This is part five of the continuing story of what happened at Pleasant View Baptist Church during the time I was there (appx 1991 - 2004). To see the rest of this series, Click HERE for Part 1, Click HERE for Part 2, Click HERE for Part 3a, Click HERE for Part 3b, Click HERE for Part 4a.Click HERE for Part 4b.Click HERE for part 4c.

Epilogue

By the time I had finally left the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, I think it was too late. My children had experienced ¨The Phil Kidd Mess¨ and really had issues understanding why it all happened and why Raynes and others constantly talked and preached about it. But that is not why I left. I had found myself constantly trying to explain away Larry Raynes´ behavior in this and in other areas (such as the wretched losers who he had preach in his stead). The children became aware of the hypocrisy of Raynes´ preaching and the amazing inconsistencies of treatment among the members. Not to mention the things that he preached (and allowed to be preached) that just are not in agreement with the Bible. Add on to those things some distinctly hurtful events and you can begin to understand why I left. I finally had to admit to myself that the reason a lot of lousy people were in Raynes´ inner circle was because they were just like him. Then there was the treatment that was nothing more than spiritual and psychological abuse. I didn´t care about Phil Kidd… It was Phil Kidd plus everything else that caused me to know that I just I had to get out.

Meanwhile, we were getting more and more disillusioned with the school. The Linc classes were eventually replaced with video tape classes. Students (like Crystal Clark) were expelled for reasons that just didn´t make sense (Doug Raynes seemed to have targeted specific students for elimination) and the enrollment was down to almost nothing. This was in face of several families in the cult opting to home school rather than trust their children with Pleasant View Christian Academy. It was one Fall during baseball season that we first became acquainted with Shannon Forest Christian School. We decided that we were going to move our children out of the school and we were going to leave the cult. We spent that year and the year following planning how we were going to meet the expense there. By the time the 2004-05 school year ended, everything was in place for the change. Ha! It just so happened that a major reorganization of Pleasant View Christian Academy was planned (this was primarily an initiative to cut costs). I remember the meeting they had one night after service. Those who were planning to re-enroll for the following year were asked to sign a list. I didn´t sign. I felt so secure because this time, we were ready. Our children´s future was already determined by our planning. I felt confident.

After the last school event for last year, I left the Pleasant View Baptist Cult. It started out well for us there, but ultimately turned into a very destructive, very un-Biblical MESS. I drove out of the parking lot with my family that day and never looked back. God is SO good.

Errata

The Phil Kidd debacle ended up to be Larry Raynes´ undoing. Faced with a miniscule congregation and an accumulation of guilt for all the people he´d hurt and all the problems that he caused, he retired shortly after I left.

His replacement was a puppet, Stacey Shiflett, who - like many of the Kool-Aid drinkers of the past - found out in a short time that Larry Raynes is still the pope. I have wondered how a man who supposedly is Divinely ¨called¨ to minister to the needy people of South Africa mysteriously gets ¨uncalled¨ and then ¨recalled¨ to a convenient location in the USA (nice and close to wifey´s mamma), but other than that I just don´t care.

From their web site I have learned of several attempts to relive the glory days that have long gone by. The place seems to me as a place for a few gullible, ignorant people who may or may not be seeking after God (regardless, I don´t think God will ever be found in that place again) and supporting the ¨Royal Raynes Family¨ and suffering under the brutal doctrines of a mentally ill man ruling through a pathetic ¨puppet¨ underling.

If you think that after Larry Raynes and his wife have died that the cult will then be free, think again: The cult still must support the lifestyle of Doug Raynes and his wife and Tammy. But look again: The Royal Grandchildren must be supported to - the cult will always go on.

It´s sad and pathetic, but true.

Apology

I hereby apologize to every member of Pleasant View Baptist Cult that was humiliated, embarrassed, controlled, manipulated, abused, deceived, and hurt in any way while I was a member there. I should have stood by you. I should have supported you. I should have helped you stand against the injustice. I did not do anything to help. For that I will forever be sorry.

for a better understanding of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, please rent the movie, “The Village”

===========================================
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This is part four of the continuing story of what happened at Pleasant View Baptist Church during the time I was there (appx 1991 - 2004). To see the rest of this series, Click HERE for Part 1, Click HERE for Part 2, Click HERE for Part 3a, Click HERE for Part 3b, Click HERE for Part 4a.Click HERE for Part 4b.

So Alan Poston was one of the first casualties of the Phil Kidd mess. Like I said before, Larry Raynes just couldn´t handle having a good person around. Sooner or later they´d have to go and that´s what happened with him. That was good for him and his family, but unfortunately, AFTER ALL THIS, I STILL HADN´T LEFT!!!

What apparently had happened is Phil Kidd´s son and friend decided to attend one of the camp meeting services. Because we just do not know the nature of the problems that had developed between Pope Larry and Phil Kidd, I cannot estimate whether he wanted to attend the service for good reasons or for bad… nevertheless, he had attended.

From the accounts I heard, I surmise that this man had attire and hair that was not in accordance with what Larry Raynes thought was appropriate.  As far as I know, nothing happened to him in the service (i.e. no one confronted him and no one asked him to leave). I think where the problem came in was after the service in the Fellowship Hall where Tammy Hardin (Larry Raynes´ divorced daughter) saw Phil Kidd´s son and friend and wanted them to leave for fear they might leaven the pure lump of cult youth who were having a good time of food and recreation.  I think that she is the one who got Alan Poston involved and, ultimately started the entire mess.

