"I See Dead People!"

I'm having a lot of fun reading some of the stuff on the NAC Singles website, in particular the featured news story about a New Apostolic member who claims to be able to see "angels, souls, spirits, demons and much more" after receiving a visit from none other than the archangel Michael. The angel informs our hero that "very few people reach the level of faith that you have reached", and proceeds to lay out a "plan" that God chose for him before the foundations of time. It's all in a book NAC member and former minister Jim Rybak wrote. He also has a website where he offers to "heal your energy" and tell you all about your chakras and auras. Oh, and just in case you wondered whether he's abandoned his NAC beliefs, he's still a church-going member who sings in the choir.

How does one reconcile the teachings of the New Apostolic Church with such new-age tripe? Has this faithful member ever offered his divinely-inspired insight to one of the NAC's "apostles"? If so, I wonder how that played out. What about the NAC members at large, what revelations can Jim offer the faithful now that he sees dead people? And what about those pesky demons and spirits, how can we spot them should we want to avoid them? If only Jim can see them, it seems there's some important information that he has a duty to disseminate to the great unwashed masses who haven't achieved his awesome level of faith.

Delusions are a fascinating thing. But have you ever noticed that there's never a lithium dart laying around when you really need one?

Understanding The Bible The NAC Way

I saw this missive from Wilhelm Leber, "Chief Apostle" of the NAC, on the New Apostolic Church International website:

... I would still like to stress the following: according to the New Apostolic understanding of faith, the Apostle ministry has been endowed with the authority to interpret Holy Scripture. This does not mean that believers will not profit from reading the Bible. But it falls to the Apostle ministry to interpret the Bible, to clarify matters, and to provide instruction in faith. In so doing, Scriptural passages are considered in their context, since overemphasis on individual statements can lead to the wrong conclusions.

Truly amazing when you consider that the only apostles who may have been able to claim such authority were the original apostles mentioned in the Bible. The New Apostolic Church believes that their apostles were "called" in the 1830's after some zealots had a few dreams and visions. Oh, and after the church went through a few schisms, too. The NAC apostles are all laymen, there's not one of them that has had any formal theological training, yet somehow it "falls" on these self-appointed men to interpret the Bible and tell everyone exactly what it is they're reading. And to "clarify matters". Gotcha.

If, as Willy says up there, scriptural passages are to be considered in their context, can any NAC "apostle" point out exactly where in the Bible it mentions people flopping around on the floor in the 1830's and appointing these men as "God's Ambassadors"? Can they show me where the Bible mentions a "Chief Apostle" being appointed by God in the 19th century?

If not, I think it's safe to say they're full of crap.

With us always, or not?

No, I don't mean Jesus. Indoctrination.

Anonymous asked in the "Death of a Salesman" thread: "Does the indoctrination not only cause members to experience atrophy in their ability to think and reason, but also lead to irrational justifications? Does indoctrination ultimately lead to the ability to be in a perpetual state of denial?"

I'd like to explore this question and others like it. Certainly indoctrination is not unique to the New Apostolic Church, but how do New Apostolics deal with it in their everyday lives? Does it ultimately affect who you really are and what decisions you make or have made in your life? What about those who have left the church, are they still victims of the indoctrination in that their life decisions are based on it at some (if not every) level?

I'd like to think that I've come a long way from being the indoctrinated automaton I could have become in the NAC, but I also find that dealing with indoctrination is a daily battle. Every day I have to remind myself that certain thoughts are not my own, they were put there by others who honestly thought they were doing me some good. Or did they?

Death of a Salesman

So I'm thinking about the first post for this blog, and I decided to write about something that has been bothering me for the last month or so. A man (I won't use his real name) who used to be very involved with the church, a man who had information regarding possible financial misdeeds of the church, took his own life after a series of personal financial setbacks became too much for him to bear. After reading many of his posts on the NACBoard, it was somewhat of a shock to learn that he'd done himself in, but I guess we never know all the burdens others might carry.

I pity him. I wonder what happened to his faith in God that he decided death was a better alternative for him than waiting to see what else life had in store for him. He used to preach about how great God was, how God would sort everything out, all the misdeeds and financial monkey business of the men wielding power in the church would somehow make the church stronger, because wrongs would be righted. I pity him because other than getting a half-hearted apology from the church that he loved for the things he had to endure due to the actions of evil men, nothing has ever come to light regarding Michael Kraus and his dirty dealings with the church finances. Not one scrap of evidence, not even any real accusations. It's all ancient hushed history.

To his dying day, this man professed his love and wide-eyed devotion for the worldwide figurehead of the New Apostolic Church, the "Chief Apostle". He had been told what would happen by a Chief Apostle, how the whole scenario would play out, and even though 2 other Chief Apostles would take control of the church since the day he got that word, nothing ever came of it. And when all was said and done, not one "Chief Apostle" could be bothered to tell the truth about what happened during the iron-fisted reign of Michael Kraus, District Apostle for North America. Not one of these phonies could stand up and say "This man knows the truth about what happened." And more importantly, not one Chief Apostle could give this man financial help in his time of need, especially after knowing the burden of silence he'd agreed to carry, all so these men could continue living their good, prosperous lives.

I don't know what to make of all of it. And like the financial dealings of the New Apostolic Church, perhaps I never will.