Is Your New Testament Christian Church PASTOR a NARCISSISTIC LEADER?

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Part One: The Servicemen's Homes in New Testament Christian Church (NTCC) --Maps & Testimonial Comments - Please Take Note Of These & Avoid!!

 
Part One: The Servicemen's Home & Church Model 

                          I've interspersed some testimonies/comments AND videos from the                              Stay Away From NTCC YouTube Channel 

3.8 miles from Fort Sill, Oklahoma

5.5 miles  from Fort Drum, New York

"Some are more skilled at this manipulative tactic than others. When they're heavy 

on the love bombing, moments like these are more palatable. This is how they get you. It's really an exercise to prep them for their seminary. 

By the time they get to Graham, they're more than ready to obey their overlords. The churches throughout the organization are there to vet potential cult members. When they arrive at NTCS, they have officially joined the cult and surrendered any remaining autonomy. 

The lordship of Jesus comes secondary to their leaders. Of course, they would say otherwise, but that is practically how it is. It is ALL about control. Money and power. If you don't dance on command, shout on command, lift your hands on command, then your salvation, loyalty and suitability for ministry are brought into question. 

Then you're stuck. You can't leave the group and "stay saved" according to them, and they control whether or not you're behind their pulpit, but "woe is you if you preach not the gospel". So the alternative is to comply and go along with their charades, or do what many of us have done: remove yourself from these toxic, ungodly leaders and serve the Lord Jesus in freedom and true holiness elsewhere."

6.4 miles from Camp Pendleton, California

"I am ashamed to have contributed to this organization in the past and for this I ask God for forgiveness 😢 these are the type of people who turn people away from God … they have no love in their heart none whatsoever and sooo much pride God hates pride"

10.5 miles from Fort Carson, Colorado

Approx. 6.1 miles from Buckley Space Force Base

"One of the things that made me leave, it was actually the straw that broke the camels back, was the shunning. My wife had someone unfriend her because they thought that we had left. To their credit, they reached out and explained why and didn’t realize we were still apart of the group. But at that point, I was done. I was born again before NTCC , and spent almost 15 years in the organization. I knew there were other followers of Christ out there and could no longer deal with the spirit of exclusivity they exhibited. I have nothing against anyone but will not hesitate to tell my experiences. I never at any time regret that God allowed me to be a part of them because every thing He allows us to go through is for our good."

21.6 miles from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

5 miles from Fort Riley, Kansas 

Servicemen's Home, Fort Riley, KS

"Servicemen's Home Schedule for people living in the home.

Monday Night - Dinner

Tuesday Night - Soul Winning

Wednesday Night- Church

Thursday - No event (Field Day for Barracks)

Friday - Bible Study

Saturday Morning - Soul Winning

Saturday Night - Church

Sunday Morning 9:30 Church

Sunday Morning 11:30 Church

Sunday Night Church 

This doesn't include frequent prayer meetings and picking up/dropping off people for events. Fellowship at the home was after most evening services and Bible studies.      All of this on top of military obligations.

I tried to squeeze some bible reading in on my lunch breaks but fell asleep most of the time. One time I went to my room at the home during fellowship to read, but the pastor came and got me and said that he understands bible reading is important, but that I should be in fellowship. I complied."

5.9 miles from Fort Stewart, Georgia

"Thank you for sharing that.  The schedule stood out to me when I looked on the main organizational website for each Servicemen's home location.    I recall the extreme  pressure on time. I always wondered if a brother in the home was feeling really tired from work and whatnot....could they just go in and lie down.  I've heard from many who  said....No, they could not."

 

"I have to one up on you. We also had Soul winning on Thursday on that list. So we had no days off. Jacksonville North Carolina. 1998 through 2004"

11.8 miles to Fort Bragg 

(she holds her nose & writes: Fort Liberty)

"The BAH was encouraged of single soldiers to acquire and then to give to the home as a gift offering."

Across the Street from Camp Carrol, Gate 4

"When I was an E4 and single, the barracks for my unit was becoming too full, so they gave us housing allowances and we moved out in town. Later, I moved into the servicemen's home and was to pay half of my BAH (housing) and half of my BAS (meals). This is in addition to tithe and offerings. Before I moved in, all of my BAH went to apartment rent, so saving money was an incentive for me to move in the home.

Other single brothers who didn't have BAH paid a different amount. I think it was $150/mo at the time."

"Overall, I had a good experience. I felt loved by the pastor and his wife and didn't feel like he used the pulpit to bully people and he didn't come across as a meddler to me. I just remember it being reeeeealy busy all the time. There was no real personal time. 