The days and weeks that followed the men´s meeting were filled with intolerable tension. Larry Raynes continued to defend the events that transpired that fateful camp meeting night (Although he refused to admit or discuss the role that his daughter played in it).

One Wednesday night, Raynes brought a tape recorder into the prayer room and played a tape of him speaking with Phil Kidd (phone conversation) where Phil Kidd said that things were over between them. Raynes was upset because Phil Kidd said it was over and still people were posting comments on his guest book.  Pastor Pope Raynes at some point in this mess expressly forbade members of Pleasant View from visiting Phil Kidd´s guest book (a proclamation that just encouraged more people to visit more frequently) and he routinely preached against the internet and how the Devil was trying to use it to destroy the ¨church.¨

During another Prayer Room session about the evils of Phil Kidd and how that Phil Kidd was wrong and Larry Raynes was right, one of the members, James Daugherty, who was at that time the puppet in charge at the boy´s home, asked the Pope to pause so he could remove his children from the room. He specifically stated that he did not want his children to hear the things that were being said about Phil Kidd because his children respected him.

What I think finished off the Daugherty´s was the evening service where Pastor Pope Raynes had the men of the church cult stand and one-at-a-time tell him what he thought Raynes´ should do and whether he supported Raynes in this. James Daughterty quoted a scripture verse for his time (I don´t remember what the verse was or what it said). After this particular service I think the Daugherty´s left.

What did I say for my turn?? Well, I was pretty well sick of this whole thing because by that time it had gotten so far out of control that it was preoccupying everyone in the church and eventually became the subject of every single sermon.  I said something like, ¨I think that you should do nothing. Everything has pretty much been said already and you [Larry Raynes] should just ignore him [Phil Kidd] and eventually he will go away and the people talking about the situation will stop.¨ I also said something like, ¨The way you know whether I support you is if I am here. If I am not here, then I do not support you.

That particular service was a complete waste of time. Larry Raynes could not let go of the fact that Phil Kidd had a web site and a guest book where people could voice their own opinions. What really hurt Raynes was the fact that he no longer could control what the people at Pleasant View knew or thought. Yes, the internet opened up a pathway to knowledge that - for the first time - enabled us all to learn things that Raynes did not want us to know (Like his daughter´s involvement in inciting the mess to begin with).

At some time during the aftermath of this situation, Doug Raynes sent out a letter to all those who were on the camp meeting mailing list. In this letter, he seemed to set forth a defense of his father and a degradation of Phil Kidd. This letter spurred many comments on Phil Kidd´s guest book and it´s purpose apparently went unfulfilled.

The December meeting that followed was ghostly. The majority of churches that routinely supported the meeting were absent. Preachers like James Jones and Alfred Willis did not stay more than the day they were scheduled to preach. Other preachers like Billy Ball preached against the guest book of Phil Kidd and the evils of the internet… I remember Billy Ball also preached against Boss Hawg, who had been a regular on the guest book. Eventually his support was lost too. Larry Raynes could not seem to let it go.

He continued dwelling on it on and on and on and on. Those who preached and testified against Phil Kidd in the services (like Stuart Jordan) were given special privileges and dispensations. People left. More people left.

Epilogue

By the time I had finally left the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, I think it was too late. My children had experienced ¨The Phil Kidd Mess¨ and really had issues understanding why it all happened and why Raynes and others constantly talked and preached about it. But that is not why I left. I had found myself constantly trying to explain away Larry Raynes´ behavior in this and in other areas (such as the wretched losers who he had preach in his stead. I finally had to admit to myself that the reason a lot of lousy people were in Raynes´ inner circle was because they were just like him. Then there was the treatment that was nothing more than spiritual and psychological abuse. I didn´t care about Phil Kidd… I just knew that I had to get out.

Meanwhile, we were getting more and more disillusioned with the school.  The Linc classes were eventually replaced with video tape classes. Students (like Crystal Clark) were expelled for reasons that just didn´t make sense (Doug Raynes seemed to have targeted specific students for elimination) and the enrollment was down to almost nothing. This was in face of several families in the cult opting to homeschool rather than trust their children with Pleasant View Christian Academy. It was one Fall during baseball season that we first became acquainted with Shannon Forest Christian School. We decided that we were going to move our children out of the school and we were going to leave the cult. We spent that year and the year following planning how we were going to meet the expense there.  By the time the 2004-05 school year ended, everything was in place for the change. Ha! It just so happened that a major reorganization of Pleasant View Christian Academy was planned (this was primarily an initiative to cut costs). I remember the meeting they had one night after service. Those who were planning to re-enroll for the following year were asked to sign a list. I didn sign. I felt so secure because this time, we were ready. Our children´s future was already determined by our planning. I felt confident.

After the last school event for last year, I left the Pleasant View Baptist Cult. It started out well for us there, but ultimately turned into a very destructive, very un-Biblical MESS. I drove out of the parking lot with my family that day and never looked back. God is SO good.

To be continued…Next time will be Part 5: The Aftermath, Current Conditions, Miscellaneous thoughts.

for a better understanding of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, please rent the movie, “The Village”

===========================================
Tired of paying out the wazoo for web hosting? Click HERE!
Visit the TIW Store!

