Category Archives: Master’s Commission

My Promise to You

Some emails I get are quite predictable:

“You’re bitter.”

you bitter hoes can't stop me

 

“Get over it.”

 

“Move on with your life.”

“When are you going to be satisfied?”

This last question is one I can finally answer. I’ll be satisfied when enrollment is so low in Summit School of Leadership and Master’s Commission and Mercy Ministries…and all the other groups I write about…that they are forced to shut down. That’s the simple answer.

You can question me all you want. You can think nasty things about me. But I can guarantee you one thing: I won’t stop until I’ve accomplished this, so you can sit back and watch the fireworks and enjoy the ride or you can get your panties in a bundle and hate me.

Master’s Commission as a Totalitarian Culture

I’m in a few groups on Facebook that are for surviving cult members or various similar topics. One friend posted a link to this article and asked us: “To what degree would you say [your group] manifests “the three perfect-storm characteristics of a religious authoritarian culture: They have a strict, social hierarchy; they are unusually fearful; and they are socially separatist?”"

Janet Heimlich goes on to describe the culture as: ”Members tend not to be just casual worshipers. Rather, they strongly identify themselves by their faith.”

I’ve always identified Master’s Commission (MC) as operating as authoritarian, but most specifically the extreme version of it: totalitarian. While this term is usually applied to governments and political movements, I think a case can be made for MC. Totalitarianism is a system ran by strict authority, but instead of having an unlikeable figure-head, there’s a leader who is very charasmatic and likeable. A cult of personality, as Wikipedia describes it:

Personality cults were first described in relation to totalitarian regimes that sought to radically alter or transform society according to radical ideas.[1] Often, a single leader became associated with this revolutionary transformation, and came to be treated as a benevolent “guide” for the nation without whom the transformation to a better future couldn’t occur. This has been generally the justification for personality cults that arose in totalitarian societies of the 20th century, such as those of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Continue reading →

Antimodernism: The Demonization of Technology

What is antimodernism?

There’s a phrase in the religious studies community: “antimodernism” that can help us describe some of what goes on in the fundamentalists mind. Antimodernism can be defined as the rejection of modern technology, ideals, etc. for a “purer” historical or pre-historical way of life. Antimodernism doesn’t just describe religious fundamentalists, but the term does apply in many ways.

In my experience, Master’s Commission held many antimodernist ideals:

  • The rejection of technology.
  • The rejection of dating.
  • The rejection of classical or “secular” education.
  • The rejection of the women’s movement.

I’ll explain each of these further.

The rejection of technology occurs in many Master’s Commission groups. Just google “Master’s Commission rules.” You’ll get a return search of several MC groups Information Packets that include amongst their rules “no secular music, no rated R movies, limited cell phone and internet usage.”

In my own Master’s Commission experience, we weren’t allowed to watch rated R movies. Even PG-13 movies were criticized. Anything that had sex, violence, cussing, etc. or suggested the like was criticized and banned.

Secular music was forbidden. If you were caught with such music, or even Christian music that was too violent, or had a lot of “anger” in it, it was subject to being destroyed or burned.

Sarah Palin and Master’s Commission

It may be old news, but it’s worth noting: Sarah Palin has ties to Master’s Commission.

Below are some important links and noteworthy mentions (this list is by no means complete):

Palin at Church, Addressing Master’s Commission (1/2)


Palin at Church, Addressing Master’s Commission (2/2)

Sarah Palin’s Churches and The Third Wave: New Video Documentary

Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches

Ethnocide. Master’s Commission. Palin

Text Transcript of Sarah Palin’s Speech of June 8, 2008 at Master’s Commission of Wasilla, Alaska

Master’s Commission Student Dies on Missions Trip

According to reports from the Canon City Daily Record, a Master’s Commission student, Daniel LaCroix, 19, reportedly died from carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday while on a mission trip in Moldova, Europe. According to the report, “LaCroix left for the discipleship school, the Master’s Commission Amsterdam Noord, in August of 2011. Kettle said LaCroix came home for Christmas and returned to the school in January.”

The Master’s Commission Amsterdam Noord blog confirms the report with these comments:

MCAN has tragically lost one of our own, Daniel LaCroix, in an accident last night. To say that Daniel was an incredible man of God would be to understate his passion, integrity, fortitude, unwavering-faith, and beautiful heart for worship. During our missions trip last week in Moldova, the team was able to hear Daniel speak multiple times on his deeper level of intimacy with God in these past few months. Today, we know he is experiencing the deepest of that intimacy as he stands before the love of his life, Jesus Christ. Thank you all for your prayers as our team misses and mourns the loss of our dear friend, brother, and student.

Daniel’s European memorial service will be hosted by his MCAN family this Sunday at 10:30 here in Amsterdam at Pinkstergemeente Agape Church 58 Kometensingel

Our thoughts go out to the LaCroix family.

