Missy,
Is ICOC 'International Church of Christ'? Is that Kip McKean's thing? I've had some bad experiences with London International Church of Christ - helping a friend out of it when they really had their hooks into her. Or are you / is he talking about something else?
Steve, maybe mine would be 'No hoper' and 'No hope but Christ'
Or something.
Yes, it was the same, but there's been a divide. Kip and ICOC had a schism and Kip has broken off a group of his own dedicated to continuing the old ways - he calls his group something else now. ICOC is now an autonomous co-operative group and I have a hard time seeing how we differ from the COC or other Reformation groups. I became a christian through the group when the breakup was just beginning. I guess it had a cult mentality due to the hiarchy that Kip established, and not so much the teaching as the legalism demanded in adhering to it. From my understanding, the London church was integral in demolishing that. It's still a mess, but I don't know about cult. I'd like to know more about what you mean by "had their hooks into her" if you would care to email me. I've heard stories, but never experienced those things myself. Does me email show up for you when I post a comment??
I'm a former ICOC member (from 1998-2006, joining before the Henry Kriete Letter and Kip McKean's departure around 2003 and leaving after). It's true that you have escaped a lot of the obvious abuse that I and hundreds of thousands of others went through and that there is no clear discipling hierarchy in most of the ICOC congregations. However, as someone on the outside looking in, a lot of the underlying core doctrines are still there. You can tear down an unsafe house that's been condemned, but if the foundation isn't torn up and repoured, the next house built on the foundation will have the same footprint and will eventually be unstable and be condemned like the first house.
Here are some things to think about:
1. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in your discipling relationships? The proper role of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life (infilling, empowering, guiding, etc.) working in tandem with the role of other Christians (the "one-another" relationships) will help guarantee that any form of discipling won't become authoritarian and abusive.
2. Do you feel like you have to do things that Christians do perfectly (evangelizing, confessing sin, going to every meeting of the body, receiving and giving discipling)? Do you actually do any of these perfectly without sin 100% of the time? If not, how does grace fit into the picture and what does it do with your imperfections?
3. Do you accept others as genuine Christians who aren't part of the ICOC? If so, how do you prove it doctrinally using the Bible? And what groups make and don't make the cut? (the mainline Churches of Christ, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Charismatics, Pentecostals, Methodists, Eastern Orthodox, Presbyterians, non-denominational fellowships...)
These are just things to think about. :-) You can find more in-depth stuff online at places like http://www.reveal.org/.
P.S. Kip McKean's new group is the "International Christian Churches" and is growing and planting churches. However, it appears that it's much slower than what had occurred in the old Boston Movement in 1980's.
Jesus heals, no doubt!
I have to admit, it would have been more impactful on me if the one about "Member of a cult (ICOC)" hadn't been there, but very moving.
My sign would read, "A Mess"
(flipped over)...
"A Forgiven Mess"
Missy,
Is ICOC 'International Church of Christ'? Is that Kip McKean's thing? I've had some bad experiences with London International Church of Christ - helping a friend out of it when they really had their hooks into her. Or are you / is he talking about something else?
Steve, maybe mine would be 'No hoper' and 'No hope but Christ'
Or something.
Yes, it was the same, but there's been a divide. Kip and ICOC had a schism and Kip has broken off a group of his own dedicated to continuing the old ways - he calls his group something else now. ICOC is now an autonomous co-operative group and I have a hard time seeing how we differ from the COC or other Reformation groups. I became a christian through the group when the breakup was just beginning. I guess it had a cult mentality due to the hiarchy that Kip established, and not so much the teaching as the legalism demanded in adhering to it. From my understanding, the London church was integral in demolishing that. It's still a mess, but I don't know about cult. I'd like to know more about what you mean by "had their hooks into her" if you would care to email me. I've heard stories, but never experienced those things myself. Does me email show up for you when I post a comment??
Hey Missy, yes sending an email your way...
Wow Glen that was devastating. Thank you.
Hi Missy,
I'm a former ICOC member (from 1998-2006, joining before the Henry Kriete Letter and Kip McKean's departure around 2003 and leaving after). It's true that you have escaped a lot of the obvious abuse that I and hundreds of thousands of others went through and that there is no clear discipling hierarchy in most of the ICOC congregations. However, as someone on the outside looking in, a lot of the underlying core doctrines are still there. You can tear down an unsafe house that's been condemned, but if the foundation isn't torn up and repoured, the next house built on the foundation will have the same footprint and will eventually be unstable and be condemned like the first house.
Here are some things to think about:
1. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in your discipling relationships? The proper role of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life (infilling, empowering, guiding, etc.) working in tandem with the role of other Christians (the "one-another" relationships) will help guarantee that any form of discipling won't become authoritarian and abusive.
2. Do you feel like you have to do things that Christians do perfectly (evangelizing, confessing sin, going to every meeting of the body, receiving and giving discipling)? Do you actually do any of these perfectly without sin 100% of the time? If not, how does grace fit into the picture and what does it do with your imperfections?
3. Do you accept others as genuine Christians who aren't part of the ICOC? If so, how do you prove it doctrinally using the Bible? And what groups make and don't make the cut? (the mainline Churches of Christ, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Charismatics, Pentecostals, Methodists, Eastern Orthodox, Presbyterians, non-denominational fellowships...)
These are just things to think about. :-) You can find more in-depth stuff online at places like http://www.reveal.org/.
P.S. Kip McKean's new group is the "International Christian Churches" and is growing and planting churches. However, it appears that it's much slower than what had occurred in the old Boston Movement in 1980's.