This is part four of the continuing story of what happened at Pleasant View Baptist Church during the time I was there (appx 1991 - 2004). To see the rest of this series, Click HERE for Part 1, Click HERE for Part 2, Click HERE for Part 3a, Click HERE for Part 3b, Click HERE for Part 4a.

From that first encounter on, I never really cared about Phil Kidd. He was merely a freak blip on the radar of life at that time. Then one day we left Tabernacle Baptist Church never to return again. It was a Sunday night in the early Summer 1990 when Dr. Sightler was having that problem with slurred speech (I think it was myasthenia gravis). He was present in the service, but the man who had been preaching a lot was Gene Griffin and I was really really really getting sick of him. As I recall him, he thought that he was super-spiritual and super-intellectual, but I thought he was really stupid and a waste of my time. We got up in the middle of the service and went to Pleasant View and that was that.

Pleasant View went well at the first, and even when I found out that Phil Kidd was the featured speaker at the Summer camp meeting, I wasn´t too disturbed. Sure, I didn´t like how he cussed from the pulpit and I didn´t like how he preached more from stories and hearsay than from the Bible. I thought that he pretty much was a waste of time too. The crowd liked him though, so I thought he was probably worth tolerating.  Then came the 7 week meeting.

The seven week meeting happened in January and went into February of 1995. The story was we were told by the pastor pope was that Phil Kidd´s bus just happened to break down in the general (and unspecified) area. Pope Larry said that God told him to have Phil Kidd preach, so we had a meeting every night for seven weeks. Some of the preaching was OK, some was not. This being Pleasant View though, members were condemned if they happened to miss a night for selfish reasons like health, work, etc (It was as if we all were able to plan in advance that we would be stuck in a meeting longer than I could ever imagine. DAWG.

It was in this time when the famous BJ Linc announcement was made, and we were supposed to give of our necessity to equip Pleasant View Christian Academy with an exhorbitantly priced (What isn´t exhhorbitantly priced at BJU?) remote classroom package.  I digress. This story doesn´t really have anything to do with BJ Linc.

What this story does involve is that after that seven week meeting, Phil Kidd never came back. For a while he preached a December meeting over at Tabernacle, but his person was not present there ever again. Yes, I noticed. Yes, I think most everyone noticed. No, Larry Raynes never actually said why he never came back.  I think the assumption was that he had a falling out with Evangelist Phil Kidd during that seven week period.Oh - and yes, the camp meeting attendance began to plummet from that point on.

Fast forward to say 2003? Maybe 2004 is when the Phil Kidd matter came to a boiling point. I did not even know that something had happened during the Summer meeting, but indeed it had happened. One night in the prayer room, Larry Raynes told the men of the church that Phil Kidd was going to sue the church. He stated that as a fact, not just a possibility. I think it may have been a Wednesday night. He did not say why at that time, but later on, more details would emerge. Time seemed to prove that Larry Raynes made up this purported law suit in his effort to galvanize his waning support. Of course this stunning revelation set the tone for the service that night, and for every service between then and the time I left.

People were shocked that Phil Kidd was suing Pleasant View Baptist Church! How could this be? People went to Phil Kidd´s web site to lecture him about taking another brother to law, etc. I don´t think I even knew that Phil Kidd had a web site until he complained about it during a service days later. This unspecified Phil Kidd matter kept simmering until people started posting on Phil Kidd´s guest book what was going on.  Then there was that famous men´s meeting up in the old nursery building.

The Men´s meeting.

Pastor Pope Larry Raynes called for Tithing Members of the church cult to meet in the old nursery building (which was at that time being transformed into a choir room) before the evening service. By the way, to my knowledge, no provision in the Church constitution and certainly no provision in scripture exists to require that church members must tithe in order to have a say-so in the congregation… but I again digress.

The meeting probably lasted an hour or more. At this meeting, one Alan Poston was called by Larry Raynes to explain what happened on one night at the Pleasant View camp meeting.

Alan stood up and explained how that he had asked Phil Kidd´s son (and one of his friends) to leave the church property. Apparently some misbehavior and some destruction to property ensued and then they left. Ah yes… I remember… it was they backed into a utility (power) pole with their vehicle as they left. Power was out to at least some of the dormitories for a while as a result.

The account was continued by Larry Raynes who explained that the next morning, they had a confrontation with the two who were involved and I think the Queen was also involved as a sort of witness. They apparently confronted Phil Kidd´s son with all the things they thought were wrong with him including - but not limited to - his femininity and specifically his use of hair gel.

Some of the others asked questions and one of the Waycaster boys was present in the meeting.  He apparently had some sort of involvement with the Kidd´s and did not seem to be happy about the proceedings.

Concerning Alan Poston, he soon left the church. I really don´t know why for sure, but I think it was because of his involvement in this mess. Not that he did anything wrong (because he didn´t do anything wrong), but because he was forced into the middle of a situation that was clearly out of control.

To be continued…Next time will be Part 4c: The Phil Kidd Mess and the unraveling of the cult.

for a better understanding of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, please rent the movie, “The Village”

===========================================
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Visit the TIW Store!

