FIRST THINGS: Second Article in a Series - Written in 2006 by a Former NTCC Minister

 First Things

The activities and behaviors described on this site result from the combined observations of many Christian people who are intimately familiar with New Testament Christian Churches of America Inc., it’s doctrines and methods, it’s leaders and governmental structure, and it’s general view of life and the world around us. We promise to scrupulously avoid obnoxious hyperbole, and to refrain from mischaracterization. That which you find described here represents the typical experience that you can expect to find once you have passed within the gravitational pull of the group. Once you have entered their sphere of influence, the decision to pull back is not difficult in the beginning, but be warned: the deeper an individual is pulled in, the more stressful and painful it is to extricate oneself. Sometimes, escape appears to be simply impossible.

  

  Part 1: How Did I Get Here?

  It is unlikely that anyone not fully acquainted with NTCC could begin to appreciate the dynamics that operate within the organization at the higher levels. Let us therefore begin at the beginning, with a detailed description of what the newcomer can expect to find upon her very first visit. Since there is variety within any organization, even one as monofacial as NTCC, there may be exceptions to the following generalities. But remember, we are only speaking of the typical experience, and it is highly probably that any first-time visitor will notice at least some of the following. So pay close attention, and you will be able to recognize some of the things that have perhaps caused you to ask “Where am I, and what is going on?” Keep in mind that if you have a spouse, a close friend or relative that is being pulled into the NTCC sphere of influence, we have not forgotten about you. Special mention will be made of what to look for and how to look out for the best interest of your loved one.

  

  The Invitation

  In our world of conflicting information, we grow frustrated at the growth of pseudo-christian cults (those that pretend to base their teachings on the Bible and Christianity but are in reality far removed from all resemblance to anything Christian) and their influence in the lives of people that we love. It is an unwelcome event in the daily routine of most people when the Jehovah’s Witnesses come knocking on our door, inviting us on a whirlwind tour of deception, arrogantly proclaiming the primacy of their bizarre doctrines and elevating their own importance in the scheme of history. The fact that they distort the identity of Jesus Christ is the primary reason for the label of ‘cult’ that they have long worn. Perhaps it has not occurred to you that there are those who teach correct doctrines specifically concerning the person of Jesus Christ, who nevertheless approach their responsibility to Christ in ways that are harmful to those who follow them. Maybe you never heard of a “Christian cult”. So perhaps you found it refreshing when a stranger knocked on your door and invited you to New Testament Christian Church.

  

  “Here is someone”, you might have thought, “who looks professional, dresses nice, is warm and friendly, and is actually a Christian instead of a Mormon, or worse. It’s high time the real believers started doing something active instead of letting the cults do all the work.”

 Maybe a co-worker or someone in you barracks has impressed you with their good-spirited leadership or gentle disposition. You wish you could emulate their characteristics and you know that religion has something to do with the way they behave. They invite everyone they meet to their church, this “wonderful, incredible” church where they “really get the Word of God” and which seems to be an almost tangible means of propulsion and positive force in their life. Or it may be that you are already a Christian, and are looking for a church to attend that will meet your spiritual needs and offer you a personal challenge. You’re not looking for the same old boring, stand-up-sit-down liturgy that you’ve suffered through most of your life. No, you’re looking for a place where you will be pushed to really do something for God. And that person, that stranger, that co-worker, seems to be offering just the thing you need. “Something different about that guy…” And so the hand was extended, the doorbell was rung, you were impressed, or just curious, and you went.

  

  The Mind Behind

  Behind the kind face of your friend, or that stranger at the door, is a mind that is calculating every possible means by which to secure your attendance at New Testament Christian Church. There is certainly nothing wrong with a harmless invitation, nor is it unusual for a salesman to believe in his product. But as you interact with these people, keep in mind that they are doing just that–acting in a salesmanship capacity.

Jesus gave instructions to believers to go into all the world and preach the gospel “to every creature”. Yet if we examine the scriptural evidence, we find that evangelism is carried out in many different ways and in many different places. But the pastor of your friendly neighborhood New Testament Christian Church is teaching those who sit under his ministry that God wants them “in church”, that they have no business attending any other church, that the church building is where God does his work, that personal evangelism is not effective, and that they are wrong to take part in such activities. “We’re not here to do street witnessing; you’ll never get them in church that way. Just get them in church”, is the repeated command.

