In 2020 my friend Ben (a very devout elderly Amish man), very much wanted to read my book "Forever Shunned Amish Rebel" before it was published. I gave him a hard copy to read and thought I would soon hear from him. After 10 days I went to visit him and he was very upset with the contents of the book. With tears in his eyes, he begged me not to publish it and offered me a large sum of money to not publish it. I did not respond and pretended to not hear him. His wife then referred to a section where I had mentioned cults and she wanted to know if I thought that the Amish were a cult and I did not respond to that either.
My thoughts on the matter are that they should admit that I made a lot of extremely good points in the book, especially the section which referred to the Amish in particular. That is the chapter with important advice for the Amish people. It's very interesting that they don't want their people to study the English language Bible because they're afraid they'll be "deceived". That's why they discourage their people from going to formal Bible studies. Many of the Amish are very curious to read the book but they often hardly dare to read it for fear that they might be "deceived".
"CULT" noun
1. a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.
2. a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.
3. a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing. "a cult of personality surrounding the leaders."
(WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY)
Several years ago, the founder of IHOP, Mike Bickle, created a list of seven ways to recognize the difference between a religious community and a cult. Written down, the signs seem clear:
1. Opposing critical thinking. 2. Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving. 3. Emphasizing special doctrines outside scripture. 4. Seeking inappropriate loyalty to their leaders. 5. Dishonoring the family unit. 6. Crossing Biblical boundaries of behavior 7. Separation from the Church.
(The Atlantic)
Matthew 11:13: The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’
14: With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says: ‘You will indeed listen, but never understand and you will indeed look, but never perceive."
15: "For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears and understand with their heart and turn—and I would heal them.’
16: But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
(Book Of Matthew)