This is part four of the continuing story of what happened at Pleasant View Baptist Church during the time I was there (appx 1991 - 2004). To see the rest of this series, Click HERE for Part 1, Click HERE for Part 2, Click HERE for Part 3a, Click HERE for Part 3b.

I doubt that very many people have witnessed first hand a situation so bizarre and out of control as the “Phil Kidd mess.” It’s been a long time now too, but people still ask me about it, so I’ll just say what I know what I think and you can do with it what you want. Now for some of you “Christians” out there, I PROMISE that I’m not making this stuff up!! Actually, if you were even vaguely aware of the person “Phil Kidd,” you would probably think that he was a fictional character. I remember meeting him for the first time over at Tabernacle College (He was there to preach at the chapel service): I was fairly new to Tabernacle then and I had heard that a great evangelist was going to be preaching that night. Well, since I was a student, I had to attend. The chapel there at the college was the old auditorium. It had some old pews and a small choir loft and probably sat a couple hundred people max. The rear of the auditorium was in line with the hallway that led to Dr. Sightler’s office, Jerry Clark’s office (the dean), and David Roth’s office (assistant dean).

The great exodus (When Jerry Clark and David Roth left at the same time) occurred after I had graduated. Just as an aside, I think that exodus proved what I had always thought about Pastors getting to be too old: Such as the case with Harold Sightler. Dr. Sightler was probably the only “Christian” I had met up to that time that was worthy of any respect. As I have said elsewhere, I had an extremely lousy and wretched experience with “Christians” while growing up. Admittedly, my opinion of most of them was tainted by my mother’s incessant criticism of them if and when she was involved with them. I say this only to let you know that some of the “Christians” that I had encountered as a youth may indeed have been good and respectable people, but my mother did not respect them, so I didn’t either. Of course, I never could respect my mother’s “Christianity” because I knew that it was fake: a crock of B.S., so I had a pretty negative perspective on Christians by the time I showed up at Bob Jones University. It was a good thing that I just happened to accept the Savior at the time when I did else I probably never would have because of the completely despicable “Christians” I continued to encounter at the “Christian” university known as BJU. The “Christians” there were like my mother only they were probably twenty-fold in their nastiness, hypocrisy, and random ideas of what a “Christian” is and of what a “Christian” does… I digress.

So Harold Sightler was indeed a good preacher, but he was also a good man. He actually believed the things he said and he abided to the same standards to which he expected others to meet. It was sad that he got old. I first heard him preach in 1984. Now it was 1989 and I was entering that hallway on my way to the chapel service. The room was pretty much empty when I arrived and I walked by this man who really looked strange. He said “Hi” to me and he had a really strange way of talking. I thought, “I wonder who that freak is.” I found out soon enough: He was Phil Kidd.  In just a few short moments I was sitting in chapel listening to the most bizarre “preacher” that I have ever heard.

To be continued…Next time will be Part 4b: The Phil Kidd Mess and the unraveling of the cult.

for a better understanding of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, please rent the movie, “The Village”

===========================================
Tired of paying out the wazoo for web hosting? Click HERE!
Visit the TIW Store!

This is part three of the continuing story of what happened at Pleasant View Baptist Church during the time I was there (appx 1991 - 2004). To see the rest of this series, Click HERE for Part 1, Click HERE for Part 2, Click HERE for Part 3a.

Some of you Kool-Aid drinkers out there really didn’t like the part where I debunked your “Touch not mine anointed” doctrine of the Man O’ Gawd. You need to read it again and again until you receive the truth from God’s Word: 1 Chronicles 16:22 is a recounting of God’s providence with the people of Israel at the time when God’s Ark was brought to Jerusalem. So the message is to those who are enemies of Israel and “mine anointed” just so happens to be the people of Israel. If you were to attempt to apply this verse to the New Testament era, “mine anointed” would refer to the members of the local church or even the collective “Church” which would include all those who are born again. Therefore, I stand with the authority of the Bible when I say that calling a Pastor “God’s anointed” based on this verse is nothing but a heretical wresting of the scripture from which all should depart.

What other heretical things were taught concerning the “Man O’ Gawd?” There was a claim to universal control over each member of the church cult. For example, Larry Raynes claimed the right to decide who can and cannot be a preacher. He demanded that members obtain permission from him prior to missing a service (Ha! Those who were absent without approval were blasted in absentia on the date of absence and then blasted again upon return… unless the person was one with his head up Larry Raynes’ a$$). He’d say things like, “If you’re not going to work, you call your boss, so why don’t you think you should call your pastor if you are going to miss church?” He claimed all supremacy over church property even to the point where he drove a member out of the church because he moved a door without Pope Larry’s imprimatur.

As the pastor, Larry Raynes frequently preached against gossip, but encouraged gossip himself by listening to it. Members who competed for their spot in the pastor’s playpen would run to him with the saucy details about other member’s violations in hopes to get in the inner circle. Sure it was hearsay. Sure it was gossip and tattling. He still accepted these reports without any verification with the accused. He’d preach about his immunity to accusations (the “two or three witnesses” clause, 1 Timothy 5:19), but he would not extend that same courtesy to others. The list could go on, but frankly, this topic is boring me.

Folks, a pastor is a pastor. He is an overseer of a local assembly. He is not a pope. He is not a king. He has no special indulgences. He’s not a dictator. He has no special knowledge of God’s will for other people. Sure, go ahead and respect members of the clergy, but don’t think that he’s one bit more than an equal who has been selected by the congregation to oversee them.