One time though, there was a fellowship meeting and RWD was in town. One of the visiting pastors went on and on about how great RWD was and how blessed we were to be a part of his ministry. I don't remember much else about what he said but it made me very uncomfortable. After he was done speaking, my pastor addressed the congregation and said that although we appreciate RWD, we don't worship men. That put me at ease. Later at the home, we were all sitting around fellowshipping and some ladies brought RWD some coffee. He said something like, "this is coffee? It tastes like old dirty socks". They apologized and remade the coffee. After the second cup came out, he tasted it and said basically the same thing. I don't remember being offended by it, but it's something that stuck with me and I definitely think that was an inappropriate and unkind thing to say. Everyone just made their typical, nervous laughs and moved on."

Approx. 11 minute walk to Camp Humphrey's Walk-In Gate

(according to Google Maps)

"I was in the Air Force. I started attending NTCC under Virgo and was moved to Woodbrook prior to the split. He told me before I left to not tell them I was getting BAH. I didn’t heed that was “encouraged” to give half to the home. I didn’t have a problem with that but wanted to confirm the previous comment."

"I know cuz I use to be a Pastor in one of those homes."

3.8 miles from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

"In Servicemen’s Homes, it use to be that it was highly suggested you have a vasectomy and you are not allowed to show any romantic feelings or personal contact such as holding hands, hugging, or kissing your wife."

Approximately 2.1 miles to Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington

"I don't know what it was like to be a child in NTCC. I can say that from the time I was there, there may be one or two that were children that did not leave and are a part of NTCC today.  NTCC at that time offered nothing for youth beyond a nursery that I am Aware of. When I left, I saw that it was not uncommon for churches to hold youth rallies and even summer camps that were very lovely.  Local churches participated and funded these activities. I also remember feeling very unprepared to work with youth because we were never taught it nor encouraged that way.  In fact, I think back now and remember comments how that children hindered ministry.  I remember hearing RWD lament when a pastor told him that the wife was pregnant. He went on about how that this man could not support himself and they decided to bring a child into the world.  He then said, "congratulations on your 68 thousand dollar investment" I don't know how children could have heard those things and not felt unwanted."

"Davis' attitude about children is what spawned the whole VASECTOMY generation of NTCC preachers....snip, snap, snip, snap.  Vasectomy, then the Reversal, and sometimes they got a second vasectomy.  Do you know how cruel and heartless that is?   Do you know that's what cults do?  omg.   It bothers me so much how much that man destroyed families and marriages and men's bodies."

Approximately 5.1 miles from Fort Wainwright

"Exactly right! I remember to a man in his twenties who had said that he wished to get a vasectomy for the sake of the ministry. Even now, many of our piers are could be grandparents but never had children. Of course that is up to them but, I myself am glad to know that if I pass before my wife does that our children and grandchildren will be a source of comfort to her. Many will be surprised to learn that the organization is not going to be responsible for caring for the widows."

--------------

"As far as accommodating  people who are not proficient in English, there was never any accommodations at the Bible school. In fact,  this lack of accommodation even filtered down to the local church level in that no Spanish services were allowed nor interpretation for non English speakers. I spoke to RWD once on this and he seemed disconnected to the fact that some people are just more comfortable hearing preaching in their own language. Not to mention the imposition of the KJV on non English speakers. He stated his reasoning for this prohibition to be that he did not want the organization to be full of illegals. YES he told me that personally. It's funny that they will call an all Spanish church racist but will not employ that title where it is forbidden in essence to minister to them in their native tongue. NTCC has no concept of cultural distinctives being a dynamic in where people choose to worship. Even among American churches, a church in rural west Virginia will be nothing like a church in NYC. They have set up a cookie cutter pattern that is expected to be followed and allow no room for cultural differences.  The assemblies of God, southern Baptist, Nazarene churches are all welcoming of non English speaking churches into their denominations, and NTCC is supposed to be the church of all nations? Laughable."

Approx. 8.5 miles from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

"Early 80s I started donating to "missions" while living at the servicemen's home. I continued throughout Bible school and, 2 years in the field up until the day I exited NTCC. I donated simply because I was told something like what Kekel is saying in this clip about having a "burden". So I donated for many years not knowing if this place in the Philippines ever existed."

------------------

"Many of us gave to missions and there was never any accountability as to how the funds were used."

Approx. 4.7 miles from McChord AFB/Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington

"...indeed for years I too heard and unfortunately participated in it. if someone left it was shun them act like you never knew them. They have left G-d … when I left I had lost my marriage, I lost my friends, but I gained a closer relationship with G-d!"

