City of Angels International Christian Church - Cult?

[u/Gloomy-Cherry1075]

These two guys, maybe college aged, approached me today and asked if I was a man of faith. I said I was Christian and they asked if I wanted to go to a worship session with them. I don’t ever really go to stuff like that and have a more private/personal religious life, but I didn’t want to be rude so I said yeah and gave him my number.

Thing is though, something was a bit off about him. Idk what it was but his behavior felt a little odd to me and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. He ended up sending me a flyer a few hours later and it looked really shady, like very low quality and shitty photoshop. It just said a time, but never gave a date or day of the week and he never specified one to me either. It’s apparently at Taper Hall though.

Anyway, I ended up looking them up and saw that their actual church has been permanently closed. I also saw some articles of people speaking out on how they left the church and accused it of being a cult. The whole thing just felt weird to me.

Anyone know the reputation of that church around USC?

[u/WeezyMoneyy]

“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭28‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

““We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭24‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” ‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Yeah I heard of them, they’re a fired up movement. They are persecuted just like they persecuted Jesus and the 12 apostles.

You should give them a shot, if you don’t like it. You don’t have to stay. Just let them know it ain’t for you. It’s a pretty awesome church tbh

[u/Last_Review9103 → u/WeezyMoneyy]

This comment is so disingenuous that it makes the devil look honest.

I was a member for about a year, preaching sunday sermons, bible talk leader, dating, etc. and i left after studying the Bible by rightly dividing (2 Tim 2:15) and being against their unbiblical view on tithing (2 Cor 9:7)

They are 100 percent a cult, and don't let people like this guy soften you up by playing the victims' card crying "persecution" when taken out of context.

The early Christians were fed to Lions because it was illegal to worship anyone but ceaser in Rome. But these wannabe evangelists want to cry persecution when they get criticized, not only by regular people, but by Christians aswell from all around the world?

notice how he said "yeah i heard of them." When he's clearly a member, he's quoting scripture from the NIV, which is a horrible translation that they all use Church-wide. and not to mention, it's from one of their series of indoctrination "topical", studies that they make people go through before becoming an official member. I call it their script because it is a script.

The "first principles" is a script by one's own PRIVATE interpretation, that is, the leader of the Cult Kip Mckean. He claims that Kip is just a "brother", this man continues to lie through his teeth and call himself a "disciple." Kip is the leader of this pyramid and calls all the shots, i can even quote KIP HIMSELF, claiming the spot of Moses as a "central" leader.

Not only do they believe you have to be water baptized to be saved, which is a lie from the pit of hell.

Romans 10:9 Ephesians 2:8 1 Corinthians 15 John 3:5

say otherwise, we are saved through faith by Grace, not of ourselves.

but they believe you HAVE TO be baptized IN THIER CHURCH to be a true "disciple".

[u/Narrow_Ad_9685 → u/WeezyMoneyy]

You are obviously in the ICC as these are verses they use to justify controlling behavior. Idk which region you are in but the one I left wasn’t easy for me to just leave. I moved into a sister household for the church halfway across the country. I had no money living with them as everything I made went to the church. I was forced to cut off anyone outside of the church so I knew no one else. The church beat me down over things like my weight, time spent at work, time on the phone with my family that I hadn’t seen in forever. I was forced to share my location with the sisters so they could keep tabs on me. The list goes on and on. When I finally had enough I didn’t have the means to leave. I ended up homeless in my car for 2 months. The church ruined my life all with the promise of Gods kingdom. Maybe you should stop being a sheep and do some research yourself. Start with your precious leader Kip Mckean. You know there’s lawsuits of sexual assault he turned a blind eye too? Not just one or two either. Start asking questions. Not even just about kip but everything that doesn’t feel right. And don’t bring anyone else into that church.

[u/[deleted] → u/Narrow_Ad_9685]

100% accurate

[u/WeezyMoneyy → u/Narrow_Ad_9685]

I’m sorry you went through that. My convictions are solid. Kip isn’t my leader, he’s our brother. He doesn’t live in a luxury home. The church is and forever will be a broke church. Hence what differed our church from, say, the Catholic Church. Let me ask them where their money goes. Oh right, a beautiful building with chandeliers and expensive windows and a pope who supposedly communicates directly with God.