3. Works required if you are saved. Those who did not have works that confirmed to his standards were routinely condemned as “probably not saved.” In light of James 2:18, this heresy is harder to determine, but equally wrong. See, works such as not wearing shorts, keeping hair short (men) or long (women), women wearing pants, listening to Bob Jones music (WMUU) rather than contemporary music (WLFJ), etc., are the opinions of a man, not the stipulation of the Bible:

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
James 2:21

The works spoken by James as taken in context are works motivated by faith to obedience. Those who are born again are saved by grace through faith, but those who have been saved behave in a Christ-like manner. Notice that the works spoken of by James have nothing to do with apparel, appearance, or music, etc.: these works are works of obedience to God and assistance to God’s people (this ties in with those who were hurt by Larry Raynes and the Pleasant View church cult). Would Rahab have been justified if she did not help the spies? No. Would Abraham be justified if he refused to offer up his son? No. The works that justify are those works which are done based on the faith that obeying God and aiding God’s people is the right thing to do.

Therefore, the works of “Submitting to pastoral authority,” dressing according to the pastor’s demands, listening to Bob Jones music, maintaining the hairstyles demanded by the pastor, apologizing to the church when the pastor demands, testifying… the whole list of works Larry Raynes demanded are nothing by works of the flesh… Even the seemingly never-ending list of things that a person must do before God will bless them… let’s see Submit to the Pastor Pope, dress right, kiss Pastor Pope’s a$$, only do what Pastor Pope say you should do, never take on a missionary unless Pastor Pope says it’s OK, never pursue a ministry or any type of “Christian” service unless you ask Pastor Pope if it’s OK and only if he says it’s OK, NEVER talk about church cult business with anyone, especially excommunicated members, tithe, give an increasingly larger amount of your income to God (i.e. to Larry Raynes and family), never complain about anything Pope Larry has decided to do (or say), DAWG… the list went on and on.  Only after you meet all Larry Raynes’ stipulations - and only then - can you expect God to bless you.  If God isn’t blessing you, then you need to get right with the Pastor Pope.

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,(Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Colossians 2:20-23

To be continued…Next time will be Part 4: The Phil Kidd Mess and the unraveling of the cult.

for a better understanding of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, please rent the movie, “The Village”

===========================================
Tired of paying out the wazoo for web hosting? Click HERE!
Visit the TIW Store!

This is part three of the continuing story of what happened at Pleasant View Baptist Church during the time I was there (appx 1991 - 2004). To see the rest of this series, Click HERE for Part 1, Click HERE for Part 2.

#2 The Doctines of Devils: The teaching of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; - 1Timothy 4:1

A doctrine in this verse is simply, “That which is taught.” This particular verse speaks of the fact that devilish things will be taught among those who are part of the body of Christ. The preaching of Larry Raynes, was good at the beginning. We liked it because he nailed it down tight. He preached the Bible with a boldness that many “Christians” long for. He professed to be a “Christian” himself, and claimed to be interested in only speaking and doing that which is right. With the course of time, his claims were proven to be completely wrong. This is the account of the devilish teaching promoted by the Pleasant View Baptist Church Cult and Pastor Pope Larry Raynes. Some of the highlights that I can recall follow:

1. The “Gap” theory. Larry Raynes stood for the so-called “Gap Theory” even though he deliberately misinterpreted scripture and added to the scripture. This so-called theory is a bucket load of crap! It supposes that a gap exists between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. During this period (if it existed, nothing in scripture exists to account for it) an entire creation separate to the Genesis creation occurred and was subsequently destroyed. To get away with this, the proponents of this heresy argue that the “Creation” in Genesis 1:1 was the original creation and that a “re-creation” is presented in Genesis 1:2. Here, the ignorant wrest the scriptures of 2 Peter 3:6 by suggesting that this fictional world was destroyed by water and this creation (the second creation) will be destroyed by fire. In reality, 2 Peter 3:6 speaks of the flood that occurred during Noah’s day.

2. The bogus doctrine of the “Man O’ Gawd.” To purposely establish himself, Larry K. Raynes preached another devilish doctrine that established the pastor as the ultimate authority in the church. The pastor was not to be questioned or challenged. God spoke to the pastor and everything the pastor did was because God told him to. Also, any appearance of seeming to be critical of any of the things he did was contradicted by the passage in 1 Chronicles 16:22 “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” In actuality, this reference is regarding the Israelites (the anointed) which were protected by God who would not let their enemies destroy them.

Misinterpreted scripture for the other false teachings concerning the “Man O’Gawd” were quite scarce and stretched beyond rational limits. I always had a problem with this topic because it was quite obvious to me that Larry Raynes was exalting himself to unaccountability to keep his actions “under wraps.” Everything concerning finances (for example) was completely handled in secret by the Raynes family. No published reports or any other kind of statements were made available to the membership. Even when Larry Raynes came under fire for hauling in an exorbitant salary, he pretended to be open, but was not. He told the men of the church, “It costs the church $60,000 for me to be your pastor.” That sounded good, and the ignorant were deceived. Technically it was not a lie, but realistically, it was a blatant, deliberate lie: Sure, maybe the church paid him $60,000 per year, but he did not include the salary he established for himself as Chancellor of Pleasant View Christian Academy, or for the salary he established for himself for running the children’s home. So in actuality, he was trying to misrepresent a $250,000 income (or more) that he was taking from the church as $60,000. He did the same for his son, Doug Raynes who was supposed to get only $30,000 as the administrator of the school. This statement was false because he also established salary for his son to receive over $60,000 from the church and more for unspecified fake reasons. So his son was earning in excess of $90,000, but he represented to the church that amount as being $30,000. Also on the payroll getting unrealistic salaries were Larry Raynes’ wife (supposedly for children’s home work) and Doug Raynes’ wife (later on children too). Tammy was on the payroll for all the time she was at the church (She came back to the church while we were there… she had left after getting married, but returned after her divorce).