Approx. 23.5 mi from Fort Rucker (Now Fort Novosel), AL

Approx. 11.6 mi from Fort Moore, GA

Approx. 26.2 miles from Little Rock AFB, AR

Approx. 3.5 miles from Little Rock AFB, AR

Approx. 11.6 miles from Luke AFB, AZ

Approx. 9 miles from Army Reserve Herrera Annex

Approx. 6.3 miles from Fort Huachuca, AZ 

To Be Continued.

Stay tuned for Part Two

The Children Who Grew Up In NTCC (New Testament Christian Church) Did Not Have a Choice.

 For those of us who made the decision to not only visit NTCC once, but to continue and then to further feel "led" to attend their so-called bible school--- that's on us.   

For our children, it was a whole different level of choice because they didn't get to make one at all.    

Please do your research before attending any religious group.  

Google the name of the Church and take into consideration any and all criticisms.   Some information is buried deep in the internet archives, such as all of the many thousands of posts about New Testament Christian Church on the old F.A.C.T.net forum where it held a prominent spot as a cult.   

I have listed in the sidebar, a resource book entitled Take Back Your Life, by Janja Lalich.  The book was one of the many books on my shelf which helped me tremendously in understanding what I was involved with after we left the group.   The author herself came out of a political cult and she is a recognized and renowned expert in the field.   

If you won't conduct a thorough research of this group before attending for yourself, then please do it for your family (or your future family if you currently don't have one).  Please. 

STUPID PILLS: 18th in a Series of Articles Written by a Former NTCC Minister in 2006 (Still Highly Relevant)

 “STUPID PILLS”

  

  

Many have experienced it first hand. 

Others have heard stories about it. 

It has been immortalized in films and novels, and joked about and parodied in the Sunday Comics. It is the moment when the raw recruit steps off the bus and receives his first official helping of verbal abuse at the hands of the drill sergeant. The recruit is repeatedly insulted, shouted at, instructed to do impossible tasks (such as, to pick up his bags without bending down or touching them, then to put them down as if he is too stupid to know he is supposed to put them down, then pick them up again). 

He is called a maggot, fly larvae spawned in dead flesh. This is where the recruit first learns that he is a nobody, that he will be lucky to survive this training, that the Drill Sergeant has become his father and mother, that the Military owns him now. All independence is simultaneously galvanized and shaken loose by this sudden jarring of the conscious mind. Bombarded with contradictory information, insults and incongruities from every direction, the mind is being washed clean and prepared for conditioning and conformity. 

Perhaps the term that best describes this is “shock treatment”.

  

NTCC strives for a degree of uniformity that is extreme while subtle; extreme in that a certain absolutism is required in loyalty to the leadership and to the Program, subtle in that this uniformity is enforced gradually and carefully. Over time, you will find that the stereotype of the rabidly loyal minister or minister’s wife is taking control of your life, while your real personality is fading into shadow. 

Faithfulness to Christ is secondary to conformity to the group and its doctrines and practices. To find fault with anything you see taking place around you is tantamount to apostasy. “Hell is your home” if you should be so “rebellious” as to disagree with doctrines that are clearly opposed to scripture; because your leaders, in their high-priestly offices, are appointed by God to determine the meaning of the Bible for you. This forces you to make a choice between truth and conformity. Incongruities of this kind cannot survive long in a thinking mind, and must be reconciled. But you have been brainwashed into accepting the leadership as an infallible Christian hierarchy, so the contradiction is always reconciled in favor of conformity.

  

  You will be taught “how things are done” within the NTCC sphere, and some will be strangely contradictory of scripture. These contradictions are manifold. For example; Jesus taught very clearly, in a way that all could understand without fail, that He expects his followers to be very forward in giving to the unprivileged and underfed, to widows and orphans in particular. Yet all of the finances channeled so forcibly into the bank accounts of NTCC are directed very rigidly toward the purchase and upkeep of infrastructural facilities, the promotion of attendance enhancement, and the personal incomes of the ministers and leaders.

  

  The organization justifies this stance in a most transparently disingenuous fashion. They offer for consideration the episode of Jesus, the woman, and the ointment. When onlookers protested the “wasted” oil used by the woman for the anointing of the Lord, Jesus drew attention to their insincerity. What he told them in effect was: This woman is doing good to me. Her gift arises out of her faith and love for God, and I will receive it as such. You have been surrounded by poor people all this time, and only now do you show concern for them, because I am the one receiving the precious ointment. 