Master’s Commission: Cult, Compound, Coercive

In March 2011, I was a guest on a North Carolina public radio program to be interviewed for my involvement in a cult. I was able to share my story about living inside a cult called Master’s Commission and the effects the coersion had on me. My fellow guests were religion experts, James Tabor, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Sean McCloud, an associate professor of religious studies and American studies affiliate at UNC-Charlotte; Benjamin Zeller, an assistant professor of religious studies at Brevard College.

James Tabor has special significance in the discussion of cults. He wrote a book called Why Waco? which examines the FBI raid of Waco, Texas/David Koresh.

What happened in Waco?

In a 1993 raid by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the subsequent siege by the FBI ended with the burning of the Branch Davidian ranch outside of Waco, Texas, in McLennan County. Koresh, 54 other adults and 28 children were found dead after the fire.

[The FBI]…barricaded [the Davidians] in their building, seventy-six Branch Davidians, including Koresh, did not survive the fire. Seventeen of these victims were children under the age of 17. The Danforth Report claims that those who died were unable, or unwilling, to flee and that Steve Schneider, Koresh’s right-hand man, probably shot Koresh and committed suicide with the same gun. Autopsy records indicate that at least 20 Branch Davidians were shot, including 5 children. Waco: The Rules of Engagement claims that FBI sharpshooters fired on, and killed, many Branch Davidians who attempted to flee the flames. While the few Branch Davidians who did successfully flee the fire supported this claim, the Danforth Report concluded that the adults who died of gunshot wounds shot themselves after shooting the children. Independent third party investigations refute the Danforth Report. On the final day of the Branch Davidian siege in 1993, aerial FLIR film was shot by the FBI that seemed to show automatic weapons fire directed into the burning buildings. Former Senator John Danforth, under the direction of Acting Attorney General Eric Holder, conducted a 14-month, $17-million investigation that exonerated the government of any wrongdoing.

In 1995 [James Tabor] testified before Congress as an expert witness on Waco and has urged both government officials and media spokespersons to drop the use of the prejudicial label “cult,” and approach such new religious groups with a combination of critical evaluation and a sympathetic attempt to enter the world view of those involved.

(Source Wikipedia)

***

The cult I was in was called Master’s Commission. It was formed out of a mega church pastored by the TBN regular, Tommy Barnett. Phoenix First Assembly of God was a hub for televangelists like Joyce Meyer, Mario Murillo, and Jim Bakker to visit. On special occassions, we bussed in drug addicts and homeless people. It was here Master’s Commission (MC) ran for over twenty years, often posing as a secular group “City Conquest” to hold youth rallies inside public high schools and boost recruitment.

According to the MCIN website (the international oversight network for Master’s Commission), the history of Master’s Commission is as follows:

The idea for Master’s Commission was birthed while two men, Carmen Balsamo and Larry Kerychuck, were at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting Phoenix, Arizona. Larry was speaking a message entitled, “Who’s Your Hero?” and after that meeting they had a conversation with the brother of a Mormon missionary. This young man told Carmen and Larry that his brother was his hero because of his commitment to his beliefs. This young man had converted to the Mormon faith and forfeited a college scholarship to fulfill his 2 year Mormon mission in a rural part of America. The young man expressed how impressed he was with the commitment of the Mormon people to their religion and asked why Christians were not as committed.

As they walked away from that conversation, these two men desired to find a way for young, Christian men and women to give one-year of their life in service to God. They decided that they would first personally take that time frame and dedicate themselves to scripture memory, Biblical studies, outreach, witnessing and accountability to each other. They found, after that one-year period, their personal and Spiritual development was astounding and Carmen decided to offer an opportunity for others to be involved. Francis Graves, wife of church missions overseer Charlie Graves, was a great woman of prayer and came up with the name “Master’s Commission”. The initial group was 12 members and met daily at the campus of the Phoenix First Assembly of God Church in 1984. Tragically, in the early stages of Master’s Commission, Carmen Balsamo died from a sudden heart attack. Phoenix First Senior Pastor Tommy Barnett then introduced Pastor Lloyd Zeigler as the man to develop the program; Master’s Commission has exploded throughout his tenure.

Pastor Lloyd Zeigler transformed this concept from a single 12 member meeting into the nation’s leading discipleship program with over 100 affiliated programs worldwide. He also developed the Master’s Commission International Network (MCIN) in 1995 whose purpose was to assist the development of other Master’s Commission programs nationally and internationally. Pastor Zeigler currently still oversees and directs his own Master’s Commission program, the MCIN, and is the Lead Pastor of Relevant Church in the North Dallas, Texas area.

