Recommended Reading - "The Gathering Place" by Becca Anderson

I highly recommend Becca Anderson's The Gathering Place, especially for those involved with Mark Duke, and in particular those who are members of The House of God cult and its ancillary organizations (Parker Community Church, Selma Community Church, The Freedom Foundation).



A review copy of this book was sent to me a couple of years ago and it sat on one of my library shelves without much notice until recently. I was rearranging some books and came across it and took a brief look at the back cover and moved it to my “need to read” shelf - I’m glad I did; this book was a page-turner for me.

Having researched Mark Duke’s teaching and preaching and his extreme cultic practices for more than a year and seeing the subtle manipulation of people and the destruction of families that he has left in his wake, it was interesting to see how eerily similar The Gathering Place was to reality.

Of course, The Gathering Place is a novel, but there is much similarity to Mark Duke’s and the House of God’s (and many other false spiritual groups) methodology.

For those who are familiar with Duke’s teachings; here is a very telling excerpt from the book. The speaker is a person that realizes that she has made some mistakes in getting involved with a cult:

“…The mistake of putting more stock in the words of people than in the Word of God …The error of giving up the mind God gave me in exchange for security, uniformity, and not having to think – and most of all the mistake of drawing others into the same errors …I thought I’d get closer to God when in reality I only became more acceptable to a select group of people. For that I sold my integrity.”

These are very similar to the words and feelings that have been shared with me by those who have left the House of God cult.

I want everyone to read this book, and here’s why:

For those who have not fallen prey to Mark Duke and his cult leadership (or other false and abusive spiritual groups); I want you to see the subtle enticement and how easily someone could become involved with a cultic leader or group. We need to be ever vigilant to protect ourselves, our families and the Church.

For those who have run from Mark Duke and his cult leadership, I pray that you will remember how it felt to be duped and to get a renewed passion to help others escape too.

For those with family members still involved with Mark Duke and his cult leadership, I want you to remember what you have lost and renew the battle for your loved ones, even though it hurts. Please let me know how I can help you.

And most importantly, I pray that those who are involved with Mark Duke and his cult leadership in any way would read this book and understand that it is never okay to give up the mind God gave you in exchange for security, uniformity, and not having to think. There are those who love you in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and are willing to help – I am one of those and I am available to help you in any way.

Special thanks to Becca Anderson for allowing God to use her writing talents to tell this story. For those interested, Ms. Anderson offers an autographed copy of her book on her website: http://www.beccathewriter.com/.

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"We are not praying to the same God"

“Please DO NOT pray for us… we are not praying to the same God.”

Finally – words from a House of God cult leader that are ON!

Here is some more:

“I am glad to hear that you won’t be coming back. We aren’t looking for people who are goats and are stiff-necked against God’s plain truth and scripture. We are looking for his sheep… his sheep will know his voice. We are actually asking you not to come back”

These are some really harsh words from a leader of the House of God cult to a young woman who attended some of their meetings with her husband back in 2004.

Who was this House of God leader? Someone that was so important that she would later become the cult leader’s (Mark Duke) “spiritual partner.” Someone so important to the House of God’s main cause (The Spiritual Rights Movement), that she is now the leader of the Freedom Foundation – the chairperson of its board of trustees.

The leader is of course Shawn Samuelson. Back when these vile words were written, she was known as Shawn Durham – she had not yet divorced her husband to become Mark Duke’s spiritual partner and live-in family member with him and his wife with whom he would stay “legally married.”

In any case, what is quoted above is from an email that Shawn Samuelson wrote to a young lady by the name of Renee Windows. Based on the choice and tone of Shawn Samuelson’s vicious and hate-filled words, and telling her that “We are asking you not to come back;” Renee must have done something horrible, something so disturbing so disgusting that they didn’t even want her to come to their church…

What did Renee do that was so bad that this cult leader called her a goat and screamed in type DO NOT pray for us?

Renee questioned the cult’s doctrines and was worried about her husband’s involvement. But, she was to do far worse - she asked her former youth pastor to visit one of the House of God’s cult meetings!