This is relatively obvious. Yet NTCC seizes on these words of Christ from the King James: “For the poor always ye have with you…” Ripping them mercilessly out of their context, they use these words as a weapon against the Spirit of Christ. They take the entire meaning of this event to be: “There will always be poor people, and poor people will always remain poor, so there is little use in doing anything for them. You’re just wasting your money, so give it to the church instead. Widows and orphans are not the Church’s problem–the preacher and the program come first.”

  

  Furthermore, this twisted, anti-Christ frame of mind leads to the following reasoning: That money collected by the church (through begging, guilt and condemnation no less) is intended only to make sure that church buildings are purchased, the grounds are beautified, large-scale programmed promotion takes place, and the “Man of God” always goes in style.

  

  The Christian spirit is one of giving to those who have not, ministering to those who cannot enrich you, and demonstrating hospitality toward them that are unable to reciprocate. 

Yet NTCC blatantly contradicts this Spirit and invites judgment upon itself, teaching for commandments the opinions of ambitious men. The very hypocrisy that Christ was addressing is embodied in this organization from the top down. This arises not so much from the leaders’ crude personal stinginess as from a mentality that places programmed church growth and pastoral income above all other concerns.

 The mentally disabled are not spared the brunt of NTCC’s coarse materialism. The organization clings firmly to the passage of scripture that exhorts believers to “comfort the feeble-minded…” proclaiming the meaning of these words to be: “Just be nice to them if you can’t avoid them. Comfort them only–do not do anything else. They don’t have jobs, so they don’t give or pay tithe. They are retarded so they cannot understand the gospel as we can. Just leave them alone. Don’t give them anything, don’t encourage them, don’t waste your time or money on them, and for God’s sake do not bring them to Church. 

All they will do is make a scene. They make noise at inappropriate times, so it is disruptive and takes attention away from the preaching. Keep them out of here. It makes us look bad when we’ve got a Church full of kooks.” This is not hyperbole for the sake of embarrassing NTCC. These sentiments accurately reflect the attitude (and parrot the words) of RW Davis and NewTestament Christian Church, right down to the word “kooks”. The “feeble-minded” can’t get saved (so it is thought), and they can’t help you reach your personal goals, so they must go through life undeserving of anything greater than the bare minimum of love, fellowship, companionship or attention.

 A thoughtful absorption of the scripture yields a startling view in that Christianity offers a high degree of sexual equality, and Jesus is seen to be history’s greatest liberator of women. Yet, contrary to the Spirit of Christ, the typical NTCC wife is a non-person. She lacks initiative because her husband is supposed to provide all of it. She lacks drive because she is supposed to wait for him to tell her what to do. She lacks ambition because she needs none. She has no important personal goals except to lose weight, because her husband tells her to and her pastor humiliates her publicly for her obesity (even though the Church itself, being an oppressive cloud of unfulfilled hopes, boredom and pressure, has caused the problem to begin with). 

She lacks imagination because she has allowed her creative energies to lapse. She begins to feel trapped, and wonders at times if she is losing her mind. There is even now an undercurrent of grave discontent among women within the organization. Scores of preachers’ wives long for freedom from this abusive cult, and yet they fear their husbands will discard them if they voice their innermost feelings. RW Davis does not care. He believes they are simply “rebellious”, and “will split hell wide open for hindering their preacher-husbands.”

 In spite of your constancy in giving, in spite of the many gratuities with which you lavished your local pastor and his program, you will not find understanding here at NTCS. If you are scraping to get by, having moved your family to Washington State with no certain job prospects, your lack and (possibly) your indebtedness will be blamed on your lust, your foolishness, and your irresponsibility. RW Davis will declare you a failure, even planting in the minds of your wife and children the idea that you are utterly contemptible. 

You will join the ranks of hundreds who wander the sidewalks of the seminary with their heads spinning from the condemnation and verbal abuse. The Graham pulpit is no stranger to the words “idiot”, “asinine”, and “dummy”. And yet still more of your time and resources are demanded, and twice-annual pilgrimage quests to the heartland for meaningless “conferences” are required. Yet in all your frugality and doing-without, your meager existence will be blamed on your “stupidity”, the fact that you are “stupid”, and your unfathomable addiction to “stupid pills”, which must exist, because nothing else could explain the fact that you are so “stupid”.

 These contradictions and incongruities, these pressures and absurdities, will take many forms, including untenable doctrines that NTCC’s ministers are forced to swallow simply because they reflect the opinions of the leaders. You will find at times that you must buoy your attitude by way of self-talk; “Don’t think like that, it’s for your own good, don’t think those things about the Man of God, don’t touch the Lord’s anointed or God will destroy you, don’t think this is a contradiction, don’t think this is un-Christian, don’t think about these things, don’t think, don’t think, STOP THINKING!!”

