Christmas and Cults: When the Grinch Has a Pulpit

John and Brantley discuss the strange intersection between Christmas traditions and the theology of control that runs through movements like William Branham’s Message and the International House of Prayer. Their candid conversation explores how cult systems redefine holiness by stripping joy from human experience—right down to banning Christmas trees. The episode connects Branham’s mantle claims, the rise of Joel’s Army, and IHOPKC’s culture of overwork and spiritual abuse, tracing how authoritarian leadership transforms faith into fear. They unpack how stage personas, hero worship, and emotional addiction create a cycle of narcissism and trauma, then turn to healing, recovery, and the rediscovery of genuine community and humanity.______________________Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________– Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham – Visit the website: https://william-branham.org 

John and Chino discuss the lived reality of leaving Faith Assembly and similar high-control healing movements, focusing on emotional shunning, generational trauma, and the psychological toll of absolutist doctrine. Drawing from personal stories and interviews, they explain how sincere families were shaped by rules about medical care, "confessions," and spiritual status, and how those beliefs persisted decades after the leader's death. The conversation examines spiritual pride, fear-based control, and the harm caused when leaders discourage medical treatment, using real examples involving cancer, rapture anxiety, and family division. The goal is understanding and healing—inviting honest dialogue, accountability, and a healthier approach to Christian faith for those affected by authoritarian religious systems.

John explores how modern prophetic leaders such as Cindy Jacobs trace directly back to the numerology-driven theology of William Branham, Gordon Lindsay, and the Voice of Healing movement. The episode unpacks how Jacobs’ 5777 prophecy, her connection to the International Coalition of Apostles, and her political messaging around Donald Trump mirror the same manipulative patterns embedded in early Latter Rain teachings. John explains that these networks merge fortune-telling techniques, authoritarian apostolic structures, and political propaganda into a system designed to influence followers through confusing numerology and claims of divine insight. By tracing Jacobs’ involvement with Christ for the Nations and her reliance on later-rain numerological frameworks, the episode shows how today’s NAR “prophecies” are recycled patterns from Branham-era cult dynamics rather than authentic expressions of biblical prophecy. ______________________ Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR: Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branhamVisit the website: https://william-branham.org

John and Lael open up about the hidden cost of growing up under religious control. Lael McKay, a former member of Hobart Freeman’s Faith Assembly, shares her life story—from an idyllic Indiana childhood shadowed by legalism and fear, to years of silence about physical pain, sexual abuse, and her father’s preventable suffering under faith-healing teachings. Together, John and Chino explore how purity culture, fear of hell, and denial of medical care shaped entire families. Through raw honesty and reflection, Lael describes her path through therapy, rediscovering safety, compassion, and spiritual balance. This conversation offers hope for survivors of high-control religious movements and insight into the lifelong impact of spiritual abuse and recovery.______________________Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________– Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham – Visit the website: https://william-branham.org 

John and Jenny discuss how purity culture in evangelical and high-control Christian spaces turns bodies into commodities, fuses "holiness" with racial anxiety, and leaves survivors carrying crushing shame. They trace the roots of modern purity teaching through abstinence-only campaigns, racialized myths about "protecting" white women, and high-demand groups shaped by Branhamism and Christian identity rhetoric, highlighting how fear-based sermons and public shaming deform both faith and embodiment.Drawing on Jenny's therapeutic work and John's historical research, they talk about consent, autonomy, and why healthy boundaries are different from rigid rules, offering language for people who still value faith but are done with spiritualized control. Whether you grew up in modesty talks, pledge rallies, or holiness churches--or you love someone who did--this conversation names the harm, honors survivors' stories, and points toward practical pathways for healing in "really good bodies" that are never damaged goods.______________________Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________- Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham - Visit the website: https://william-branham.org 

