It sounds like Russell Brand is on quite a journey to find truth... actually, to find the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He seems, to me, to be on the cusp of true believing faith. He's at least on the right track, headed in the right direction. Say a prayer for him.
Russell brand says Christ is becoming 'more important,' desires a 'personal relationship' with God
I woke up this morning singing this song because I was singing it in my dreams for some reason (wish I could remember why): Loved by the Sun by Tangerine Dream, from the 1985 movie Legend.
And so, of course, since I couldn't get it out of my head, I had to get online to watch the video. Twice. I have always loved this song, scene, and movie. A favorite of mine since I was a kid.
I've always had a thing for bizarre fantasy-type movies. When I was a kid, my favorites were movies like Legend, Labyrinth, The NeverEnding Story, The Princess Bride, Flight of the Navigator, Dark Crystal, The Last Unicorn, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Little Mermaid, Time Bandits, The Great Muppet Caper, Sheena, Ghostbusters, Splash, Flash Gordon, Wizard of Oz (but Return to Oz was terrible, so terrible), Dragonslayer, The Beastmaster, etc. Those fun (or slightly dark) fantasy kinds of movies.
And I have recently, as an over-45-year old, began reading fantasy-type books too, such as The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The NeverEnding Story, The Princess Bride, Redwall, The Last Unicorn, The Narnia series, and others. So much fun! And a great break from the stresses and tragedies of real life.
Enjoy the song, a blast from my past!
(Now I have to go watch the movie again too.)
(I'll be posting a lot less in the New Year, gonna focus on reading instead of writing. Happy New Year. And God bless you all!)
[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.]
Conclusion:
I think Calvinism does this to people too. I think the longer someone stays in a Calvinist church, the more it will destroy their faith (what should be a simple faith), their relationship with God, their trust of God, and their ability to discern truth for themselves, to understand the Bible the way God meant it to be understood. And if and when someone leaves a Calvinist church, it may destroy their relationships with others and their ability/desire to get involved in a new church.
Oh my goodness, I'm totally loving this sweet little song (by The Kiffness and Rushawn):
It's a Beautiful Day (click on it)
Take three minutes today to watch it and smile!
(Could you imagine how you would feel if you watched this song every morning or evening for the next month? I might try it along with my Bible reading. A New Year's resolution.)
[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.]
Cults are authoritarian (disagreeing with or opposing the leaders is not allowed), and cult leaders are malignant narcissists.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association - in the article "How do cults differ from Christianity?" - lists these things as characteristics of a cult (my paraphrase):
Cults reject the basic beliefs of the Chistian faith. They act like they alone have the truth and that we must come to them to get it. They have their own writings which they add to the Bible or replace the Bible with. They have a strong leader who demands obedience and claims to speak for God.
Now, of course, Calvinists don't reject the basic beliefs of the Bible; they just redefine them, qualify them, or add other layers to them until they become something completely different.
And they do believe they have the truth. But don't we all? We all think we have "the truth." No one willingly believes a lie.
But what makes Calvinism different than mere Christianity is this:
Merry Christmas, Everyone! God bless you today and in 2024.
Enjoy these two great Christmas songs: Hallelujah Christmas (by Cloverton) and Little Drummer Boy (My favorite! By For King and Country)
"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the LORD." Luke 2:11
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
"... if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.... Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:9, 13
[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.]
(Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you have a blessed holiday season.)
8. Silencing the members' inner voices
Gaslighting: manipulating people into doubting their own sanity, memory, or powers of reasoning.
And "manipulating people into doubting their own power of reasoning" is what Calvinists do (even if they don't mean to). It's one of the reasons it spreads so unopposed, so easily.
In addition to manipulative-shaming, Calvinists have ways of getting us to doubt our abilities to correctly think, judge, and understand things. They make us feel like if we disagree with Calvinism, then there's something wrong with us, not with their theology. This causes us to question our discernment and to possibly ignore any doubts or "red flags" we get. (Or at least to keep quiet about them because we fear others distrusting our discernment too.)
And if we can't trust our own judgment and discernment, guess whose we'll trust?
That's right: theirs. Just like they want.
"... there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:10)
Let's celebrate the new birth of another celebrity who recently-ish came to faith in Christ: Danica McKellar (best remembered by those in my generation as Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years")
(Click on the video in the article. She's such a darling.)
God bless her! And...
[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.]
7. Mind-Control, Thought-Reform
Reforming people's thoughts is absolutely necessary for Stealth Calvinism (or even non-stealth Calvinism) to be effective. Strategic brainwashing. (A lot of how they control/modify our thoughts has already been addressed, so I won't repeat all that. Much.)
Controlling the language: Remember, whoever controls the language also controls the conversation and destination.
Calvinist pastors control the direction of the church by controlling not just the resources and staff, but also controlling the definitions of words, the theological language we speak. And by controlling the words (and verses), they can slowly modify our thinking and our perspectives on God and His Word, causing us to see everything through the lens of Calvinism - until we can't remember how to read the Bible in a clear, plain, commonsense way anymore.
[This series is "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult" split up into smaller, individual posts.]
6. Fear and Coercion
None of us wants to be an unhumble, divisive, God-dishonoring, glory-stealing Christian, do we? These are fears of any good Christian.
Calvinist pastors know this and use it their advantage (even if it's not totally deliberate).
In that "10 things to know..." article I linked to above, the author points out this mark of a cult: "Cults maintain their power by promoting an 'us vs. them' mentality."
Calvinists will use flattery and shaming (forms of manipulation) to do just this: to create an "us vs. them" dichotomy, to coerce people into Calvinism. They will talk in such a way that makes those who agree with them feel like good Christians and those who disagree feel like bad Christians.