  Your leaders will naturally characterize these episodes as an accumulation of various pressures that are in the process of trying you as by fire, and you are to understand that this is part of the test of your faithfulness to God. They will place the blame squarely upon your shoulders for the turmoil that swirls within and about you. They will say that you have a love of sin and the World, that you have invited the devil into your life to sit down and have a Pepsi with you, that your dedication is lacking, that you have a “heart problem”, that you must change, become a leader, get your head screwed on straight, get saved, or get the Holy Ghost. 

However, this is not some divinely appointed examination of character; it is your mind’s effort to wrestle with irreconcilable contradictions.

Documents from Newest YouTube Video: Did the Founder of NTCC Actually Earn a PhD?

 

Why Does RW DAVIS Hit People? - The Article Which Accompanies the Latest Video on YouTube [2/16/24]

 New YouTube Video

Here is the text of the Article I read in the video:

Why Does RW Davis Hit People?

  You have probably witnessed it many times. The victim rarely sees it coming. He is standing in the church vestibule engaged in conversation with a handful of brethren, when suddenly he receives that signature “look” from one of the fellows; that look that silently warns “watch out, Pastor’s behind you”, but it’s too late. The stinging impact comes quickly as the target’s head tucks forward amid laughter from his friends. Wearing a smile, he turns to greet RW Davis with a cheerful “Hello, Pastor”.

  

  Circling within the group, Davis eyes each potential mark as a predator surveys its prey. The “boys” are giggling and grinning, as a second gets it in the solar plexus, trying hard not to double over in pain, trying harder to keep smiling. “What are you laughin’ at?” he jokingly demands of a third. “Nothing, sir!” he answers with an attempt at a straight face. Davis seizes him by the brachial nerve that runs just above the elbow inside the upper arm. The young man stiffens, turning several shades of red in the next ten to twenty seconds as Davis casually talks to the group, never releasing his arm. He turns now and punches another hard in the shoulder, knocking him backward, eliciting another laugh. Finally he departs, and the group is left to return to the conversation, each one grateful that “Pastor” has paid attention to him. “If he’s hitting you” they say, “then at least you know he hasn’t forgotten about you.”

  

  I told myself for many years that this was indeed the case. Like an abused wife, I thought that Davis’ physical beatings were akin to “love taps”, and that I ought to be grateful for the attention–any attention–from the “man of God”. I was sufficiently convinced of Davis’ status as God’s Man For Our Time to regard his poundings as grandfatherly renderings of affection. In retrospect, and in light of NTCC’s overall abusive character, I must now question my own view. Successfully rationalizing my own situation, I did not feel personally abused; yet I saw the abuse handed out to others. I wonder why this is excused and explained away in the context of a Christian church. I wonder why so many Davis loyalists become more and more childlike with the passing of time. I am forced to ask the penetrating question: Why does RW Davis do this to people?

  

  If RW Davis is truly a great prophet and spokesman for God, why is it that so few of his contemporaries joined him in his push to start a new organization and Bible school during the formative years of NTCC? We are given to understand that many of them were able to see through his spiritual veneer to the ambitious man beneath. It is reported that he made efforts to place himself at the forefront, to “have the supremacy” over others, through clever maneuvering and posturing. We are not privileged with detailed information concerning financial and legal maneuvers, but it comes to our attention that his posturing involved a pattern of behavior that was obvious to the more seasoned members of Davis’ would-be entourage.

  

  Davis developed the habit of treating his equals as subordinates, making it clear that he was to be the chief of the tribe. He called other men “son”, as in “Come here son, I want to talk to you.” His fictional status as “God’s man” seems to have fooled a very few in the beginning, such as Jim Johnson and Joe Olson, who were only boys at the time and looked to Davis as a father. To this day, their primary duty is to promote Davis as God’s Man On Earth For Our Time. Such an individual forms a life-long habit of keeping everyone around him in a subordinated position by any means necessary.  

  

  Davis is surrounded on all sides by a loyal mob of obsequiously obedient lackeys who have long since surrendered all pretense of individuality in exchange for whatever crumbs Davis might condescend to mete out to them. Lacking a proper perspective on the world around them, they live for the next opportunity to rebuke a fellow human being with “Don’t you say that about MY PASTOR!” He is clearly their vicar, as well as the bane of their lives in that they live in fear of his disfavor. They fear the moment may come when Davis demotes them for some perceived offense or failure. They know that they are subject to public humiliation for any or no reason. They know that there is no defending oneself even if Davis accuses them unjustly. The philosophy is often expressed among them that “If Pastor blames me for something I didn’t do, I should be thankful, because there are plenty of things I have done about which Pastor never said anything.” The implication is not that Davis does not know everything, but rather that he does indeed know everything by way of the “Holy Ghost” yet mercifully chooses not to take action in select cases.

