[Article 1] The ICC's Corrupt Policies for Money (Part 1)

This article is available for download in PDF format here
A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 1]

Corrupt Policies of the International Christian Church: Part 1

By Daniel Berg           June 25, 2015

I was a member of the ICC for six years. At the time that I was baptized I believed that the ICC was the Church of God since the doctrine matched the beliefs of the early Christians, and indeed those who reached out to me were honest people.  I was aware that Kip had some criticisms about his past but he addressed these in front of the congregation and apologized for his misconduct. I decided to trust Kip despite his past because I believed he had repented; even King David in the Bible fell into sin, so I trusted that Kip had repented the same way that King David had.

If the Church had stayed the way it was back when I was baptized, I would still be there, worshipping alongside everyone else. Unfortunately, after Kip got his Church started and got enough momentum going, he began to take the Church in a different direction and the Church evolved into something else.  The Church began to introduce some odd policies and make some questionable decisions that all seemed to revolve around money issues, and these changes were introduced using manipulative methods. There have been many people who have brought their concerns before the leadership on these issues, and the leaders always give the same excuse; “the Church is not perfect, everyone makes mistakes”. The Church is not expected to be perfect, but it is expected to repent; and there has been no repentance shown here.

[Article 2] The ICC's Corrupt Policies for Money (Part 2)

This article is available for download in PDF format here

A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 2]

Corrupt Policies of the International Christian Church: Part 2

By Daniel Berg           June 25, 2015

In my previous article I wrote about psychological concepts involved in the ICC's abusive actions. So as not to appear arrogant; I write not as an expert on psychology but as an engineering graduate who has also taken up the study of psychology and group psychology on the side. The key behind manipulating a person or a group of people is to keep them from realizing that they are actually being manipulated, therefore the manipulation needs to either be disguised as something else or psychological tactics must be used to keep the victim from thinking about the possibility of manipulation altogether. Many of these manipulative policies appear seemingly innocent at first as these leaders claim that they are just trying to make sure that their members are “spiritual”, but they serve as components in a larger system. I now try to write further about the nature of the psychological manipulation in the ICC that is behind more questionable policies involving money. Hopefully the logic and truth behind my words will hold more sway than what credentials I may or may not have as I once again tackle more aspects of this corrupt system that the ICC has created.

[Article 3] The ICC's Extortion and Coercion for Money

This article is available for download in PDF format here

A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 3]

The ICC’s Extortion and Coercion for Money

By Daniel Berg           June 25, 2015

Coercion and Extortion

In 2013, Kip McKean put in action a policy which dictated that members who did not give a contribution for two weeks in a row would be “warned” that they would be disfellowshipped. This is regardless of whether that member is actually receiving any income. Now for those of you outside the ICC who have studied your Bibles on the subject of how the Church went about collecting their finances; it should be fairly obvious how unbiblical this policy is, however, I shall continue anyway to explain why this is not in line with the scriptures because my target audience has been manipulated into believing otherwise.

[Article 4] The ICC's Psychological Control System

This article is available for download in PDF format here

A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 4]

The ICC’s Psychological Control System (Part 1)

By Daniel Berg           June 25, 2015

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. –Deceptions of False Teachers, 2 Peter 2:18-19

Introduction: A System of Abuse Twice Used

Many people refer to Kip McKean’s psychological system of control as “mind control”, but seem unable to explain how this is actually done. The term “mind control” sounds so sci-fi that it seems ridiculous to some people that something like this could be realistically implemented by a church, and yet we see examples of this throughout history such as Steward Traill’s Church of Bible Understanding (don’t all such organizations claim that they are just “following the Bible”?) which was founded in 1971.

