As promised, I am going
to answer some questions from emails I have received over the course of the
past few weeks. I have been unable to
answer them because I was busy on the Mystery We Write Blog Tour.
I believe most of these
questions are driven from the release of my latest novel, House of Lies, and its
connection to the murder of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) intern,
Bethany Deaton.
If you are unfamiliar
with this Deaton story, you can read it here.
With no further ado,
here are your top ten most frequently asked questions:
#1: “Is House of Lies written about IHOP-KC
because I see a lot of similarities between the characters in your book and the
leaders of IHOP?”
No. The characters and events in House of Lies
are all fictional and any likeness to real persons, past or present, is a
coincidence. That being said, I studied
five cult groups in order to educate myself so that I could create believable
characters and scenes for my story. IHOP
was one of the five I researched, as was Jim Jones/Jonestown and David
Koresh/Waco. I will not name the other
two groups because I don’t want to receive a bunch of hate mail from them.
I will say this: all of the groups I have studied have similar
structures and belief systems and are all built upon foundational lies,
heresies and extreme hypocrisies.
If you study the
leaders of past and present cult groups, you will see that they all possess a
similar agenda. They may carry it out
differently, but they all possess certain cult qualities, initially masked by
charisma and deception.
#2: “Have you ever been involved in a cult group?”
Yes. Years ago, I met a man who, for lack of a
better term, was a cult leader. He had
radical ideas about spirituality and God and I was drawn to the group by his
charisma and what I, in my ignorance, deemed as his wisdom. I spent almost three years completely obsessed
with his teachings. I was more concerned
with meditation and achieving deeper levels of spirituality than I was with my
job, my family, my friends or my husband.
I prayed, fasted and meditated more than I did anything else. See, I believed I was chosen and others in my
life were not. I had become elitist in
my spirituality. (Which, by the way, is
a big red flag. God does not give people
a spirit of elitism. If elitism exists,
beware of the group to which you have tied yourself.)
I even went as far as
to tell my husband that we should divorce because I was chosen to do something
great for God and since he was not, we would eventually be ripped apart anyway.
Thankfully, and by what I deem as God’s
grace and love flowing through my husband, he refused to leave me.
I’ll never forget what
he said. He said, “Susan, when the woman
I married can look at me and tell me she doesn’t love me anymore, I’ll leave…. But
you’re not the woman I married.”
He nailed it on the
head. I wasn’t the same woman he
married. I had become an empty shell. All the meditation and fasting and the
seeking revelation had left me completely hollow. All of the so-called wisdom was a mere
deception.
See…there is a fine
line between truth and a lie. There is a
big difference between meditating on God’s Word and engaging in meditation
tactics for the sole purpose of receiving deeper revelation from spiritual
depths. One is beneficial. The other is dangerous.
Breaking away from that
group was the hardest thing I have ever done.
It stripped me of my identity, of my sense of belonging, essentially of
my reality and it left me raw to the core.
I felt unsure, unstable and more scared than I have ever been.
But… God is good. He brought me out of the darkness using my
parents and my husband as pillars of strength. Today, I stand on my faith because I now know
it is a solid foundation. Sometimes we
have to walk through the darkness to be able to truly recognize the light.
This experience made me
realize how easily anyone can be deceived and how easily the mind can succumb
to manipulation. The mind is a powerful
tool and it can be warped, twisted and made to believe almost anything…. especially
the stuff that feels good.
#3: “Did you study IHOP because you have a sister
involved in it and is that why you wrote a book about a girl trying to save her
sister?”
Ever since the Bethany
Deaton case has been likened to House of Lies, it is no longer a secret that my
sister is in leadership with IHOP. She
is the Director of the Gateway House of Prayer in St. Louis, Missouri. She has been involved with IHOP for over ten
years.
I began studying IHOP
because I had heard things about the movement and I had concerns for my
sister. I visited IHOP-KC numerous times
and these concerns were substantiated.
My relationship with my
sister, and her involvement in IHOP may have inspired the idea for the novel,
but the story is not written about her, about IHOP or about me. It is a fictional story.
#4: “You call yourself a ‘Christian’ but you don’t
take a stand against homosexuality which is clearly, biblically wrong.”
This really isn’t a
question, but I felt like I needed to comment on it. Yes, I call myself a “Christian” because, by
definition, I am one. I believe in Jesus
Christ as my personal savior; thus, I’m a “Christian.”
BUT…that title does not
give me license to judge or condemn others.
Yes, the bible does say
that God hates homosexuality. I won’t
try to argue that point nor engage in a theological debate about it. God hates a lot of things in our world
(adultery, murder, rape, stealing, lying, taking advantage of other people,
etc.) that have deviated from His original plan; but more than that, He loves
people.
He loves homosexuals, heterosexuals,
bisexuals and metrosexuals. He loves all
of us the same.
Whether or not someone
is a homosexual is between that person and God.