  

  Add to this tension the dreadful environment of physical danger in which grown men flinch in the presence of one who thinks he has the right to strike them. Davis may lash out “playfully” at any moment and inflict pain upon an individual whose responsibility is to accept without question the fact that he had it coming. Clearly the motive behind this is nothing more or less than chest-thumping assertion and dominance of the immediate environment. But what is the eventual result of this sort of treatment?

  

  The psychology of the Dominant Male is one about which volumes are written. For example, it is no secret that many cult leaders are attractive to the women with whom they come in contact, and that they frequently take advantage of a woman’s being drawn to a powerful man. The combination of bold assertion of power over other men, plus the tearing down of the dignity and status of other men, weakens the bond of respect and admiration between those men and their spouses while simultaneously drawing the women toward the focus of power, which is none other than the cult leader himself. We are not attempting to perpetuate rumors of Davis’ misbehavior long ago, only to point out a common pattern of those who strive to manipulate others into submission. The cult leader can tolerate no division of loyalty or admiration, and those who garner respect from the vassals on their own account must be either neutered or embarrassed.

  

  The modus operandi of RW Davis–even today–is to strengthen the tie of dependency and obedience to the leadership (himself), while severing the horizontal ties of loyalty among his followers. This means that friends will shun friends who are disloyal to Davis, spouses will view departure from the cult as grounds for divorce, and even children are encouraged to disown their parents (and parents their children) in favor of the cult leader. Davis uses fear and intimidation combined with a reckless disregard for the dignity of the men who call him “Pastor”, abusing them verbally and physically in the presence, not only of the larger group, but also of their wives and children. This is easily disguised as mere manly horseplay. “Manly” fathers often trounce their sons playfully, punching them harmlessly on the arm and wrestling in a good-natured fashion. Friends do the same to one another. Yet RW Davis is neither the father nor the social equal of the men on whom he inflicts this “affection”. He has no fear that anyone around him will dare to touch The Lord’s Anointed. He also sprinkles in Why Does RW Davis Hit People?

  You have probably witnessed it many times. The victim rarely sees it coming. He is standing in the church vestibule engaged in conversation with a handful of brethren, when suddenly he receives that signature “look” from one of the fellows; that look that silently warns “watch out, Pastor’s behind you”, but it’s too late. The stinging impact comes quickly as the target’s head tucks forward amid laughter from his friends. Wearing a smile, he turns to greet RW Davis with a cheerful “Hello, Pastor”.

  

  Circling within the group, Davis eyes each potential mark as a predator surveys its prey. The “boys” are giggling and grinning, as a second gets it in the solar plexus, trying hard not to double over in pain, trying harder to keep smiling. “What are you laughin’ at?” he jokingly demands of a third. “Nothing, sir!” he answers with an attempt at a straight face. Davis seizes him by the brachial nerve that runs just above the elbow inside the upper arm. The young man stiffens, turning several shades of red in the next ten to twenty seconds as Davis casually talks to the group, never releasing his arm. He turns now and punches another hard in the shoulder, knocking him backward, eliciting another laugh. Finally he departs, and the group is left to return to the conversation, each one grateful that “Pastor” has paid attention to him. “If he’s hitting you” they say, “then at least you know he hasn’t forgotten about you.”

  

  I told myself for many years that this was indeed the case. Like an abused wife, I thought that Davis’ physical beatings were akin to “love taps”, and that I ought to be grateful for the attention–any attention–from the “man of God”. I was sufficiently convinced of Davis’ status as God’s Man For Our Time to regard his poundings as grandfatherly renderings of affection. In retrospect, and in light of NTCC’s overall abusive character, I must now question my own view. Successfully rationalizing my own situation, I did not feel personally abused; yet I saw the abuse handed out to others. I wonder why this is excused and explained away in the context of a Christian church. I wonder why so many Davis loyalists become more and more childlike with the passing of time. I am forced to ask the penetrating question: Why does RW Davis do this to people?

  

  If RW Davis is truly a great prophet and spokesman for God, why is it that so few of his contemporaries joined him in his push to start a new organization and Bible school during the formative years of NTCC? We are given to understand that many of them were able to see through his spiritual veneer to the ambitious man beneath. It is reported that he made efforts to place himself at the forefront, to “have the supremacy” over others, through clever maneuvering and posturing. We are not privileged with detailed information concerning financial and legal maneuvers, but it comes to our attention that his posturing involved a pattern of behavior that was obvious to the more seasoned members of Davis’ would-be entourage.

