The following are 7 simple, straight-up truths about Mike Vinson and his IWWB fellowship. Ask yourself, as you read these, whether you can honestly believe that a ministry with this kind of track-record can lay claim to possessing "truth" to the exclusion of all other Christian denominations. The best indicator for future behavior of either a person, or a group of persons, is to look closely at the present and past.
Please note, these are listed in no particular order. Links will open in new windows.
1 Mike Vinson and Rob Jones (a former member) declared themselves "sinless" in 2005, publishing a paper on the IWWB website that purported to unlock the secrets of the book of Revelation. When Mike was confronted about the contents of this publication, and the pronouncement that he and Jones "no longer sin," Vinson staunchly and arrogantly defended it, and at the time, refused to repent, despite multiple admonitions to do so. Please see here and here for more information.
Although he since claims to have repented of this, in 2010 and again, in 2012, Mike Vinson window-dressed and re-packaged this very doctrine and declared in his IWWB bible-studies that he had been given "dominion" over sinning, and that sin no longer had power over him. Vinson explicitly stated: "But the day comes, when sin no longer has dominion over you.."
2 Mike Vinson and the IWWB group practice "shunning." This is where particular individuals are excluded totally from the group because they take issue with a doctrine or a matter of spiritual insight. This is no different to other religious sects such as the Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, and Islam, even though Mike has claimed that his group is nothing like any other Christian group. Mike Vinson has even extended this practice to his own family members and has arrogantly declared that they are "not part of the body anymore." Moreover, Vinson recently stated that those who have left, or who have been put out, should not be dealt with at all, even in a business sense.
Vinson also used the marriage breakdowns of 2 former members to grand-stand and to illustrate, that these members were apparently experiencing the "discipline of the Lord" due to their rebellion against his teachings. Never mind the fact that an IWWB elder, Jason Martin, had his marriage do a nose-dive. Apparently, brother Jason is being "persecuted for the sake of righteousness" and being "hated of all men." The double-standards are appalling!
3 Mike Vinson claims he is "easily en-treatable" but when evidence is provided that he has engaged in hypocrisy, or that he has sinned publicly, he does his best to deny it or to claim that others were responsible. Evidence of this can be found here, here, here and here.
4 Vinson promotes an "us versus them" mentality, ranting and raging on a regular basis about the need to be "hated of all men." This catch-phrase has been lifted straight out of the WWCoG/Herbert W Armstrong lexicon and is a favorite of fringe religious sects, including IWWB. Vinson is very quick to tell his disciples that the "hate" will come primarily from family and friends, and that they should expect to be estranged from their loved ones, as they grow closer to Christ. See here, here and here for evidence of Mike Vinson's insistence that his disciples be hated by their family and friends.
5 Vinson and his "elders" regularly use fallacious and circular logic when presenting their arguments. They move the goal posts when it suits them, lie about others, spin the rhetoric and misrepresent facts. When they realize they have been wrong, rather than openly admitting it in a humble fashion, their tactic instead is to "cook" (delete) any teaching from their respective websites and then act as if they never taught such a thing. Despite this, they claim that they possess absolute spiritual truth and that they are the only group Jesus Christ is actively working with. Mitchell Kuhn, in particular, has been caught out numerous times. Click here, here and here for more information on this.
6 Only recently, Mike and his elders decided that "wages" were due from the IWWB disciples. They spent many hours, days and weeks providing a supposed scriptural basis/backbone for this, only to have it backfire on them! Mike, despite being an active participant in the discussion and saying: "we've cleared ourselves with the scriptures" later turned around and said that he was a "reluctant contributor" and that he wasn't the driving force behind the study. Please click here and here for evidence of this. The long since "cooked" dossier, the aptly titled "Funding God's Ministry" can be found here.
7 Vinson equates modern day societal practices with biblical counterparts. As an example, Vinson has stated that a nose-piercing is: "on the same spiritual plane" as ritual circumcision. Vinson has stated that if a man came into his fellowship with such a piercing, he would immediately judge him as "immature." Vinson has also said that Christmas is equitable with the Jewish rite of passover. Further, I am informed by Vinson's family that he also believes drinking a can of soda is equitable with smoking cigarettes.
These truths are undeniable, and as demonstrated above, I make these claims having caught out the respective parties with their own published documents, along with audio and video.
Given the track record here, do you honestly think the future bodes well for this ministry?