My articles have outlined the different ways that the ICC would psychologically manipulate people and I often use the group psychological theories of recognized nineteenth-century thinkers such as Gustave Le Bon and Sigmund Freud to show how this is being done. The key behind manipulating a person or a group of people is to keep them from realizing that they are actually being manipulated, therefore the manipulation needs to be disguised as something else. It is interesting to note that when people bring up the subject of psychological theory to discuss how the members are being manipulated they are criticized for bringing up “worldly concepts” against their “holy organization”; as if they are somehow exempt from such psychological phenomena. Once again this plays right into the theories of group psychology, that the people who get pulled into this mentality think that their organization is above the rules. Many of these manipulative policies appear seemingly innocent at first, but they serve as components in a larger system and come together to form a system that serves a specific purpose; very much like an engineer will put together various components to create a specific device. The system that the ICC has built serves to maximize the money that they take from their congregation as well as establishing significant control over them and this was the same type of system that Kip built during the ICOC as can be seen in the letters from the ICOC leaders in 2003 where they apologize for this abuse and coercion done during Kip’s leadership.

Many have concluded the reason for all of this sin, disorder and bitterness was “the system” –

World Sector Leaders, discipleship partners, Bible Talks, megachurches, the “Study Series,” etc.

(Some have even gone so far as to call it the “evil” system.) A system is simply applying Biblical

principles to create methods. Some churches in the name of “freedom in Christ” have abandoned

all methodologies such as Bible Talks, discipleship partners, etc. We must have a system that

uses Biblical principles in order to evangelize the world. –Kip McKean, “From Babylon onto Zion”, July 13, 2003.

It is interesting to note here that Kip criticizes the ICOC on the basis that some of their Churches had done away with discipleship partners and bible talks, and yet once again he avoids the issue of abusive money policies as being part of the system and instead obscurely alludes to “sin, disorder, and bitterness” instead of addressing the main concerns that people had with his organization. His avoidance of the issue of obtaining money from members through coercive tactics continues throughout the rest of the letter as I show in my other article; How Kip McKean’s Old Movement Fell which addresses this part of Kip’s history. It has become very clear from my previous articles that this system has not been based on “Biblical principles” on which Kip attempts to make his argument and this article will serve to enforce that as I describe his current psychological system of control.

[Article 5] The ICC's Psychological Control System (Part 2): The Issue of Central Leadership

This article is available for download in PDF format here

A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 5]

The ICC’s Psychological Control System (Part 2): The Issue of Central Leadership

By Daniel Berg           June 25, 2015

Biblically, disciples can never rebel against authority, yet as seen with David who “chose” to transfer his allegiance from the ungodly Saul to the uncircumcised Achish (1 Sam 27:1-4) one is “free to choose” whom to submit to. – Kip McKean on his separation from the ICOC, Portland Story Archive, August 21, 2005

The ICC now claims that the true Christian church should be under a central leadership, similar to how the Pope is the central leader of the Catholic churches around the world. They state in their “core values” that the “Church of God” should have a central leadership with a central leader (as in one leader to rule them all). Since the ICC believes theirs to be the truest doctrine of all, Kip McKean asserts himself as the rightful world leader of the true “Kingdom of God” and the leader of all churches around the world that submit to him and are therefore part of “God’s one true Church.” Of course they often change this story when talking with outsiders (they tell them that other churches that are part of the “church universal” are saved), so as not to bring too much criticism against themselves, but as for members within their organization, they do their best to impose the belief on them that they need to be part of the one church that has a “central leadership with a central leader” in order to ensure their salvation (in other words, they need to be part of Kip McKean’s church in order to “be sure that they are saved”).

Let me first explain how this came to be. When I first joined the ICC in 2008 the leadership would often speak against the ICOC churches for becoming autonomous; saying that the Church needed a “point man” to lead their evangelical charge, however, this sentiment only manifested as the strong opinion of the leaders and was not yet being taught as a doctrinal (or salvation) requirement. In my early days with the ICC I remember having conversations with leaders and whenever this subject would come up they would give me reasons for why they thought that central leadership was the best system for evangelization, but they were not yet trying to impose this opinion on anyone as a required belief. No one back then was being taught in the first principles studies that the Church of God needed a “central leadership with a central leader”, this belief as a doctrinal requirement for “God’s Church” was not introduced into the church until later when Kip McKean introduced his “five core values”.

[Article 6] Manipulative Tactics, Deceitful Arguments and Abusive Methods

This article is available for download in PDF format here

A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 6]

Other ICC Manipulative Tactics, Deceitful Arguments, and Abusive Methods

By Daniel Berg           June 25, 2015

            It is here that I address other manipulative techniques and deceitful arguments as well as other abusive behaviors that are made by ICC leaders that are related to some of the overall issues of all my articles in general rather than fitting into a specific category alone. I also include material which I could not fit into my other articles but which also have significant importance in exposing additional corruption in the ICC.

