Cultic Groups Stalk Harvest Crusade Attendees
Contact: Amanda Huffman, Rose Publishing, 253-266-1025, media@rose-publishing.com
TORRANCE, Calif., Aug. 4 /Christian Newswire/ – When Lynn’s son Bryce went to the annual Harvest Crusade, a Christian music and evangelism event, she had no way of knowing he would be lured into a cultic group known as the Twelve Tribes.
Before she knew it, Bryce abandoned his studies at Christian college and disowned his family.
The Twelve Tribes regularly field teams of proselytizers to intercept new converts and their friends as they leave the Crusade. Dancing and distributing literature around their brightly painted “hippie bus” in the Angel Stadium parking lot, Twelve Tribes members invite passerby’s to commit themselves to a more authentic Christian lifestyle in their “messianic communities.”
But as Lynn discovered to her dismay, behind the quaint “freepapers” and homespun clothing is a religious system marked by exclusivism, racism, manipulation, and the spiritual domination of a man who calls himself “Yoneq.”
Seventh-day Adventists are among the other groups that chase down Crusade attendees. These followers of the prophetess Ellen G. White emphasize end-time themes, especially the observance of Saturday as the true day of worship, in order to avoid the coming wrath of God.
“Churches need to inoculate their members against ‘love bombing’ by predatory groups at crusades and concerts,” says Gretchen Goldsmith, CEO of Rose Publishing. “Christians need help in discerning truth from error so they can recognize and resist counterfeits–and this is especially true of new believers who have just responded to an invitation to trust in Jesus.”
Goldsmith recommends that churches educate their attendees on a regular basis on key beliefs and doctrines, and be familiar with the way these are twisted or denied by groups claiming to be Christian but actually rejecting the 2000-year-old message.
To help bridge the gap for Christians, Rose Publishing has just released a new 6-session DVD-based course called Christianity, Cults & Religions. It covers the key Christian beliefs and why Christians hold them. It also goes into detail on the beliefs of six groups that aggressively proselytize today and how to answer them. (ISBN: 9781596364134 Rose Publishing)
A new pamphlet, 10 Questions and Answers on Seventh-Day Adventism will release in October. It directly evaluates the Seventh-Day Adventist cultic background and beliefs, while comparing them to Christianity. (ISBN: 9781596364226 Rose Publishing)
Lynn grieves for her son, who now refuses even to receive visits from her at the sect’s rural compound in Vista, California. Alienation from family and friends is common for converts to the Twelve Tribes, who support themselves through their “Yellow Deli” cafes and other businesses.
She prays that God will rescue Bryce and reconcile him to his parents and to the Body of Christ. “I don’t know if I’ll ever know why God is allowing this to happen to my family, but I’ll still praise His holy name and believe that He will make all thing work together for good,” said Lynn.
For fact sheets on the Twelve Tribes and Seventh-day Adventism, go to:
www.rosepublishing.com/harvest
PUBLISHER INFORMATION:
Rose Publishing, Inc., was founded in 1991, in Torrance, California. Rose Publishing, Inc. is a member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and a supplier member of the Christian Booksellers Association. Rose Publishing has won numerous awards:
• Retailers Choice Award 2010 - Christian History Made Easy
• Retailers Choice Award 2009 - Rose Guide to the Tabernacle
• ECPA Gold Award - Christianity, Cults & Religions – 500,000 copies sold, making it the best-selling Cults & Religions comparison chart.
DVD-Based Small Group Complete Kit:
In this DVD-study, Carden explains how to talk with people of other faiths in a way that will open them up to the Gospel, not turn them off. Six sessions include 1) Definitions, Discernment and Defending the Faith. 2) Essential Christian Doctrine. 3) Jehovah’s Witness (Watchtower Society). 4) Mormonism (Latter-day Saints). 5) Eastern Religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and New Age. 6) Islam.
Complete Christianity, Cults, and Religions Kit ($99.99) contains:
• DVD with six complete teaching sessions
• One Leader Guide
• One Participant Guide
• One Christianity, Cults & Religions pamphlet
• One 112-page handbook comparing 40 religions and cults
• CD-ROM with 250 slide PowerPoint presentation to expand the scope of the teaching and PDF files for promotion: posters, fliers, handouts, banners and more.
Christianity, Cults, and Religions Leader Pack ($29.99) contains:
• Leader Pack with the DVD of six 30-40 minute video sessions and a CD-ROM with PDF of the Leader Guide which may be printed out, and PDF files for posters, fliers, handouts, bulletin inserts, and banners for you to print as needed.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Paul Carden, general editor and teacher, is a longtime specialist in the field of cults and new religions around the world. He is the executive director of the Centers for Apologetics Research (CFAR) in San Juan Capistrano, California, and general editor of Christianity, Cults & Religions. He is former co-host of the “Bible Answer Man” radio program. He speaks and writes extensively on the topic of “Confronting Cults on World Mission Fields.”
To schedule an interview, please contact Melinda Adair with Pure Publicity at 509.222.4509 or Melinda@purepublicity.com.
For Southern California speaking engagements, email Paul@thecenters.org
See free sample video session and sample chapters at:
www.ChristianityCultsAndReligions.com