It doesn’t involve me. My
opinion of someone is not based on their sexual preference any more than it is
based on their race, religion or political viewpoint.
God said don’t judge
others. That is my stance.
#5: “Does it bother you to say you are a Christian
and then write books that involve so much violence and murder?”
No. It doesn’t bother me at all. Read the Old Testament and you’ll see plenty
of violence and murder.
I write murder mystery
stories and that’s really hard to do without involving a murder. I also write Mafia stories, and unfortunately
the Mob world is a violent place; thus there is some violence in my books.
I try to lighten it by
adding some humorous characters. J
#6: “Do you believe IHOP is a cult?”
Yes. I believe it is extremely dangerous and
detrimentally deceptive. It is no
different than the groups led by Jim Jones and David Koresh.
I pray it doesn’t end in the same fashion.
#7: “Do you think cult groups start out knowing
they are cult groups?”
No. I think a lot of leaders start out with a
genuine heart that is seeking God and somewhere along the line they lose sight
of God and allow their ego to push them toward something mystical and
alluring. They want to believe they are
the next big thing, the chosen of God, and from there, it spirals out of
control. I don’t believe Jim Jones began
his ministry with a plan to have everyone drink poison Koolade. It evolved into that monster. David Koresh didn’t begin his ministry
seeking a shoot-out with police. It
evolved into that monster.
These men had a common
trait from the beginning… ego.
Foundationally, when they started, there was a flaw…ego. They wanted to be known, to be famous, to be
chosen…ego. They wanted followers…ego. They wanted to be prophets of the Lord…ego.
If you look Biblically at
the people God used, they were not the men with charisma and elevated
egos. One example is Moses… a humble man…telling
God he couldn’t do it, telling the Almighty to find someone stronger and
better.
Study these things
yourself and it will become clear that God isn’t interested in human
egotism. It gets in the way. Satan, however, is all about ego. He always has been…in fact, his desire for
greatness is what got him booted out of Heaven to begin with.
This is why it is so
important to look at the foundational principals upon which any group is
built. If it starts out as a sham it isn’t
going to end up truth. Look at the foundation
of IHOP, which is built upon lie after lie after lie. It’s an ego-based ministry, same as Jim
Jones, same as David Koresh, same as many others.
#8: “I’ve read some of your writing on sex and am
wondering if you think that is a good message, as some people just don’t have a
sex drive?”
Admittedly, my view of
sex is probably not the “norm.” However,
I think it is healthy. In a nutshell, I
believe sex should be part of a healthy lifestyle.
I’m speaking in terms
of married individuals or those in long-term relationships.
Sex is one form of
bonding or connecting. It is not the
only important form; but it is important nonetheless. Human beings need emotional, mental and
physical stimulation. We need to be
touched on all levels.
Some people have less
of a sex drive than others, but that’s irrelevant in the context of what I’m
talking about when I say sex is important.
Most women feel like having sex less often than most men. That’s normal. Let’s be honest, if a woman waited until she “felt
like” having sex, she’d never have it.
It doesn’t fit in our schedules and there are a handful of other things
we’d rather be doing. I get it. I feel that way too.
BUT… I know that when
my husband and I have an active sex life, our overall relationship
blossoms. When we are physically touching
more frequently, we are more in tune with one another emotionally and mentally
as well. It is all connected.
Thus, I encourage people
to make-love and to have sex as often as possible. Kiss, hug, stroke, rub, snuggle, touch as
often as you can. It will change your
marriage for the better. Do it for each
other…. Do it for your relationship… Do it for yourself… because let’s face it,
once you start the process, it gets more and more enjoyable. J
#9: “Do you believe Bethany Deaton was murdered
or do you think she committed suicide?
If murdered, why do you think she was killed?”
I believe,
wholeheartedly, she was murdered and I think it was to keep her from telling
the truth about what she had experienced while involved at IHOP.
I cannot tell you how
many people have shared their IHOP experiences with me and asked to remain
anonymous because they are afraid of what will happen to them or to their families
and friends if they speak up. People are
terrified.
What could be so bad as
to cause this much fear?
What could be so bad it
would make you kill someone who threatened to expose it?
If you want to know the
truth, then send your questions to media outlets. Empower the media to investigate
further. And if you have experience with
IHOP, now is the time to speak up and share your story. Your voice will empower others to speak.
#10: “In your book , House of Lies, the P3 cult is
paying off the police. Do you think this
is happening in Grandview?”
I don’t know, but I can
tell you that previous grievances, cases and accusations against IHOP have
magically disappeared in the past. Are
they paid off like in the book? It
wouldn’t surprise me.
Again, take this
question to the Kansas City media and to the Grandview police or the
Prosecutors office, and to the local government there. Empower them to dig deeper into IHOP and the
truth will spill out.
Remember, through all
of this, a family lost their loved one.
Please pray for Bethany’s family as they will be spending Christmas
without her this year. ~
