by ministering wherever God has placed them. Based on over forty-five years of pastoring inner-city churches, Rivera's inspiring vision challenges all Christians to think again about how their faith should lead to social action and defense of society's most vulnerable people.
Author: Martin Luther
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781520355672
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 108
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Book Description
Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (October 1520) was the second of the three major treatises published by Martin Luther in 1520, coming after the Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (August 1520) and before On the Freedom of a Christian (November 1520). It was a theological treatise, and as such was published in Latin as well as German, the language in which the treatises were written.In this work Luther examines the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church in the light of his interpretation of the Bible. With regard to the Eucharist, he advocates restoring the cup to the laity, dismisses the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation but affirms the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, and rejects the teaching that the Mass is a sacrifice offered to God.
Author: Thomas P. O'Connor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0789019760
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 304
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Book Description
This book reviews current research from several disciplines to help you understand the nature and impact of the relationship between faith-based programs, religion, and offender rehabilitation. Religion, the Community, and the Rehabilitation of Criminal Offenders is a unique resourcethere has been very little research published on this important topic. This pathbreaking book points the way to a system of faith-based programs that are not only effective but are also economically sound.
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Administrative procedure
Languages : en
Pages : 726
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Book Description
Author: Thom Schultz
Publisher: Group Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 1470709635
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256
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Book Description
This book will forever change the way you think about church! The statistics are clear: The American church is in decline. People are leaving in astounding numbers, with no sign of a turnaround. And despite church leaders’ best efforts to stem the tide, more than 80 percent of people are finding something better to do on Sunday mornings. Why? Is there hope for the future of the church? In this groundbreaking new book, Thom and Joani Schultz expose the church practices that are driving people away and thwarting spiritual growth. Yet they also reveal what can bring them back—the four keys to reaching the “unchurched” and the “dechurched.” The bad news? Your church is probably missing the mark when it comes to the core of Christianity. The good news? There’s hope. Lots of it. The truth may surprise you...but it can also transform your ministry into something truly irresistible.
Author: Daniel Hershenzon
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812295366
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300
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Book Description
In The Captive Sea, Daniel Hershenzon explores the entangled histories of Muslim and Christian captives—and, by extension, of the Spanish Empire, Ottoman Algiers, and Morocco—in the seventeenth century to argue that piracy, captivity, and redemption helped shape the Mediterranean as an integrated region at the social, political, and economic levels. Despite their confessional differences, the lives of captives and captors alike were connected in a political economy of ransom and communication networks shaped by Spanish, Ottoman, and Moroccan rulers; ecclesiastic institutions; Jewish, Muslim, and Christian intermediaries; and the captives themselves, as well as their kin. Hershenzon offers both a comprehensive analysis of competing projects for maritime dominance and a granular investigation of how individual lives were tragically upended by these agendas. He takes a close look at the tightly connected and ultimately failed attempts to ransom an Algerian Muslim girl sold into slavery in Livorno in 1608; the son of a Spanish marquis enslaved by pirates in Algiers and brought to Istanbul, where he converted to Islam; three Spanish Trinitarian friars detained in Algiers on the brink of their departure for Spain in the company of Christians they had redeemed; and a high-ranking Ottoman official from Alexandria, captured in 1613 by the Sicilian squadron of Spain. Examining the circulation of bodies, currency, and information in the contested Mediterranean, Hershenzon concludes that the practice of ransoming captives, a procedure meant to separate Christians from Muslims, had the unintended consequence of tightly binding Iberia to the Maghrib.