John Collins and John McKinnon explore the destructive evolution of William Branham’s “little gods” doctrine and how it reshaped the nature of Jesus into something unrecognizable to historic Christianity. They trace how Branham’s shifting revelations, internal contradictions, and reliance on mystery-language gradually moved his followers into Arianism and deep theological confusion, creating a belief system where multiple versions of Jesus circulated at the same time. This discussion highlights how these teachings fractured families, eroded biblical clarity, and set the stage for modern charismatic excesses rooted in Branham’s ideas. Together they examine the internal logic of the doctrine, the manipulation of John 1:1, the diminishing of Christ’s deity, and the way Branham’s ideas empowered authoritarian leadership models that continue into today’s New Apostolic Reformation. With careful clarity, they unpack how these heresies developed, why they were historically rejected, and how they still shape ministries, identity, and belief inside and outside the movement. ______________________Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________– Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham – Visit the website: https://william-branham.org 

John and Chino explore the hidden cost of life inside Faith Assembly and similar high-control churches, unpacking the difference between first- and second-generation members, how utopian promises slowly harden into authoritarian control, and why so many survivors carry more emotional baggage than they realize. Drawing on years of conversations with former members, they talk through holiday taboos, "negative confession," fear-based teaching, and the long shadow of legalistic Pentecostal culture on work, family, and identity. Along the way, they examine how Bible verses were repeatedly pulled out of context, how that misuse of scripture fuels magical thinking and self-destructive choices, and why counseling and safe relationships are so vital in recovery. John shares how people can be talked back from the brink when they feel utterly alone, while Chino emphasizes humility, honesty, and re-learning what genuine Christian faith looks like outside of performance, control, and fear. This conversation offers both language and hope for anyone trying to make sense of life after a controlling religious environment. ______________________Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________- Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham  - Visit the website: https://william-branham.org 

John and Laura-Lynn discuss the surprising historical trail behind Daystar and the broader apostolic media world, showing how today’s networks were shaped by earlier healing-revival publicity, Gordon Lindsay’s Voice of Healing magazine, and the institutions that grew out of that era. They trace how a revived “Elijah for the last days” narrative became the connective tissue linking early Pentecostal personalities to later charismatic platforms and schools. They also unpack how the Elijah/messenger expectation, blended with older covenant thinking, end-times date-setting, and rising leader-centric authority, gradually displaced a Christ-centered focus with celebrity “generals” and their followers. The conversation highlights why these ideas kept reproducing across generations—and why understanding that lineage matters when evaluating modern Daystar-adjacent apostles, prophets, and movements. ______________________Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________– Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham – Visit the website: https://william-branham.org 

John and Joey reveal how devotion to Jesus can slowly be entangled with authoritarian control inside the New Apostolic Reformation. Joey describes how constant pressure to obey “apostles,” secrecy around finances, plagiarism from the pulpit, and emotional manipulation led to a crisis of trust in leadership—yet not in Christ. The conversation continues to discuss how spiritual abuse thrives wherever human power replaces biblical accountability, yet freedom and healing are possible. This testimony offers hope to anyone escaping high-control churches: you can leave toxic authority behind without leaving Jesus. Your faith can survive—and grow stronger—after the NAR. ______________________ Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR: Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________ – Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham – Visit the website: https://william-branham.org 

John and Bob unpack the phenomenon of hero worship inside Christianity, tracing it from the ancient world to modern megachurch culture. They compare the charisma of today’s revivalists with mythological demigods and discuss how emotional euphoria, dopamine highs, and the hunger for significance can turn spiritual leadership into idolatry. Together they explore how Pentecostalism’s “man of God” model, stage personas, and the social-media influencer mindset have created a new kind of religion—one driven by power, performance, and addiction to admiration. They also dig into the psychological mechanics behind revival culture: the cycle of emotional highs, the crash that follows, and how the congregation becomes addicted to the same sensations. Drawing parallels from William Branham to Mike Bickle and beyond, they reveal how both leaders and followers are trapped in the same system of hero worship that blurs the line between faith and self-exaltation. ______________________Weaponized Religion: From Christian Identity to the NAR:Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735160962 Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGGZX3K ______________________– Support the channel: https://www.patreon.com/branham – Visit the website: https://william-branham.org