Of course, all this did not include the other perks he gave himself and his family such as his car that was in the Church’s name that he drove. He paid his son money to buy his car as well. He established that the church would pay tuition to Bob Jones Academy for his son, Doug, and his daughter, Tammy. Towards the end of my presence there, he told the men in the prayer room that we were going to have to give his son an additional $200 per week (I think that was how much) to his son for a food allowance for his family. Can you imagine how the folks who were barely scraping by… barely unable to feed their families and here one who is earning over $100K is supposedly unable to feed his??? What the fat???

So the “Man O’ Gawd” doctrine was one that Larry Raynes purposely manipulated to establish his power so that the membership would be too afraid to question him about anything.

To be continued…Next time will be Part 3b: More devilish doctrines from my time in the cult.

for a better understanding of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, please rent the movie, “The Village”

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Continued from previous post. Click HERE to review.

There’s that pesky old saying, “What goes around comes around,” and it sure came around to us. Yes. I was hurt by the Pleasant View Baptist Church Cult as well. The Bible speaks of those who say, “Be warmed and filled,” yet do absolutely nothing to meet the need: that was our first encounter with the hurt and the pain that most members sooner or later came to feel at the cult. The “preaching” differed from reality from the pastor pope down through the ranks. The needs of members did no matter unless the member was a serious a$$ kisser… and even then those with their heads up Larry Raynes’ a$$ only got preferential treatment most of the time! So in my case, most of the hurt came because - although the pastor pope and the church cult were aware of the several times desperate need was present in my life and family, the church cult and the pastor pope could be counted on to do absolutely nothing. They did not care if those among them were not warmed nor filled. Even in the most dire and severe time when the health and welfare of children were at stake, the church cult and the pastor pope did absolutely nothing. In fact, they made things worse because they were afraid to inquire about the circumstances because if they knew, they’d feel like they should do something to bring relief. Thus, in the times we needed the church cult the most, we were most alone, isolated and abandoned. See, I’ve always been a strong believer in personal responsibility, and I never expect anyone to do anything for me; but just to know that someone cared: that’s what we needed most of the time, and the selfishness, the respect of persons, the iniquity of the pastor pope and the church cult was so extreme, that no one cared at all. That hurt.

There was the humiliation. The times I was forced to apologize to the church cult. I suppose I thought that I was doing the right thing. Maybe I was, but I was doing the right thing in the wrong place. The environment of the cult was one that by unwritten and unspoken policy where only those who the pastor pope cared about could ever be restored in a manner similar to Galatians 6:1. Yes, “respect of persons” was rampant in during the time we were there. For a long while I overlooked it and excused it, but eventually it became so sickening that no more tolerance for it could be found.

There was one humiliation that was especially hurtful. It was when I was out of work (and everyone knew it) and the pope stood behind the lectern and said that an offering would be taken for the men in the church who were out of work. You guessed it: before the congregation, he named several men in the church who were not working, and he deliberately left me out. At this time I and my family had no food. Our power was cut off the next morning, and we had no one to help. SO instead of giving aid to people who were in desperate need, the pope and the cult were giving money to a man who was completing a half-million-dollar house, and others who had friends and family outside the church who were helping them.

I guess the last hurt that I care to mention was the time when Jeff Kain’s grandson, David Klinkenbrumer (or something like that) threw a note into my young boy’s car window after Sunday morning service (this was during the twilight period of my tenure at the church cult). I retrieved this note from my son and saw an amazing list of vulgarities and off-color terminology. At this time, I estimate that they were both around ten years old. Being a responsible man, I felt like this should be brought to the attention of the boy’s father, so I gave it to him in private (I told no one else about this) and I told him that I wanted him to be aware of what his son was doing in church. I thought the matter was over.

Turns out that, Sunday night before we arrived, the father brought the note to the pope (Larry Raynes) and told him that my son was the one who wrote it. Now I realized that this person, Ari Kain, seemed to be acting like a total a$$hole. He didn’t phone me or attempt to discuss the matter with me: he brought it to the pope and lied. What made the situation even worse is that Larry Raynes (the pastor pope) did not bother to discuss this matter with me. He was on a witch hunt, performing amateur handwriting analysis with school papers he got from his teacher, Evelyn Tobias. More about her in a sec…

I met with the pastor pope in the lobby area and told him exactly what happened, and how that Ari Kain had ignored any semblance of civility, decency, or Christianity by blabbing unsubstantiated negative information about my son around the church. Do you know what the pope, Larry K. Raynes said? He said that the man who seemed to be one of the largest a$$holes in the cult (that’s really saying something there… Pleasant View at that time was almost entirely composed of a$$holes because most of the few remaining good people had left in the aftermath of the Phil Kidd debacle… more about that in a later post) had done the right thing. I disagreed to Pope Larry K. Raynes in a calm, respectful manner, but I was shocked. Then he told me that whoever wrote the note was going to be expelled from the school.