  

  Davis developed the habit of treating his equals as subordinates, making it clear that he was to be the chief of the tribe. He called other men “son”, as in “Come here son, I want to talk to you.” His fictional status as “God’s man” seems to have fooled a very few in the beginning, such as Jim Johnson and Joe Olson, who were only boys at the time and looked to Davis as a father. To this day, their primary duty is to promote Davis as God’s Man On Earth For Our Time. Such an individual forms a life-long habit of keeping everyone around him in a subordinated position by any means necessary.  

  

  Davis is surrounded on all sides by a loyal mob of obsequiously obedient lackeys who have long since surrendered all pretense of individuality in exchange for whatever crumbs Davis might condescend to mete out to them. Lacking a proper perspective on the world around them, they live for the next opportunity to rebuke a fellow human being with “Don’t you say that about MY PASTOR!” He is clearly their vicar, as well as the bane of their lives in that they live in fear of his disfavor. They fear the moment may come when Davis demotes them for some perceived offense or failure. They know that they are subject to public humiliation for any or no reason. They know that there is no defending oneself even if Davis accuses them unjustly. The philosophy is often expressed among them that “If Pastor blames me for something I didn’t do, I should be thankful, because there are plenty of things I have done about which Pastor never said anything.” The implication is not that Davis does not know everything, but rather that he does indeed know everything by way of the “Holy Ghost” yet mercifully chooses not to take action in select cases.

  

  Add to this tension the dreadful environment of physical danger in which grown men flinch in the presence of one who thinks he has the right to strike them. Davis may lash out “playfully” at any moment and inflict pain upon an individual whose responsibility is to accept without question the fact that he had it coming. Clearly the motive behind this is nothing more or less than chest-thumping assertion and dominance of the immediate environment. But what is the eventual result of this sort of treatment?

  

  The psychology of the Dominant Male is one about which volumes are written. For example, it is no secret that many cult leaders are attractive to the women with whom they come in contact, and that they frequently take advantage of a woman’s being drawn to a powerful man. The combination of bold assertion of power over other men, plus the tearing down of the dignity and status of other men, weakens the bond of respect and admiration between those men and their spouses while simultaneously drawing the women toward the focus of power, which is none other than the cult leader himself. We are not attempting to perpetuate rumors of Davis’ misbehavior long ago, only to point out a common pattern of those who strive to manipulate others into submission. The cult leader can tolerate no division of loyalty or admiration, and those who garner respect from the vassals on their own account must be either neutered or embarrassed.

  

  The modus operandi of RW Davis–even today–is to strengthen the tie of dependency and obedience to the leadership (himself), while severing the horizontal ties of loyalty among his followers. This means that friends will shun friends who are disloyal to Davis, spouses will view departure from the cult as grounds for divorce, and even children are encouraged to disown their parents (and parents their children) in favor of the cult leader. Davis uses fear and intimidation combined with a reckless disregard for the dignity of the men who call him “Pastor”, abusing them verbally and physically in the presence, not only of the larger group, but also of their wives and children. This is easily disguised as mere manly horseplay. “Manly” fathers often trounce their sons playfully, punching them harmlessly on the arm and wrestling in a good-natured fashion. Friends do the same to one another. Yet RW Davis is neither the father nor the social equal of the men on whom he inflicts this “affection”. He has no fear that anyone around him will dare to touch The Lord’s Anointed. He also sprinkles in occasional expressions of “real” playfulness and even loving gestures, which balances his approach and leaves everyone guessing as to his thoughts and motives. Nobody can predict his next move. It is the very nature of control.

  

  This behavior is an apt metaphor. It reflects and summarizes RW Davis’ entire approach to what he calls “The Ministry”. Push, and people have to move. If they don’t, you don’t need them. If they push back, they will be dealt with. His ministry is nothing more than a clenched fist poised to enforce his will and opinions. Yes, they do write books about this stuff, but the truly skillful practitioners do not need to be told how. They simply have an impulse to control, and acting always upon that impulse they learn quickly by experimentation the best ways to manipulate people. They are the case studies that the authors observe when gathering material.