Master’s Commission comes from a line of ideology that can be classified as fundamentalist, dominionist and charasmatic. In 2008, Bruce Wilson wrote about Sarah Palins’ link to Master’s Commission and The Third Wave. Palin attended an Assembly of God church (like I did), and prayed over the Master’s Commission at their graduation ceremony.

There’s also a link between Jim Bakker, a good friend of Tommy Barnett’s, and Master’s Commission. Bakker runs a Master’s Commission at his compound in Missouri which is responsible for “interning” at his TV show. Pastor Lloyd, the founder of Master’s Commission, still visits Jim Bakker for speaking engagements.

I first attended Lloyd Zeilger’s program in 1998, when I graduated from high school. They had recruited me from a rally at my public high school from the group City Conquest. Later, I moved to Texas to do my second year of ministry training in Master’s Commission of Austin, a group ran by Nathan Davies that has now moved to Lafayette, Louisiana. The group has changed it’s name from Master’s Commission as a result of the controversies brought up in this blog, and they now have a new director. The group resides in Our Savior’s Church, one of the many church “plants” by Daniel Jones. The photo below shows the church plants by Jones, a former Assemblies of God reverend who has links to Every Nation Ministries and the Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal and his wife who’ve spoken numerous times at their church. I left Our Savior’s Church in 2005.

 

Soldiers for Christ

I’ve been speaking to a friend of mine almost nightly about some deep topics–you know, letting someone into some of those secret caverns people haven’t really gone in awhile. He spent years in the military and after I’d explained some of my feelings to him about my cult experience (and yes, cried, which I haven’t actually done in awhile), he shared some of his military experiences. It was sort of comforting to know that we related so well.

He spoke to me in particular about some intense combat training he received in order to keep him and his team hyped and going, running on adreneline and getting revved up easily. He said it served a purpose in combat situations because they’d be up for days at a time, operating on little to no sleep. What happened when he left the military and resumed civilian life was that he realized he could easily get really amped up over something and it was hard to mellow himself out or not find himself reactionary.

I could certainly relate. On a much smaller, less intense scale, there are similarities to my cult experience and some aspects of military life.

For example, when we joined we went through a few intense weeks where we were emotionally stripped of certain barriers and rights, and we were checked into dorms with a strict set of rules and guidelines to live by each day. Then, each day was regimented as if we lived in barracks (they were dorms) and we had dorm leaders coming in each morning and night making sure we were in bed and out of bed on time (on the dot), dressed in something suitable (our uniforms), in prayer (on the dot), at breakfast, cleaning up (to perfection), and so forth to a specific schedule.

Our training was not combat, but it was all about hype and getting prepped emotionally for a “spiritual battle.” We were soldiers for Christ and we trained like such. When a conference would come up, we’d spend a month prior to the conference fasting and praying intensely, on top of studying, marketing, networking, planning and rehearsing our performances. Our rehearsals were labor intensive, because we were putting on an entire production–a creative representation of Christ–and those productions could last for hours, but typically the conference success or failure landed on us so we were hyper aware of every detail from the sound equipment and microphones to the lighting set up and placement. At any moment, I was on call with the speaker information, his or her whereabouts, their car and hotel information and their personal assistant on the line, if needed.

We’d stay up for days on end before the conference getting ready for “spritual battle” and by the time the actual event rolled around, we’d be operating on very little to no sleep. Coffee and energy drinks became our constant companion, and so did the smiley-happy-hyped up Christian sales persona that we were known to be. We had to pull the smiles out because we believed what we were pushing onto these teens. We believed it intently. We believed we were at war for their souls.

I’M A MOTHAFUCKEN WITCH

You never know what friending nice people on Facebook is going to do. I found some beautiful Alaskan friends to befriend this week and WAM. All of a sudden I’m a witch! I’m corrupting them! Their “pastor” is emailing them to delete me and stay away or they will be operating in the demonic.

Let me tell you a little something about Alaska–I love it. It’s wonderful. My parents live there a few months out of the year doing the same thing the guys on Bering Sea Gold do. Or, as I like to call it, My dad is a mothafuckenbadass. [Yes, he spends 12 hours a day scuba diving in the Bering Sea looking for gold. That's the ocean, folks.]

But oh yes, back to Psycho Pastor. His name is Ron Pratt. He’s a graduate of the same Master’s Commission I went to with Lloyd Zeigler.

Lloyd Zeigler, Heart of Gold–look at that FACE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now Ron Pratt-ie Poo lives in Alaska and runs “This Generation Ministries.” Translation: he’s bat shit crazy. Well, I don’t know, you be the judge. Here’s his photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note the “John 3:16″ hat. No big deal.

So, then there’s this one. Which is fun:

Israel Army

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because clearly, he’s Israeli and the members of their army wear beanies, right? Oh, he’s American. And he’s not Jewish? Hmm, that’s curious. Very, very curious.

Oh right! He’s one of those Christian Fundamentalist TERRORISTS! Gotcha. :0) It all makes sense now, honey.