My son was upset that he was being accused of this, and I was concerned that he would be expelled, although I told him that if he really did write the note, he ought to be expelled. I went to see Doug Raynes the next morning to get an update on the situation and I learned from him that David Klinkenbrumer had confessed to writing the note and lying about it, saying that my son had written it. So what was the problem? Pope Larry was ready to expel my son when he thought that he had written the vulgarities, but when he found out that Jeff Kain’s grandson had written the note, everything was OK. Double standard? Hypocrisy? respect of persons? Whatever you call it, I was shown that Larry K. Raynes had no interest in fairness, propriety, or anything even close to brotherly love. No one apologized… no one explained… I just had to find out. What Larry K. Raynes did in that situation was blatantly wicked.

Before I leave this topic, let me mention Evelyn Tobias. I knew that she was a loyal cult member beholden to Larry Raynes because of her state of widowhood. That’s fine with me. In fact, I never really had any problem with her (Besides the way she surrendered her daughter to the Bob Jones University cult) until that Sunday night. After being confronted with the unfairness of this situation and how she was facilitating the destruction of a child and had done absolutely nothing to attempt to stop that destruction, she said, “I didn’t want to get involved.” That took the cake.

Folks, that is the attitude of a lot of people who claim to be Christians and are not. People all around us NEED someone to “get involved,” but so many are afraid because of what the cult and the Pope will say, or afraid that they actually might have to HELP someone (God forbid!), or for whatever reason do NOTHING. This was a cult of fear, pain, and respect of persons that cared nothing about anyone except for the few who had their heads up Larry Raynes’ a$$ (and Larry Raynes had established that those people better get helped).

Yes, among the hundreds who were hurt and devastated by Larry Raynes and the Pleasant View Baptist Church Cult during the time I was there, was me and my family who thought we were serving the Lord, but in reality, we were serving - and being served - the doctrines of devils.

To be continued…Next time will be Part 3: The Doctrines of Devils: The teaching of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult.

for a better understanding of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, please rent the movie, “The Village”

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I was a member of Pleasant View Baptist Church Cult in Taylors, South Carolina for about 12 years. We’re three years down the road from that and people are still talking about what happened with all that Phil Kidd business! That didn’t really involve me though (That was not the primary reason why we left), so let me take some time and tell you a little bit about my experience in a cult called Pleasant View.

First, I would have to say that moving to that church was probably a good thing. It seemed pretty good when we visited, and compared to sitting on our fundaments listening to Gene Griffen speak at Tabernacle Baptist Church during Dr. Sightler’s first major illness was actually very good. I suppose all was well up to the organization of Pleasant View Christian Academy. Nothing bad of itself was involved with the founding of the school, but a couple years into its history (probably around 1993), the stunning announcement was made that the school needed beaucoup bucks to shell out for subscribing to the BJ Linc program (This involved using a centralized Jonser teacher connected to remote classrooms via a customized Artisoft TeleVantage system at each remote classroom.

The shock was not that outside resources were being located to assist with the school endeavor. The shock was that a Church with a Pastor who claimed to believe the Bible would so willingingly hookup in an adulterous relationship with a heretical institution as Bob Jones University. After a while, I think that the BJ Linc became too much of a financial burden and was replaced by video-taped classes, but the damage had been done. The school was moving at an alarming and accelerating rate towards complete entanglement with the Bob Jones web of corruption. This was witnessed by its involvement in SCACS and with the Bob Jones fine arts festivals. So, since the early years of the school through the end of our presence at Pleasant View, I had a constant nagging about the Bob Jones connection that went something like this: “How can anyone who genuinely wants to serve God become willingly involved in a ‘Village-like-cult’ such as Bob Jones?” The answer played out before our eyes as we gradually became aware that we were involved in a cult, not a church.

#1 The people hurt by the church cult: As new members, we were very excited by lively, bold preaching. Sure things were said that I didn’t agree with, but I suppose I’d not agree with 100% of what’s going on at any “church,” so I tried to overlook doctrinal errors, racist overtones, and a general pope-ish approach to the ministry. What bothered me though was the people that got publicly humiliated and hurt.

I don’t remember all the names, but one I do remember was Tim Walker who allegedly “knocked up” a fellow Sunday School teacher. When they got married, they supposedly didn’t mention the fact that she was pregnant and subsequently, they left the church. No one really had to know about that - right? It was kind of a private matter anyway and they seemed like they were interested in doing the right thing. As far as I know, nothing but good has transpired in their family since they left the church (Of course I don’t know for sure). The problem was, the Pastor not only announced this from the pulpit, but he constantly harped on it for months and even years after it happened. In fact, when we left he was still preaching against that family.

Then there was a girl, probably 11 or 12 years ago who wanted to attend the school. She cried in front of the whole congregation. People in the church volunteered to pay her tuition so that she could attend the school. The pastor, however, claiming the “parent must attend church” policy, refused to allow her to attend the school. OK, fair enough. The problem was that shortly after that incident, the “parent must attend church” policy was disbanded, so it appeared to be a concerted effort to prevent that girl from becoming a student at the school. That situation was heartless, mean, callous, un-loving, and downright “un-Christian.”

