Bee, what a tragedy to hear about Allan. I did a search and found it was as you said and learnt a little more about him in the process. I had wondered why the site had'nt been updated for so long. Dunno where his site is being served from but then I guess cyberspace gives him some kind of immortality then.

To my knowledge we haven't had any apparitions of the Deliverance Ministries in Australia as yet but thanks to you I'll be able to recognise the symptoms and know what to look out for.

>At what point does a denomination slip into the realm of cults? At what point does faith become synonymous with delusion?

Good questions both of them Bee. In general the answers go along the lines of having their own variation of the "truth" (whatever that might be), a mind set that is of the "them and us" kind with a good dose of the "if your not with us, your agin us" to boot. Withdrawal from mainstream society and lots of control by a smaller group of true believers centred around someone (usually male) who has had the "truth" revealed to them in some kind of divine manifestation.

I needn't go on as the pattern is hardly new. Its about power and control and need for approval. The religious stuff is just a cover for these issues. Too bad about who gets hurt in the process.

Despite all of the above though, I should add that I have no problem with reports by people across the ages, cultures and countries of their direct intuitive perception of Truth. Things just get stuffed up when people try to talk about that knowing and then use religious metaphors and imagery trying to pass on their experience to others.

Cheers,

Andrez