 The main point is the desire for attendance. The goal is not to win your soul for Jesus Christ; the goal is to win your loyalty, your full participation, and your financial support. The pastor himself believes that God speaks through him and he craves an audience. He is under a degree of pressure from his superiors to produce results in the form of numbers and cash. The members who attend the church are constantly reminded to “Get them in church, get them in church”. Under the guise of praying for you out of concern for your soul, your friend is consulting with the pastor about you. The pastor, having never met you, is psychoanalyzing you, pointing out your shortcomings and passing along salesmanship techniques to your friend, always making sure to apply plenty of pressure to “Get them in church”. The first thing that must be understood about New Testament Christian Church is this: They have no use for you until you walk through the doors.

 Does this seem odd? It certainly should. You will find your friend, your co-worker, or that person knocking on your door to be especially interested in everything about you as an individual. Everything they say to you, every facial expression you see, is an overture. This person seems to display a level of caring that is just somehow unreal. It is not necessarily phony, but it is calculated to achieve her ultimate end, which is to bring you to her church. She is not evil. She is simply sold on a very strong piece of faulty information: that her church represents the only hope you will ever have of making it into heaven. Even if you are already a Christian, this does not matter to your friend. She may treat you nicely and nod her head and say encouraging things when you talk about your own Christian experience, but she does not accept a word of it. In the mind of this seemingly loving person, your life is lacking something very important. Your whole problem is that you do not currently attend her church. In subsequent articles I will discuss the curious doctrines that compel them to place enormous importance on church attendance and upon the act of preaching from the pulpit.

  

  For Concerned Loved Ones

  If your spouse has become involved in the beginning stages of attendance at a New Testament Christian Church in your area, the danger is probably not great at this time. Perhaps you have attended together. Maybe your wife or husband has attended on their own. It is easy to detach oneself in the beginning. You must simply be careful not to take an adversarial position toward your spouse, because he or she has been prepared for it. If your husband, for example, has experienced a church service and enjoyed it, someone has probably encouraged him to “bring your wife next time; we’d love to meet her.” Do not be afraid to attend with him. You will stand a better chance of avoiding trouble if you know what you are talking about. It is not especially dangerous if you know what to expect. You may wish to encourage him to visit this site with an open mind before things become too serious.

 But perhaps the best thing you can do for your spouse is to sit down together and agree upon some personal spiritual goals for your family. You may want to decide in advance that you will attend church together, and that neither will attend an assembly of any kind without the approval of the other. Give each other “veto power” over these very important and eternal matters. This will give you a reason to feel influential rather than powerless in your relationship with your spouse, and it may defuse some otherwise tense situations. Remember: Even if you are a Christian couple, New Testament Christian Church does not believe your Christianity is real, will attempt to break your spouse free of your influence if you do not attend, and has no use for your loved one outside of complete dedication and participation in any and all church-related events. They are aggressive, but if you act early, the infection need not spread.

This article is part of a series:  Click here for The Introduction, Entitled: The Wreckers

THE WRECKERS: From An Article Written in 2006 by a Former NTCC Minister

 The Wreckers

(from an article written in 2006 when many of us who left NTCC were online writing to persuade others to leave this group)

   

  My daughter once introduced me to an interesting book entitled The Wreckers, about a genteel folk who lived along a rocky coastline. Their tranquil ways and civilized customs masked the fact that they tended a lighthouse positioned to deceive unwary vessels. Practically the entire village was built, and thrived parasitically, upon the loot culled from the flotsam of years and years of battered ships, and the coins drawn from the pockets of the stunned and subsequently murdered seamen.

  

  New Testament Christian Churches of America has been a defining, life-changing experience in the lives of thousands of people since the organization’s inception in the late 1960’s. The majority of those who have attended the church over the course of more than three decades have found the experience to be something of a false lighthouse, promising spiritual safety and salvation while casting them upon a rocky shore of darkness and pain. Their hopes dashed, their goods spoiled, they stand amid the splintered timbers and roaring foam asking “how?” and “why?” and, perhaps most difficult of all, “Which way is home from here?”

  

  Perhaps you have attended New Testament Christian Church. Maybe you are a military serviceman or woman, and have been invited to a local Armed Services outreach, of which the organization has many. Perhaps you have already observed their activities and behaviors first hand, been invited to dinner, or to a fellowship of young military personnel, and found that the zeal and esprit de corps exhibited among the attendees is starkly surprising in the context of a church. New Testament Christian Churches of America Inc. also maintains a network of churches not connected to any U.S. Military installation. These are simply conventional local bodies that the organization refers to interestingly as “civilian” churches, which says something about the group’s military origins.