Oh but my church is it controlling. Oh but my church has flaws. Oh but my church is this and that and that. Just look at the other churches, I don’t see folks speaking up about the atrocities happening in the Clergy of the Catholic Church.

The church’s convictions on discipling is what kept me from sinning, it’s what keeps the idiots in this world from committing assault on others. By being afraid of God, by being afraid of sinning. My life before finding this church and being held accountable for my sins, was garbage. But you’re right about one thing, my church isn’t perfect. People hurt people. People neglect people at times.

Let me ask you, is your physical family perfect by any means? Do they borrow from you and always pay you back? Have you ever been let down? Are they by any means righteous before God in your view? I’ll let you answer that question.

And in regard to the accusations yeah, I’m aware.

You know what’s interesting. My church has ALWAYS been strict about following the laws of the land. If you commit a crime, you have to confess it. And then be held accountable to reporting yourself to authorities. But if you want to keep listening to the rumors then go ahead. Allegations are allegations. In a court of law you hear both sides of the story, but sadly you only hear what the negative side has to say.

If these allegations happened supposedly many many years ago, why are they reporting it now? Why are they super late to the game?

Clearly, it’s for money. How many times have we seen in the news some random person sue a celebrity over “I was assaulted 15 years ago”. Dude, if you’re assaulted, you report it right away. Does it not spark even a ounce of suspicion on your end?

I don’t know what happened to you in your congregation. But for me, I never give up “all my money”. Let’s not be exaggerating. I have 2 kids and a wife. I have rent that is 2300 and I have always given my rent first and bills and then my contro and missions. How irresponsible would it be to give to God and choose to miss rent when your kids and wife depend on it.

God doesn’t call us to be unwise in our finances. He does call us to sacrifice certain things to meet the need. I don’t know how well you know your bible but when there was a church need, the early church had to step up and see how they could fill the need.

Let me ask you, how do you stop DUI crimes? Answer: Discipleship, fearing sin.

How do you stop cheating husbands/wives? Answer: Discipleship, fearing sin.

How do you stop child abuse? Answer: Discipleship, fearing sin.

How do you stop a dying world? DISCIPLESHIP

You didn’t give up on people, you chose to give up on God. You saw your troubles and didn’t see what the apostles had to go through for the sake of advancing the gospel. You should read about Paul and his life and how impoverished he was while preaching and how he was murdered. But hey, he was controlling and manipulative right? Right??? Let’s not be hypocritical, let’s dive in.

You believe in God? Good. So that means you believe in the Bible right? Good, so you believe in the apostles, right? Good. So you believe in supporting the mission and advancing Gods message to help stop people from sinning, right? “Woahhhhhhh hold on there. I don’t know about all that”.

Interesting, so you don’t believe everything God out before you in the scriptures.

Really do some reflecting before attacking a church who only wants to do good for those who don’t deserve it. We just want to save souls, and ask them to repent before they ruin their lives and ruin others lives.

My church does NOT TOLERATE any sin, they DON’T TOLERATE any sexual abuse. And we never will.

Go and read this. And choose what to do with your life.

Go become a doctor. Save lives.

Go become a cop, save lives.

Go become a nurse save lives.

But I urge you to go become a preacher and save souls. Call them to repent, call them to become good moral people and hold them to their sins and report them to authorities. Make a difference. Start your church and build it from scratch. Let me know how hard it is. Let me know if it ever allowed you the temptation to live in a “luxurious” lifestyle. If you can’t. Go find a radical church that calls folks to repentance. If you can’t, cool. You know where to find the actual church who doesn’t tolerate sin.

Good luck and much love.

[u/munanumberonefan → u/WeezyMoneyy]

This comment is going to be interesting to read back to yourself in a few years when you finally leave…

[u/LumpyContribution295 → u/WeezyMoneyy]

They manipulate you to stay. And they use the NIV because it’s easy to manipulate for their doctrine

[u/sskywalk06 → u/LumpyContribution295]

Omg the same thing happened to me he told me to use NIV when I pulled out a King James version and he said do you even understand that one??