ICC Churches

RJ Howard said:

How many of you Here heard of International Church of Christ? I started attending a local group about a month ago that's affiliated with this movement and I've been doing some research online including hearing testimonies from former members about all the abuse they had to endure in all the demands the church set on them.

What the church is doing right now with me is having frequent Bible studies about different issues (persecution as christian, being a disciple, seeking the kingdom). This church even suggested that I change my hours at work so I can attend every other Wednesday of men's discipleship.

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One thing to note is that the ICOC split, there's a more moderate version (the ICOC) and Kip McKean's movement (the ICC). The ICOC is a lot more open and reasonable, and centres a lot around family life and the community of the church. Kip's movement is a bit mad. Having been a member years ago, there are some good points, the sense of camaraderie and the close relationships I built were some of the best experiences of my life, for example, and there is a strong emphasis on purity in dating. On the other hand, the group is way too controlling. They basically have a kind of stripped down version of the gospel, a sort of checklist of things they identify as the marks of a disciple of Christ. Pretty much everything in the church revolves around those few ideas, in a very black and white way. The thinking goes like this - did the early disciples meet together a lot? Well, then all disciples must meet together at all costs on a regular basis; did the early disciples share the gospel? Well then, the lives of all disciples should revolve around sharing the gospel, and so on.

These kinds of things are hard to argue with directly, but my essential issue is that it all adds up to a very basic and simplistic understanding of Christianity. When you add in the fact that the leadership structure in the ICC is extremely controlling, and pretty unhealthy in a number of other ways, it's not my cup of tea.

RJ Howard said:

What the church is doing right now with me is having frequent Bible studies about different issues (persecution as christian, being a disciple, seeking the kingdom). This church even suggested that I change my hours at work so I can attend every other Wednesday of men's discipleship.

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The part I bolded should be the first red flag. They'll call it "obedience to discipling" or something, but that's like the story about "if you give a mouse a cookie..." Once you say yes to what seems a minor thing, you'll be more likely to say yes to more outrageous stuff later on.
From the tales of those who have left the movement, part of what they're doing in these one-on-one studies is getting information on you that they can exploit later to keep you in line.

TL;DR: RUN!

RJ Howard said:

I am done with that church now. I did some research and it IS a cult

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Good! You dodged a bullet.