I saw a topic on the 28 of September in Nairaland about a Deeper Life member who claimed DL was a cult. Here is a more elaborate view on that topic. It's a blog actually, by an ex-leader of the church. I'll like you guys to check it out. Here is the link

https://trdlg.

But for some excerpt. Here you go.

They are so easy to recognise, are they not? Those Deeper Life people. Always remaining inflexible in their beliefs and refusing to let anyone bend them out of it. People react to Deeper Lifers differently; some get irritated by their insistence on lack of taste, others get challenged by them-they are so different they stand out proudly- while the rest don't give a damn. It's a free world, isn't it? Everybody can do whatever they like. Maybe it is a free world for you, reader, who grew up perhaps in a different denomination, religion or no religion at all. But for the average Deeper Life member, it is not a free world. You must have always suspected it; beneath all these façade of being born again and convincing the world to be born again (physically especially), there is something unsavoury going on beneath.
They all act the same way, dress the same way, confess the same convictions, etc. How did Kumuyi do it? How did he organise people so uniformly and cooperatively, especially in this jaga-jaga Nigeria we live in? He must be a very smart man and a true servant of God. I can't argue that. This write-up is not meant to dispute if Pastor W.F Kumuyi's calling is real or fake. I'm always careful in handling or criticising matters of religion because like most people do, they either throw away the baby with the dirty bath water or they insist on keeping the baby in the dirty bath water altogether. What I'm here to do is in fact to thoroughly, as much as I can, separate both the baby and the dirty bath water and get rid of that dirty water.
I have about 20+ topics on this issue to validate my points and I won't let much of my experience in Deeper Life get in the way, because I have several stories of many Deeper Life members that have been crushed under the Deeper Life system. And as I write, some, if not most of these people, are still stuck in the church because like a cult, a set of emotionally manipulative narratives have been forged into their minds never to leave. They dare not.
Now I know most of you will say, "Cult ke?" That's too strong a word to use for a church whose members are the meekest people on earth. For such argument I'll reply to it this way: if you mean meek from the dictionary definition, then, yes- to some extent- Deeper Lifers are meek. But if you mean the Biblical meekness, then we have some theological strings to untangle, which this blog is clearly not created for. But for those interested in the meat of the matter, it's just as I said it. A Holy cult. And I don't mince words when I say this. The line between a denomination and a Holy Cult is so narrow it could be easily breached anytime, especially unconsciously by the leader at the very top. If you know any Deeper Life member very well, or you are a member, there are twelve patterns listed below. Look through and tell me the percentage the Deeper Life Church or its members score in this test.
- The group (Church) displays excessive zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and regards his belief system, ideology, practices as the Truth, or as law or personal conviction.
- Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
- The leadership dictates, sometimes in great details how members should think, act, and feel (e.g members must get permission to date, change jobs, or marry. Or leaders prescribe what to wear, where to live, whether to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth.)
- The group (Church) is elitist. Claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and its members.
- The group (Church) has a polarised us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict or friction with the wider society.
- The Leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and control members. Often this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
- Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group (church) and its related activities.
- Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialise only or mostly with their groups(Church ) members.
- The most loyal members ('the true believers') feel there can be no life outside the context of the group (church). They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisal to themselves or others if they leave or even consider leaving the group (Church).
- There is a leader who appears to be the ultimate authority, spokespersons. His/Her views are hardly or never challenged by others. And his/her opinions are readily accepted without question.
- Only one point of view is presented in the group (church). Hardly or never are any other points of views recognised or seen as valid.
- The attitude of the followers to its leaders is total submission and compliance; there is hardly any check and balance.
These features are gotten from cultresearch.org. These are the features you find in a cult. For a Holy cult, it won't appear to be obvious on the surface, but if you move beyond the surface to its underneath like I've done, you'll see it clearly-all these features and more.
For those who will argue that other denominations in Nigeria also have these traits, so Deeper Life is no different from them; well...
If you want information about other denominational systems, this is not the blog for you, maybe someone will do that in future. This blog focuses on Deeper Life doctrines and Deeper Life's alone.