I spoke with Renee Windows, and one of the first things that I asked her was her Christian testimony. She was very honest in her estimation of herself, and she said that she knew she would get to heaven and live eternally with God; not because of anything that she did, but because she had accepted Jesus Christ’s free gift of salvation and was washed by His blood, and she affirmed that Jesus was God. That makes her a Christian and my sister in Christ.

Renee went on to tell me her story regarding the House of God, and spoke very candidly about her marriage to her husband. Like most young couples they struggled, perhaps even more than most (there were even some minor physical altercations) back when she had come face-to-face with this cult. But they hung on and they love each other and are committed to each other. That their marriage survived an onslaught of advice from the cult’s spiritual partners and other leaders for her husband to leave their marriage because she questioned them is great news. Sadly, Satan's work in and through the House of God was effective on other marriages that didn’t fare so well.

Renee’s story would be tedious to write out here, so instead, the text from email exchanges between the cult’s spiritual partners (and another cult member as well) and the Windows can be read by clicking the link below.

While reading email exchanges can be confusing, this is vital information. It allows the words of cult leaders Mark Duke and Shawn Samuelson to speak for them. Read closely and the House of God’s false gospel will be very evident.

There is no better way to shine light on a cult than to see their words and actions in context. You can see for yourself what they say - don't just take my word for it.

The proof is in the pudding...

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

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A Cult? Are you sure? Yes - it's a Different Jesus and a Different Gospel and Ohh So Much More....

I have, and will continue to publicly claim that the House of God is a cult. But what is a cult? Below are concise and professionally accepted definitions of cults. And yes, Mark Duke's church, the House of God, is a cult. Mark Duke and its leaders proclaim a different Jesus and gospel from the biblically orthodox and historical Christian Faith.

Additionally, this group falls in line, to some degree, with each of the ten traits listed below. Evidence of connection with these traits will be discussed in future posts.


Click the Play Button above to hear Deborah Layton - "Nobody Joins a Cult" audio clip from the PBS Documentary DVD - Jonestown: Life and Death of Peoples Temple
© copyright 2007 WGBH Educational Foundation and Firelight Media

The following general definitions related to cults are excerpted from the book, The Concise Guide to Today's Religions and Spirituality, © copyright 2007 by Watchman Fellowship, Inc.:

The term cult comes from the Latin word cultus, which is found in English and agrarian terms such as cultivation and the word culture. The root is also used in a religious context to refer to any system of belief and worship. In a Christian context, the word is used to denote an inauthentic alternative to the Christian faith. That usage can probably be traced to the early twentieth-century with Ernst Troeltsch’s The Social Teaching of the Christian Church, in which he defined a cult as a mystical religion that appeals to the intelligentsia.

The term cult has also evolved in the work of psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists, who frequently use the word to describe religious structure or belief patterns with meanings (usually non-pejorative) unique to their disciplines.

Another usage for the word cult is found in the secular cult-awareness movement – sometimes referred to as the anti-cult movement. The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA – formerly the American Family Foundation) of Bonita Springs, Florida, is an interdisciplinary network of academicians, professionals, former group members, and families who study and educate the public about religious groups and cults.

Specifically, they provide information about social-psychological influence and control, authoritarianism, and zealotry found in cultic groups, alternative movements, and other environments. They use the word cult within the context of the following ten traits:

1. Submission to Leadership - Leaders tend to exert absolute control, frequently portraying themselves as prophets of God (or even God Himself). Such individuals demand submission even if changes or conflicts occur in ideology or behavior.

2. Polarized Worldview – Cults usually view the outside world through a paradigm of existential conflict, in which the group must be isolated from the hostile and contaminated world outside.

3. Emphasizing Emotion Over Thought – Emotions, intuitions, and mystical insights are typically given priority over rational conclusions.

4. Emotional Manipulation – Cult leaders frequently manipulate group and interpersonal dynamics to influence responses. (This type of manipulation may be very subtle and take the form of questions or suggestions that evoke emotional responses such as fear, guilt or a false sense of obligation designed to trigger compliance with the leaders’ desires.)

5. Denigration of Critical Thinking – Some cults characterize any independent thought as selfish and rational use of intellect as evil.

