Authority is idolatry

Never surrender your power.

“When you point to another as an authority in your world, you are transferring the power that belongs to God to an idol. “ — Neville Goddard

In 2019 Naomi Van Winkle produced Cult in Connecticut, about the King’s Chapel of Norwich, CT, and its sister Bethel Church of Mansfield Woodhouse, UK. The second season debuted in December 2022. As of this writing, two episodes of the new season are out.

CIC features survivors of spiritual abuse at the hands of a “prophet,” Jean Spademan, and her inner circle. Some were gaslit into confessing sins they didn’t commit and manipulated into giving thousands of dollars to help fund, for example, lavish vacations for Spademan’s family. Children in the churches were accused of having impure sexual thoughts before they even reached puberty. Well-meaning people, adults and children alike, were accused of harboring evil in their hearts and were ostracized. Families were torn apart.

Ironically, Spademan seemed to offer nothing in the way of wisdom, holiness, or charisma. It seems strange that anyone would have sacrificed so much for her. Until you consider that these church members thought their eternal souls were at stake. They believed that by following Spademan’s pronouncements, they were following Jesus Christ.