  

  If you doubt or scoff at what we are saying here, perhaps you would like to tour the inside of a child’s mind for a few moments to see what this atmosphere creates in the eyes of the most keenly observant among us: your kids and mine. The following essay is compiled from the words of my daughters…

  

  “Sometimes I would see Pastor coming and thought maybe I should stand in front of my dad–that way he wouldn’t hit him. But then I thought he might bonk me on the head, which he had done a few times (and one time it hurt all night afterward). I would wince sometimes when I saw him do it to people, because it looked like it really hurt. I just thought he was mean. A lot of kids think the same thing, and we were all sort of afraid of him. When we were all playing and Pastor would come driving up, we quickly found something to do that looked less, well…rambunctious. We weren’t doing anything wrong…we just tried to avoid getting his attention if we were playing because he always had something to say about it, and we were afraid our parents would get in trouble. And when we went to church, we never knew if we were going to get hit on the top of the head, or if our dad was going to get punched, and it was just uncomfortable because here was this room full of adults ready to flinch when he walked past them. When Pastor would hit daddy, I knew he wasn’t trying to hurt him, but I thought it was demeaning. There was something about it that took away his dignity a little bit. I just thought, ‘ Why does he have to do that?’ He does whatever he wants to do to people knowing that they won’t hit him back. I sometimes wondered, ‘Why doesn’t anybody hit him back?’ I always thought it was pretty obvious that he goes around hitting people because he knows they aren’t supposed to touch him at all.”

  

  These children are not lying. They are not making this up. And do you know something else? They have friends among the other children whose parents were subjected to the same treatment, some of whom remain loyal to NTCC. Many children are afraid to speak their minds to their own parents but feel very comfortable addressing their misgivings to other children whom they trust. If you are reading these words and are currently an NTCC member or minister, be aware: there exists an underground tremor among your own children and their friends at church. They feel the same way that our children do. They have said so. They largely agree with these feelings and observations. They see RW Davis as a fearful figure, someone to steer clear of. They hope that they themselves will not be singled out for abuse or ridicule. The environment is stressful for them, and they hate it. As your children, they would do anything to please you. They know that this church and your ministry are important to you, and so they go along seemingly happy and content. And yet…

  

  And yet. expressions of “real” playfulness and even loving gestures, which balances his approach and leaves everyone guessing as to his thoughts and motives. Nobody can predict his next move. It is the very nature of control.

  

  This behavior is an apt metaphor. It reflects and summarizes RW Davis’ entire approach to what he calls “The Ministry”. Push, and people have to move. If they don’t, you don’t need them. If they push back, they will be dealt with. His ministry is nothing more than a clenched fist poised to enforce his will and opinions. Yes, they do write books about this stuff, but the truly skillful practitioners do not need to be told how. They simply have an impulse to control, and acting always upon that impulse they learn quickly by experimentation the best ways to manipulate people. They are the case studies that the authors observe when gathering material.

  

  If you doubt or scoff at what we are saying here, perhaps you would like to tour the inside of a child’s mind for a few moments to see what this atmosphere creates in the eyes of the most keenly observant among us: your kids and mine. The following essay is compiled from the words of my daughters…

  

  “Sometimes I would see Pastor coming and thought maybe I should stand in front of my dad–that way he wouldn’t hit him. But then I thought he might bonk me on the head, which he had done a few times (and one time it hurt all night afterward). I would wince sometimes when I saw him do it to people, because it looked like it really hurt. I just thought he was mean. A lot of kids think the same thing, and we were all sort of afraid of him. When we were all playing and Pastor would come driving up, we quickly found something to do that looked less, well…rambunctious. We weren’t doing anything wrong…we just tried to avoid getting his attention if we were playing because he always had something to say about it, and we were afraid our parents would get in trouble. And when we went to church, we never knew if we were going to get hit on the top of the head, or if our dad was going to get punched, and it was just uncomfortable because here was this room full of adults ready to flinch when he walked past them. When Pastor would hit daddy, I knew he wasn’t trying to hurt him, but I thought it was demeaning. There was something about it that took away his dignity a little bit. I just thought, ‘ Why does he have to do that?’ He does whatever he wants to do to people knowing that they won’t hit him back. I sometimes wondered, ‘Why doesn’t anybody hit him back?’ I always thought it was pretty obvious that he goes around hitting people because he knows they aren’t supposed to touch him at all.”

  

  These children are not lying. They are not making this up. And do you know something else? They have friends among the other children whose parents were subjected to the same treatment, some of whom remain loyal to NTCC. Many children are afraid to speak their minds to their own parents but feel very comfortable addressing their misgivings to other children whom they trust. If you are reading these words and are currently an NTCC member or minister, be aware: there exists an underground tremor among your own children and their friends at church. They feel the same way that our children do. They have said so. They largely agree with these feelings and observations. They see RW Davis as a fearful figure, someone to stear clear of. They hope that they themselves will not be singled out for abuse or ridicule. The environment is stressful for them, and they hate it. As your children, they would do anything to please you. They know that this church and your ministry are important to you, and so they go along seemingly happy and content. And yet…

  

  And yet.