6. Restrictive Soteriology – Salvation, enlightenment, or fulfillment can only be realized in the group.

7. Situational Ethics – Any action or behavior is justifiable as long as it furthers the group’s goals. The group (or leader) determines absolute truth, which then supersedes all outside juridical laws.

8. Preeminence of the Group – The group’s concerns typically supersede an individual’s goals, needs aspirations, and concerns. Tremendous pressure is exerted upon individual members to conform to the norms of the group.

9. Condemnations of Apostates and Critics – Members are frequently allowed no contact with former members or critics of the group. This prohibition is often even levied against members who make critical comments of the group or its leaders.

10. Isolation from Nonmembers – Contact with nonmembers, even family, is frequently restricted to proselytic encounters.

Some Christian Definitions:

Cult: In addition to the usages mentioned above, mainstream Christians often define a cult as a group who presents an inauthentic form of Christianity that seriously deviates from the essential doctrines of classical Christianity. In most cases, the group in question claims to be Christian or compatible with Christianity but the organization’s aberrant beliefs concerning central doctrines of the faith result in the group be classified as unorthodox or cultic. In this sense, the term cult primarily has a doctrinal or theological meaning and could be used to describe pseudo-Christian groups or forms of counterfeit Christianity. Most often, Watchman Fellowship uses this theological meaning when using the word cult.

For almost 30-years at Watchman Fellowship, we have used the following “mathematical formula” to identify four patterns often evident in the cults in terms of theological deviation:

1. Addition – Pseudo-Christian groups often add to Scripture, either by introducing additional works to the canon of Scripture (e.g., the Book of Mormon), receiving additional “revelations” from God (e.g., the apocalyptic revelations of the Branch Davidians’ David Koresh), or declaring that the Bible cannot be understood apart from the indispensable literature or teaching of the group (e.g., the reliance of Jehovah’s Witnesses upon literature from the Watchtower Society). See Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18

2. Subtraction - Pseudo-Christian groups subtract from the humanity of Christ (e.g., the Gnostic heresy) or the deity of Jesus Christ, either through an Arian denial of His deity (e.g., the Jehovah’s Witnesses) or by claiming that all humans are either gods or united with God (e.g., New Age devotees who attempt to achieve Christ-consciousness). See 2 Corinthians 11:3-4.

3. Multiplication - Pseudo-Christian groups multiply the requirements for salvation, teaching that Jesus Christ’s atoning work on the cross and resurrection is not sufficient. Good works, law keeping and earning favor are also required for one to receive eternal life – rather than salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone (e.g., the sabbatarian groups who require observance of Jewish Sabbaths, dietary laws, tithing, etc., as preconditions for receiving eternal life). See Galatians 1:6-8; 2:16.

4. Division - Pseudo-Christian groups often divide their followers’ loyalties by teaching that one cannot be loyal to God without being loyal to their leader, group, or organization. This characteristics, sometimes called the “only true church syndrome,” leads followers to believe that there is no salvation outside of that organization or leader. This creates another “mediator between God and men” besides Jesus. This condition often results in the worst kind of spiritual abuse, as followers feel they must stay and endure whatever the group demands because there is no salvation elsewhere. See 1Timothy 2:5.

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The Main Thing - Exposing Mark Duke and the House of God

Hello, my name is Allan McConnell, and this is the first of many posts related to the cultic doctrines and practices of a church known as the House of God (Parker, Colorado and Selma, Alabama), its founder Mark S. Duke and other leaders.

The "Spiritual Rights Movement," the House of God's bizarre effort to recreate the United States Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's from a spiritual perspective and its ancillary organization the Freedom Foundation will also be discussed.

The main purpose of this blog is to expose the true teachings of the House of God, thereby encouraging Christians to respond to its spiritual error and abuse by speaking the Truth in Love.

My prayer is that concerned individuals and family members will see the need and develop the desire to get their loved ones free from the spiritual danger that exists with this group.

Initially, I am not allowing readers to post responses that will be shown publicly, but I may revise that policy as time goes on. I will however, accept and respond to comments - both pro and con - sent to me at WeWillFindtheTruth@gmail.com.

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