Here are the various subjects which this article addresses:

●Targeting the Parents of Younger Members

●What It Really Means to “Put The Kingdom First”

● The Gainesville ICC’s “Feeling Pressured” Article

● Abused Scriptures (and more psychological concepts)

● The ICC’s Negligent Study of Early Church History

Targeting the Parents of Younger Members

A growing percentage of the Church is comprised of young college students since they are the most susceptible to psychological persuasion. It is the ICC’s interest to find ways to get as much money out of this group as they can. The problem here is that college students tend to not have that much money on them, as is common with their stereotype. The ICC’s solution: go for the parents.

            The ICC will target the parents for either one of two cases: 1.) The college student is “short” on their special contribution or 2.) The college student doesn’t have the income to pay a weekly contribution.

During the special contributions, when a member’s effort to raise money for the amount imposed on them appears to be in doubt, it is a common practice for ICC leaders and disciplers to attempt to coerce the members into pleading to their families and friends for this money.  For those who asked their relatives and friends for money on of their own out of loyalty to what they believe is the “movement of God”, then amen, that decision is on them.  But from what I have observed; in the majority of cases where the members pleaded to their loved ones to lend them money for the purpose of the special contributions, it was because they were pressured to do so by a discipler or other leader.  Even for those members who now willingly ask their relatives every year to donate money; many of them were urged to do so by the leadership in the past and thus continue this practice.

Now why make a big deal out of this?  Well, it has to do with realizing what having a heart for giving to God is really about.  One of the best examples in the Bible for having a heart of sacrifice for God is the example set by King David who was described as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).  The heart that King David had for sacrificing to God can be clearly seen in 1 Chronicles 21 when he was told by God to build an altar, the following passage is 1 Chronicles 21:18-24;

18Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord.

20While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. 21Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.

22David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.”

23Araunah said to David, “Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.”

24But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”  --Note: In other versions Araunah is also known as Ornan.

Now David could have accepted Araunah’s (Ornan’s) kind offer and then used the money he would have saved to build God an altar that was even more grand, however, David knew that having a heart for God was not about the physical or monetary amount that was offered, but the heart that was behind the sacrifice. King David wrote the following in Psalm 51:16-17; 16You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.  We also see the viewpoint of Jesus on offering to the Lord in Mark 12 when he observed a poor widow deposit a couple of copper coins into the temple treasury, which was all that she had.  Though the amount of money she gave was meager compared to the offerings of the others, Jesus held her in higher regard because of her heart to give.

[Article 7] Character Assassination: The "Bitter Card" and the "Prideful Card"

This article is available for download in PDF format here
A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 7]

Character Assassination: The “Bitter Card” and the “Prideful Card”

By Daniel Berg           June 25, 2015

                                                                   

In one of my previous articles I said the following about manipulation done by those who are not officially employed by the Church:

Misinformation is tolerated (if it will help them achieve their goals) because most of these people are not what you would call “professionals” since they are not actually employed by the Church, it is easy for the ICC leaders to disregard these as “rookie mistakes” and can easily escape any legal obligation to be held accountable for any possible misconduct, but of course they do very little to prevent it from happening and actually instigate the members to manipulate each other as we saw in the previous section about the “Domino Effect” control system.

I talked about the ICC tolerating the misconduct of unemployed members, however, what if the misconduct is being done by someone who is employed by the church, like a region leader? At this point the church can no longer pretend as if they are not involved, so an effective method of dealing with situations like these is trying to shove the blame from the abuser to the victim. Of course this method is also used in all other forms of coercion as well, the character assassination method is often used when:

● A member does not want to take “advice” from their discipler (see the “Seeking Advice” as a Means for Control section of The ICC Psychological Control System article that I wrote).

● If a member is being coerced to give more money,

● If a member attempts to rebuke a leader for abusive actions

● When a victim attempts to speak out against the corruption in the organization.

● Situations similar to these, etc.

