Unmasked: Bombshell Admission & Coverup--ICOC Guilty of the Galatian Error
()
About this ebook
Unmasked by Joe Franklin is a companion volume to Taken Captive, The 2019 ICOC Report. This investigative analysis looks at ICOC leadership’s ongoing attempt to keep the truth about their false doctrine and works-salvation theology from reaching the ears of their church members. Specifically, the report examines leadership’s shocking confession to a third party in 2004 at the Abilene Christian University’s annual Lectureship, and their choice to omit that confession in subsequent summaries of their lectureship appearance.
What started out as four International Church of Christ representatives and their one-time confession led to a sanitized and deceptive version of events, which then spidered out into their worldwide movement in just 6 days! Shortly after this historic confession, the group’s leadership began whistling a different tune altogether. Influential leaders in the group began to modify and rework this confessed foundational sin by redefining the problem as purely one of implementation and generalized “mistakes.”
Leadership closed ranks and some began to uniformly target their followers with abusive victim-blaming and shaming—behaviors commonly associated with thought reform cults. This deflection onto their followers, says Franklin, allowed them the “cover” to continue authoritarian control of the flock in a more artful and nuanced form than the rigid discipleship practiced in the past.
Franklin highlights the backdrop to this event and the main purpose behind the ICOC attending the lectureship in the first place. Their appearance was primarily about damage control, public relations, and rebranding without actually changing theologically, evidenced by the lack of change in their core teachings since then. During this four-day event a lot of verbal promises were made, and generic apologies given. This was part of a larger strategy initiated by leadership, aimed at getting their members to trust them again, despite the fact that not a single resignation occurred as a direct result of decades of teaching quasi-Christian content as Bible truth.
History shows that authoritarian groups and quasi-Christian cults almost always go “underground” as public scrutiny increases during periodic times of upheaval. Many of the same group of men who came to power with their unorthodox biblical interpretations are the same influence peddlers in the movement today. This is a case of the fox guarding the henhouse.
When the facts are laid out and one sees the hypocrisy and cowardice of ICOC leaders, the continuing abuse, and the unbiblical system that underpins their ministry, it is likely that the reader will have a tough time grasping the magnitude of this corporate level cover-up. Life is about decisions; when considering the ICOC, one must willingly choose between the deceptive images or the ugly and sometimes uncomfortable truth that frees oneself from the group’s tangled mess of hidden sin and religious captivation.
It is the author’s conviction that despite the supposedly “new” changes and hype, the ICOC leadership are but a failed representation of the past. They are emblems of McKeanism who have failed to define their doctrine and practice outside the extra-biblical teaching, erroneous soteriology, and unethical use of systematic thought reform that defined the group in times past.
This is a story about the basics of repentance versus the legalistic thinking of the ICOC, which refuses to admit to, and take responsibility for, two core sinful practices: Their practice of discipleship, which causes psychological damage and, though Christian in appearance, their unbiblical theology. This can be seen by their sophistry, guile, group pressure, persuasive techniques (thought reform), guilt and shame manipulation, and complex system of carrots and sticks, all of which assault the believer’s self-autonomy, decision-making, and freedom in Christ.
Joseph Franklin
Joe Franklin is an accomplished teacher and life skills instructor with a Masters in Special Education. In his writing, he combines his passion for learning, education, and mentoring with an even greater passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He became a Christian as a young man, but after being recruited into the International Church of Christ (ICOC), he spent several years journeying down an unscriptural and psychologically manipulative path.
Read more from Joseph Franklin
Poisoned Fruit: An Analysis of the International Church of Christ's Departure from the Gospel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Taken Captive: The 2019 International Church of Christ Report Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Unmasked
Related ebooks
Christian Discernment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Politics of Sex and Religion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Family Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPromised Land: Whose Land? Whose Promise?: WHO SHALL INHERIT? A complete History of God and Humanity with Reference to Middle East Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnswering Skeptics: Sharing Your Faith with Critics, Doubters, and Seekers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What You Didn't Learn in Sunday School: Women Who Didn't Shut Up and Sit Down Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCognitive Dissonance: Most Treasured Bible Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConversations With My Unbelieving Friend Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInsanity in the Church: A Powerful Delusion Sent by God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Night of the Soul (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIs Jesus God? What the Bible Says Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBorn Again: My Journey from Fundamentalism to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free Indeed: A Devotional for Saints Who Still Struggle with Sin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDestroying the Shadow Agenda: A Christian Manifesto Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Heaven and Hell: Are They Real? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of J. Warner Wallace's Cold-Case Christianity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMERCY EXTENDED: The Gift that Transforms Lives, Impacts Generations, and Mobilizes Multitudes for Eternity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinding Your Worth in Christ: Identifying Your Worth Through the Lens of Your Creator Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReality According to the Scriptures: Initial Reflections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings60 Devotions Inspired by Women of the Bible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnderstanding and Loving Your Child Who Smokes Pot Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeroic Disgrace: Order out of chaos. Hope out of fear. — A Worship Hero Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarriage: God & Marriage: How To Find Love: Instruction Manual Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeft at the Altar: My Story of Hope and Healing for Every Woman Who Has Felt the Heartbreak of Rejection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Journey out of Christianity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDangerous Virtues: How to Follow Jesus When Evil Masquerades as Good Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDid He Hit Her? A Compassionate Christian Response to Abusive Relationships Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Cults For You
The Kingdom of the Cults: The Definitive Work on the Subject Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Tome: A Book of Modern Satanic Ritual Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Christianity, Cults and Religions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crisis of Conscience: The story of the struggle between loyalty to God and loyalty to one's religion. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Urban Apologetics: Cults and Cultural Ideologies: Biblical and Theological Challenges Facing Christians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRecovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind Control Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cults: Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mating in Captivity: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Give You Authority: Practicing the Authority Jesus Gave Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Urban Apologetics: Restoring Black Dignity with the Gospel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kingdom of the Occult Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Counting the Cost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Captive: A Mother's Crusade to Save Her Daughter from the Terrifying Cult Nxivm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom of the Cults Handbook: Quick Reference Guide to Alternative Belief Systems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsManhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos, and Survival Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cult, A Love Story: Ten Years Inside a Canadian Cult and the Subsequent Long Road of Recovery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once You Go In: A Memoir of Radical Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not Without My Sister: The True Story of Three Girls Violated and Betrayed by Those They Trusted Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Lost Keys of Freemasonry: Esoteric Study of the Infamous Secret Society Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOperation Mindfuck: QAnon and the Cult of Donald Trump Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5American Cults: Cabals, Corruption, and Charismatic Leaders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story of a Life In and Out of Hillsong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devils of Loudun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Unmasked
0 ratings0 reviews