My favorite pictures, though are these. They really show the love of Jesus.

Behold, the Lord, a MAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys, I killed this moose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m so bad, I make dead bears drip blood from their mouths. Oh, and JESUS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God spaketh…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK………SORRY.

Getting off track. Because really, it’s way too fun to make fun of dirty assholes. Online.

I heard through the grapevine that Ron was an abusive minister. Bossy, controlling, manipulative, etc. I was concerned. But minded my own business, until he sent THIS message to someone who friended me on Facebook. Again, it’s a friend request sent and accepted. We’re not married. From Ron to ‘friend’:

Hey I don’t expect you to reply, but here goes… I see you became “friends” with Lisa Kerr… do you know her? I would doubt that you really do. I’m not sure where you are spiritually, as I have been disconnected from you awhile, but if you align yourself with people like her, then your name will be aligned with her beliefs. She is full of anger, hate and operating in witchcraft…

I would hope that is not you… If you line up with those attacking the Spirit, then you also will be seen as one who will embrace the demonic.

I believe in your calling and in you!

Pastor Ron

Emphasis my own, because of course I’d like to point out HOW AWESOME it is that he said I was operating in witchcraft! All the best womenz are! Duh! Burn those bitches! Rush Limbaugh called them sluts! Whores they are!

But I digress ;)  (yes, that one is for YOU)

Here’s what I sent to happy pants, psycho animal KILLER Ron:

Hey Ron,
I’ve heard some rumor that you have been telling some folks what to do up there in Alaska. I really need you to cut that shit out. That’s not what God has called you to do. That is abusive behavior, controlling and manipulation. Signs of an abuser. You’re on my radar, friend and I know I’m on yours. 
Lisa Kerr
www.mycultlife.com

After all, I had to live up to my “witch” reputation.

This just in: I’m bitter. Again. Blah, Blah, Blah.

This email was sent to me from Kelli, who titled the subject Broken Heart. Read on for more magic. Yawn.

 

Hello Lisa,
You do not know me as I do not know you personally. I was wondering around on you tube today and came across your video “Master’s Commision Rant.” I was curious, so I watched. I’m not surprised by anything you said. I have herd many people who left a mc with the same attitude. I’m must say that you sound bitter. I was in masters commission for 3 amazing years. I was not raised in church. I started walking myself to church at age 8 by myself. I was not raised in a Christian home, so I made the choice to believe in Jesus Christ and have him be the father and savior in my life. I started thinking for myself at a very early age because I had parents who left me no choice to think any other way.
I am so very sorry that you had this experience as well as many other students. However, masters commission is not intended for everyone. I have become great friends with the funded and many of the staff that have been there from the beginning and I know first hand that it is not intended for everyone. I had a fanominal experience and ministered to thousands of people. I know many people who spent one year in mc to grow their spiritual self and “get their self control” under control before they went to a university. Those people lead great lives and have stable families. They are successful and thank God everyday for that mc that helped them. I also know hundreds of alumni, including myself, that go on do ministry around the world. As far as the covenant for first years, it’s not intended to put a chain around your neck. It’s there, I you choose to do so, to have you focus on God for 9months rather than the distractions that come along with dating. Let’s face it, as for me , a disciple of Jesus Christ, if a man can not be completely focused on the one who  created him for 9 months out of his entire life, then how could he ever be faithful to me as his wife for the next 50-75 years of his life? I am so blessed to say that I have married a great man of God with morals and values that I believe that he could have never had without that covenant. I am in no way saying that people who don’t make 9month covenants with God can’t have them, I’m simply saying the if the opportunity is placed before you and you can handle it, then you can not handle future covenants.
I just don’t understand why you have made your bitterness into a business. You said in one of your comments on your video that a community of people need to come together…..do realize what you are doing? You are promoting a community of unforgiveness and bitterness. Why focus on the negative? What a terrible way to live. It seems as though you are the one that is hurting yourself by ranting on about the wrong that apparently happens to you. Why live in offense instead a life full of joy and freedom? Everyone gets hurt, it’s how you deal with it that developes you…..you obviously are living in the negative. Move on…. Do you really think that at the end of your life the world is going to remember you for doing good? Or will they remember you for contributing to the bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness? It seems as though your purpose in life is to down religions and be negative…..wow….I couldn’t imagine living in such negativity. I feel sorry for you and hope that you find purpose in your life and stop living a life that is devoted to bashing everyone else’s lives….

It’s unfortunate that Master’s Commission hasn’t taught Kelli how to use spell check. Thanks girl.

In response, I didn’t cuss her out. I simply said, I don’t support abusive groups and I hope you will do your part to be socially and ethically responsible with those you deal with, too. 

#mycultlife #hatemail #dumbasses #bitteragain #yawn