As I said before, people who speak out after being wronged are automatically character assassinated as being “bitter” and therefore “in sin”. Blame can then be shifted from the abuser to the victim, and the abusive leader is defended in the overwhelming majority of cases. This has happened even when the victim attempted to go through the proper channels, such as trying to report abuse to a shepherd, etc. Of course any of the past sins the victim has committed is also brought against them as well as any past non-adherence to policy, anything that can be used to attack their character. The misconduct of the abusive leader is then played down as the victim is told that “the church is not perfect” and “everyone makes mistakes” and their abusive behavior is classified as them merely being “overzealous”. If you read my article The ICC’s Psychological Control System, it becomes apparent that this abusive behavior is actually something that is instigated, not accidental. It is no coincidence that the majority of these “mistakes” seem to revolve around issues of money, which is a big red flag (1 Timothy 6:10).

[Article 8] "Spiritual Pornography": Kip McKean's Ruse for Hiding Corruption and Silencing Victims

This article is available for download in PDF format here

A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 8]

“Spiritual Pornography” Propaganda: Kip McKean’s Ruse for Hiding Corruption and Silencing Victims

By Daniel Berg           June 25, 2015

The ICC does a good job as portraying those who leave their organization as "casualties in a spiritual war",

rather than victims of abuse. They also quote John 15:2 when speaking to their congregation about those who leave; saying that God is “pruning” his church and making it better. Those who speak out against this abuse are character assassinated (see my character assassination article) and slandered by the ICC leaders who want to hide the damage that is being done. 

Usually converts last only about two to three years in the ICC before they become disgusted with the hypocrisy and end up leaving. Most people become aware of the corruption long before they actually leave, but they are compelled to stay because of the psychological shackles that have been put on them by the ICC leaders. They know that something is wrong, they know that the converts they are bringing into the church become sheep for the slaughter, but they redeem their actions in their own minds because since they are technically saving souls they reason that God will pardon the abuse that is being done (my next article, The ICC’s Universal Excuse: “We are Evangelizing the World”, clears up this issue). Jesse was one such member who found himself in this psychological trap, and here is part of his account:

We were bothered by it, but we brushed it aside, made excuses, diminished, and dismissed the concerns of others and of our own minds. We told ourselves nobody is perfect. We told ourselves, it is not so bad. We told ourselves, for better or worse, this is the Kingdom of God. And these things were reinforced by the teaching and preaching which told us that if we left this church, we would, in effect, be leaving God. That little fear tactic worked wonders to silence our inner critic. We started thinking that it was our problem, that we weren't submissive enough, that we weren't trusting God enough, that we were having a bad attitude.

But part of us knew that was total misguided rules taught by men. Eventually, that part of us grew stronger than the voices which told us to excuse and ignore what we knew was wrong.

Here is a link to Jesse's full account:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2e5slY-B8ZiWDFLYnZqczAta0k/view?usp=sharing

Please note that not all viewpoints expressed in his full account coincide with the views of this article, however, his account shows how oppressively controlled these members feel and there are many like him who realize that something is wrong but are too afraid to speak up.

We see here once again the way the ICC traps their members into thinking that their salvation depends on them staying in their church, and this becomes an effective tool for control. Leaving the organization means eternal damnation, unless you return, which they call being “restored”. Some people who leave are unable to escape this psychological trap and return, and I have even seen some weak-minded people repeatedly leave and then return in a vicious cycle of abuse and psychological coercion. For this latter case the individual seems to be mentally troubled to a noticeable degree, but the ICC leaders insist that this damage was caused by them leaving in the first place and that they had been corrupted by the world. I find it hard to argue with this last statement since some members actually do go back to drug use after leaving the ICC’s chemical recovery program, but I think that the abuse in the ICC may have acted as a catalyst in this regard. Also many people who leave the ICC will engage in acts of sin thinking; "well I'm going to hell anyway", because of the abusive psychological influence this organization had on them that they cannot be saved unless they come back to the organization. This is why many will dejectedly return to the ICC after leaving, to be abused once again.