There were more people who were publicly excoriated as false Christians, troublemakers, and people who “messed up” and could no longer be “used.” Even more people were humiliated by having private personal details harangued from the pulpit. There was the woman who taught at Mountain View (Cowpens, SC) who apparently was having inappropriate relations with a male student. There was Joe Walker who went to Brazil during Camp Meeting and was publicly harassed, preached against, and browbeat until they left the church as well. Scott Mills’ family was ultimately driven out in a similar manner. How about the missionary whose wife had short hair? They were berated, and generally mistreated until they had no choice but to leave as well. Some (like the ones who attended a contemporary Christian concert), seemed to try everything possible to accommodate the pastor’s demands, but all eventually were driven out even after they were humiliated and shamed by the pastor. Actually, every good family or good man that came to the church was - during the time I was there - driven out. Over time, that the pastor deliberately did not want good people in the church was a plain fact that had to be accepted.

How about the ones that tried to kiss Pastor Larry Raynes’ ass? The Griffins who moved up from Florida, gave it all they had, but eventually left. How about the Hazelwoods? You couldn’t find nicer and better people than that, but for some reason they were targeted for elimination. The Mills were good people, but were driven out. So were the Lilyquists, the Daugherty’s… DAWG!

The routine was humiliation: Larry Raynes would publicly expose something about them that he didn’t like. After that, he would harp on them over and over again. The other members - sensing the next victim - would begin withdrawing from them, isolating them within the church cult. In effort to restore their former standing, the member being attacked would publicly apologize to the church cult. Eventually, they would get discouraged and leave. Larry Raynes would then demand all members to eschew any communication with the former members. If he found out that someone was talking to former members, he would publicly expose that and then he would preach against them saying that those people talking were not right with God and couldn’t be right with the church cult or with the pastor.

Even people who stuck their whole head up Larry Raynes’ ass didn’t always survive. Consider “SUPER DUPER JONSER_HYLES HYBRID” Jeff Kain. He was still going strong when we left. He kissed so much ass that he (even after proving himself to be a complete loser and utter failure) was able to help bully out Brother Hazelwood. He didn’t last. He got ex-communicated along with the rest. The examples could go on and on. The leader of the cult made “examples” out of others to maintain an atmosphere of fear: Fear of doing something that the pastor wouldn’t like. Fear of being tattled on (As a policy, the pastor encouraged tattling and other gossiping… as long as it was to him).

To be continued…

for a better understanding of the Pleasant View Baptist Cult, please rent the movie, “The Village”

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One of the most disgraceful travesties of our local government here in Greenville has given public tax money to a private cult to construct and operate an art museum downtown. More about this HERE.

Without obtaining public consent, the money forcibly stolen from me and other Greenville residents was put to use by our out-of-control local politicians to finance a business enterprise perpetrated by one of the most bizarre and insidious known to exist in the USA. This new museum will be used for propaganda purposes by the JONSER cult (a.k.a. Bob Jones University) and will seek to gain credibility in the minds of residents in order to gain a false sense of legitimacy in the community. Opinions of Bob Jones University in the community range from “Religious Organization” to “Satanic Cult” and everything in between. Regardless, under no circumstances does such an outfit warrant the investment of public funds.

Folks, this is a disgrace that our money is going to subsidize one of the most well-known embarrassments of Greenville, South Carolina.

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Of all the embarrassing things Greenville, SC is known for, one of the most embarrassing is the presence of Bob Jones University. We here are known as the epicenter of one of the most bizarre and destructive cults ever to exist in the USA: Jonesism.

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Not much different from the Jim Jones nightmare, these Jonsers drink the Kool-Aid and live to breed more Jonsers. What most of them do is go back where they came from after graduating (and receiving their worthless diplomas) and then come back to Greenville, SC when they realize that they cannot exist in the real world.

So next week what do we have to deal with? Jonsers from Jonser schools around the country are going to swarm over the Jonser compound, get recruited and brainwashed in the name of competing in Jonser-style fine arts.

h yes! How could I forget? The Jonser Art Museum that was financed by public funds by the will of insidious Jonsers on county council! If you’ve been anywhere near the new albatross Library downtown this past week, you would have seen dozens of blue and white Jonser vans transporting brainwashed cult members in and out of the publically financed Jonser art Museum (NEWS FLASH: Greenville already had an art museum downtown. Now we have two of these freaking monstrosities to pay for!).

All week I’ve seen the little Jonsers scurrying about trying to make the old Coca-Cola building look as much as a Bob Jones University building as possible. From the hideous overdone columns to the traditional Jonser landscaping to the bizarre pointed roof they’ve put on part of it, the building looks a hundred times worse than anything Jed Clampett would have done. Couple that with the publicly funded fountain being constructed next to the BB&T building, Greenville has managed to cause the entire west side of Buncombe Street to become a hideous eyesore.

Anyway, the Jonsers are trying to make sure that everything is just right in their rigid, scripted, fake society so they can attract as many of the Jonser-educated high school students as possible. Remember, the Jonser cult breeds its growth, otherwise it would have died out decades ago.

Yippee.

Read about the Jonser invasion HERE.

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