  

  Maybe you come from a spiritual tradition that is Pentecostal or Charismatic and you find nothing especially alarming about your surroundings. Or perhaps your religious background is more sedate and dignified and you find this change of pace to be…frightening? exciting? refreshing? confusing? Perhaps there are those who would answer: all of the above. You are not alone.

  

  At some point in our life, each of us desires to find peace, and hopefully this search will lead us into a correct and fulfilling relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, everyone comes into Christianity as a child in one way or another, and the innocence of the neophyte believer in Christ often leads him or her down a path fraught with danger and marked by confusing signals. The search for help, if undertaken with great care, can lead us into a life that is full to overflowing with the blessings of walking with the Savior. But this search for help, for guidance, for brethren of like mind with which to share our burdens, can also lead us into dangerous deceptions and authoritarian abuse.

  

  Many who attend NTCC were Christians before they encountered the group for the first time. Some were new to the church environment altogether. But those who remain have something in common. They have come to a point in their lives when “O.K.” just isn’t good enough. Religion does not get the job done, hypocrisy cannot satisfy, and in this church they find a special breed of extreme, almost heroic modern-day saints. Their “no compromise” message appeals to those whose delight is in doing things right, who believe that if Jesus is not Lord Of All, then he is not Lord At All. The willingness of these pliable, tender souls to perform every task, give their last dime, and spend their every productive moment laboring for the advancement of their church and the message that it carries is in many ways commendable. And yet…there seems to be something that just isn’t quite right.

  

  You may walk into one of these church services and ask yourself questions such as: Why does everybody look the same? Why is that man screaming like that? What does clothing have to do with anything? Is he talking directly to me? He must be, since nobody else here is dressed like me. Why is everybody doing that? NOW what are they doing? Is that in the Bible? Excuse me, but where is the restroom? Near the door, I hope.”

  

  If you are thinking of attending an NTCC in your area, if a friend or family member has become involved in such a church, if you have been attending for some time and are having trouble getting direct and convincing answers to the questions you’ve been asking, if you have been afraid to ask those questions but they still will not go away, if you desire to leave NTCC and are feeling trapped for any reason, we want to help you. We want you to realize that the things you both see and feel are not in your imagination. We want you to know that you are not wrong to ask questions of yourself and others. We want to reassure you that there is nothing wrong with you that a little perspective won’t cure.

  

  In this inaugural article, allow me to explain our mission. Our desire and our hope is to provide you with that perspective, and help you navigate the waters that imperil your Christian experience, burden your mind, and bring disharmony to your home. With God’s help, perhaps you can avoid being cast by the stormy seas of deception onto the rocky shores of bitter experience. Perhaps you can avoid becoming another in a long line of wrecks.

   

 

  Former minister

  NTCC

The Week Ahead: More Articles, Videos & A Podcast Interview w/My Oldest Daughter

Diana on a run in Kuwait just before the Lockdowns hit in 2019.

I think it's extremely important to hear about the NTCC cult experience from a second-generation member:  someone who was born into the group and had no choice in the matter. 

My oldest daughter has recently opened up quite a bit to me about what it was like for her growing up in New Testament Christian Church. 

The thing that really sets her testimony apart is her life growing up in this organization as compared to that of Tanya and Mike Kekel's son, who was born maybe six months or so after our family arrived to the bible school in Graham, WA. At the time, my oldest daughter was 14 months old and my youngest was a mere 3 months old. Tanya Kekel is the daughter of the founder of NTCC, RW Davis and her husband has been a leader in the group for a long, long time.

My daughter and I decided this past week that it might be a good idea to have her interviewed on the podcast platform.

She is currently a combat medic in the Army and so she has that point of view concerning service members who are preyed upon by this group.   

Further, she was born in the Philippines while I was still serving in the Air Force.  The group was all she'd known up until we left NTCC on January 1, 2006.  A day of both joy and heartache.  Joy, because we were free of the cult experience and heartache, because all of us knew we were going to be shunned and would lose all of our friends.  Our daughters knew too that this would be the case as they'd heard it taught and preached many times.  

We'll break down the interview into parts and each part will cover a different topic.   

We are hoping this will provide another layer of proofs as to why no one should ever walk into one of these churches and along with the after-affects of having been involved.  

Living on campus in Graham, WA - circa 2004 

She was brought into the group with no choice.

She had to leave the group with no choice. 

She will share information such as how the older women of NTCC, the wives of the leaders, take an active roll in grooming very young girls to become preacher's wives and other experiences which no child should have to deal with. 

We hope you'll tune in and find the information useful in whatever way you need it most.