[Article 9] The ICC's Universal Excuse: "We are Evangelizing the World"

This article is available for download in PDF format here

A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 9]

The ICC’s Universal Excuse: “We are Evangelizing the World”

By Daniel Berg           June 26, 2015

The ICC has an obvious tendency to overemphasize scriptures which will be useful for them to use for the purpose of maximizing the money they take from the congregation as well as keeping control of them, and then underemphasizing (or completely ignoring) scriptures that are inconvenient to them.  They pressure their congregation to give more money even though the Bible says not to give under pressure, and then they will even go as far as to extort money from people. They force their members to go tagging in areas where the authorities have warned them multiple times that they need a license to do so; this is a violation of obeying the authorities laid out in Titus 3:1 and 1 Peter 2:13-17.  Many more examples of their misconduct and blatant ignorance of scripture can be found in my other articles. 

When the ICC leaders are confronted on their negligence of these Biblical principles they always whip out the following excuse; “You question us because you don’t understand what we are doing; we are evangelizing the world, and that takes money”.  Now let me explain why this excuse is so astonishingly ridiculous.  The ICC’s excuse for neglecting so many principles in the Bible is “we are evangelizing the world”.  Let me remind you that the Bible was written by the first century Church that actually did evangelize the world 2000 years ago (Colossians 1:23).  So let’s get this straight; do these ICC leaders mean to tell me that their excuse for ignoring teachings written by the first century church, which evangelized the world in the past, is that “we are evangelizing the world”?  If the ICC really wants to evangelize the world, wouldn’t it be best to follow the example of a Church that has already done it?  The teachings of the first century church have been composed into what is now the best-selling book of all time, so the ICC’s decision to sharply deviate from these teachings for the sake of “evangelizing the world” cannot be blamed on a lack of reference material.

[Article 10] How Kip McKean's Old Movement Fell (and what this says about the fate of the ICC)

This article is available for download in PDF format here

A file with all the articles is available for download here

[The Articles of Indignation: Article 10]

HOW KIP MCKEAN’S OLD MOVEMENT FELL AND WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT THE FATE OF THE ICC

By Daniel Berg          

This article was retracted earlier (it was the former article 9 but then I switched the order when this article was temporarily retracted) because some believed that I had neglectfully portrayed controversial concepts in an absolute manner when it should have been made clear that this is theory (actually I did mention in the original document that this was a theory but I guess I needed to make it more clear to some of these ICC “critics”). A theory is of course a hypothesis based on a careful and rational explanation of facts; you will find such rationality lacking in the propaganda that Kip McKean attempts to pass off on his congregation about these past events as I’m about to show. Another reason for retracting it was that some people told me that they needed “more convincing” that the corruption written about in the Apology Letters was related to Kip’s regime since they actually came out a short time after he was forced to step down as Lead Evangelist so now I present additional evidence.  It may seem that my effort of pushing back this article’s release to include additional evidence may have been for naught at the moment since the ICC has been intimidating their members into not looking at this material as I predicted they would do in my 8^th article, but eventually some may come to their senses and actually start to do some research for themselves rather than believing whatever these ICC leaders tell them.

Many articles can be found that discuss reasons for why Kip McKean’s “Old Movement” fell. The “Old Movement” is of course the ICC’s name for the ICOC during the time that Kip was in leadership. The ICC’s version of the events that happened in the ICOC leading up to 2003 is significantly different from that told by those who left during this time as well as the side of the story told by some of the ICOC leaders.

Possible Concerns With My Articles [Updated]

It is here that I will like to address some possible concerns with my articles. After being with the ICC for six years it becomes predictable as to what methods or arguments they will use to attempt to character assassinate me once my articles are released and therefore it is here that I will like to put these accusations to rest before they can even be used (or may have already been used if they neglected to read all of my articles up to this point before issuing premature accusations).

The first concern has to do with the purpose for which I wrote these articles. My intent for writing these is not to attack the ICC congregation; I am not their enemy. Rather, these ICC leaders have made themselves into enemies of God by abusing God’s people. My intent is to help these people, unlike the ICC leaders who claim that they are just “helping them to be more spiritual” as they coerce them into giving more money. I am not after money or power and it is likely that I will be hated for the articles which I have written; I have no ulterior motives for doing this. Instead, seeing my friends that are still in this “Church” being manipulated and abused fills me with indignation.