I've been listening to a Generation Cult podcast this morning while I clean and put laundry away.

click here: The Influence of Faith with Will

I had to stop and make some notes because this young man's experiences are so similar to those of our family.   For anyone who grew up in NTCC - meaning you didn't have a choice in whether you could stay or go -- you were second generation, I think you'll find some solidarity with Will.   

Now, for your individual life and current belief system, you will have to eat the meat and throw away the bones while listening to all of these podcasts.  Sometimes an interviewee may make a statement and I roll my eyes all around the inside of my head, but we're all different and we're all on a separate journey.  Take whatever applies and what you can relate to and see if it can make a difference in your heart and mind as you take steps to move away from NTCC in the healthiest way possible. 

When I left NTCC, it was definitely a difficult first year.  Not because of regret or remorse, but mainly because I now had to question everything...all of my beliefs ....to see if any of them made any sense.  It's why I think anyone who leaves a high-demand, authoritarian group such as New Testament Christian Churches of America, should take some time to take care of yourself...guilt-free.  Read and do some research.  Seek out sundry points of view.  

When I first got out, I went online to look for information. My first acquisition was a book entitled Twisted Scriptures, by Mary Alice Chrnalogar.  As with anything I listened to or read online, I took her book with a grain of salt.  I embraced what applied to my situation and I took note of the rest.  At one point, within the first two months of getting out, I contacted this lady via email.   I figured she might not have time to answer emails, but she not only responded, she called me.  This was in 2006. She was heading out of the country and called me from the airport.  I was given phenomenal advice and she encouraged me to go easy on myself.   I told her I felt so guilty for putting my children through that experience.  It haunted me every single day.  

Of course my daughters and I have discussed our time in this group over and over again.   As we age, we can look back and be uplifted by so many special people who affected us in a positive way and by some of the many experiences which have made us who we are today. Corny, but true.  

I made calls to anyone I had invited out to church and apologized.  Some listened and tried to persuade me to come back and others just hung up.  Fair enough.  I did that to a couple who called me when they got out several years earlier, so I totally understood. 

Will is just one young man, with one point of view of his life after growing up in an extremist church group, and so I encourage you to look beyond anything he may say that might rub you the wrong way and look to the overall concept, which is likely very similar to your own life growing up in NTCC.  

Just see it through to the end.   Thanks.