Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2006, Page 50
Growing in Grace
Growing in Grace, the Miami-based international church led by millionaire evangelist Jose
Luis De Jesus Miranda — who preaches the benefits of a lavish lifestyle while denouncing
sin and denying the existence of the devil and Hell — now has four churches in
Massachusetts. Growing in Grace reportedly asks members to burn the holy books of other
religions in order to ―shut down what is not truth.‖ A representative said members, as the
chosen people, are immediately forgiven their sins.
Haggard, Ted
Virulent same-sex marriage opponent the Rev. Ted Haggard has resigned as head of the
National Association of Evangelicals in the wake of accusations by a male escort that the
clergyman paid to have sex with him. Haggard, who also resigned from the leadership of his
New Life Church, in Colorado, at first denied the charge, but said subsequently, in a letter
to his congregation, ―I am guilty of sexual immorality. I have been a deceiver and a liar.
There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I‘ve been warring against it all
my adult life. ..We [Haggard and his wife] will never return to a leadership role at New Life
Church.‖
Higher Balance Institute
Eric J. Pepin, running an apparent cult out of his Higher Balance Institute, in Beaverton,
OR, is facing sex abuse charges in connection with his Internet sale of meditation books and
CDs and the promise of spiritual awakening. He used a 17-year-old in a display of sexually
explicit conduct. Police detective Mike Smith says Pepin taught the boy ―to believe that
sexual contact was only a spiritual necessity,‖ but that the boy eventually decided he was
being used by Pepin, who bought him meals and paid him $200 after sex. Smith described
how Pepin once introduced himself dressed in a robe emblazoned with the words ―Master
Eric‖ and a triangular symbol. ―It‘s a cult,‖ Smith says, ―anytime you have a guy who
fancies himself as the master, the leader.‖
House of Yahweh
Hundreds have flocked to village bunkers built by House of Yahweh followers in Kenya to
learn what has happened in the wake of the failed prediction by sect leader Njoro Mosheh
Sang that the end of the world would begin with a nuclear strike a few days earlier. Sang
now says the end will come within three months.
International Churches of Christ
While in custody in Canada on charges of abduction for taking her children to France to keep
them from her former husband and the influence of the International Churches of
Christ, Nathalie Getliffe‘s boyfriend — the French writer Francis Gruzelle — and other
supporters continue to attack the French courts for ordering the children‘s return. Gruzelle,
who will run against the French Minister of Justice in the next election, says the children are
being abused like the character Cosette, one of the ―poor wretches‖ in Victor Hugo‘s Les
Miserables. French president Jacques Chirac has asked Canadian prime minister Stephen
Harper to ensure Canada gives ―detailed attention‖ to Getliffe‘s health as she prepares to
give birth to her fourth child.
Growing in Grace
Growing in Grace, the Miami-based international church led by millionaire evangelist Jose
Luis De Jesus Miranda — who preaches the benefits of a lavish lifestyle while denouncing
sin and denying the existence of the devil and Hell — now has four churches in
Massachusetts. Growing in Grace reportedly asks members to burn the holy books of other
religions in order to ―shut down what is not truth.‖ A representative said members, as the
chosen people, are immediately forgiven their sins.
Haggard, Ted
Virulent same-sex marriage opponent the Rev. Ted Haggard has resigned as head of the
National Association of Evangelicals in the wake of accusations by a male escort that the
clergyman paid to have sex with him. Haggard, who also resigned from the leadership of his
New Life Church, in Colorado, at first denied the charge, but said subsequently, in a letter
to his congregation, ―I am guilty of sexual immorality. I have been a deceiver and a liar.
There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I‘ve been warring against it all
my adult life. ..We [Haggard and his wife] will never return to a leadership role at New Life
Church.‖
Higher Balance Institute
Eric J. Pepin, running an apparent cult out of his Higher Balance Institute, in Beaverton,
OR, is facing sex abuse charges in connection with his Internet sale of meditation books and
CDs and the promise of spiritual awakening. He used a 17-year-old in a display of sexually
explicit conduct. Police detective Mike Smith says Pepin taught the boy ―to believe that
sexual contact was only a spiritual necessity,‖ but that the boy eventually decided he was
being used by Pepin, who bought him meals and paid him $200 after sex. Smith described
how Pepin once introduced himself dressed in a robe emblazoned with the words ―Master
Eric‖ and a triangular symbol. ―It‘s a cult,‖ Smith says, ―anytime you have a guy who
fancies himself as the master, the leader.‖
House of Yahweh
Hundreds have flocked to village bunkers built by House of Yahweh followers in Kenya to
learn what has happened in the wake of the failed prediction by sect leader Njoro Mosheh
Sang that the end of the world would begin with a nuclear strike a few days earlier. Sang
now says the end will come within three months.
International Churches of Christ
While in custody in Canada on charges of abduction for taking her children to France to keep
them from her former husband and the influence of the International Churches of
Christ, Nathalie Getliffe‘s boyfriend — the French writer Francis Gruzelle — and other
supporters continue to attack the French courts for ordering the children‘s return. Gruzelle,
who will run against the French Minister of Justice in the next election, says the children are
being abused like the character Cosette, one of the ―poor wretches‖ in Victor Hugo‘s Les
Miserables. French president Jacques Chirac has asked Canadian prime minister Stephen
Harper to ensure Canada gives ―detailed attention‖ to Getliffe‘s health as she prepares to
give birth to her fourth child.
