There are a lot of fake churches out there, and sometimes very sincere people easily get sucked into them if they don’t know what they are looking at. It is a real tragedy that needs to be understood.
There are various reasons people get pulled into them. Some people have a powerful experience with Christ and have friends that invite them to their church without realizing that it is a fake church. Others are pulled in by a very charismatic preacher and just don’t know how to discern the false teaching he is sharing. Still others are drawn into one that has a very slick presentation with high entertainment value and simply don’t understand the fact that the teaching in that church is false. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) is a Mexican megachurch that claims to have 5 million followers worldwide and is currently led by Naason Joaquin Garcia. He is considered by the church to be the “apostle” of Jesus Christ. This church is a nontrinitarian “Christian” denomination founded in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, around 1926 by Eusebio Joaquín González (known as “Aaron”).
It presents itself as a restoration of original Christianity, with a central belief in a living “Apostle of Jesus Christ” as God’s representative on Earth. The church’s official website describes its focus as being on faith in Jesus Christ, community, and social actions.
Garcia is the church’s third “Apostle” and currently leads from prison after being convicted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking for victimizing women and children in the church.
The church claims millions of members worldwide (estimates vary from 1 to 5 million), with a presence in dozens of countries, including strong communities in the United States (especially California), Latin America, and elsewhere. Its international headquarters remain in Guadalajara, Mexico featuring a large flagship temple.
The denomination emphasizes strict adherence to biblical teachings (from their perspective), modesty in dress (e.g., long skirts for women, short hair for men in some contexts), and devotion to the Apostle as a key figure in salvation. It operates as a Pentecostal-influenced group but rejects the Trinity.
A second fake church is the House of Prayer Christian Churches of America (often abbreviated as HOPCC, or referred to as House of Prayer Christian Church). It is a religious organization headquartered in the Hinesville/Walthourville area of Georgia. It describes itself as a Pentecostal Christian church, with beliefs rooted in conservative holiness traditions, emphasizing strict obedience to church leadership, intense prayer, and practices reminiscent of early 20th-century Pentecostal groups.
It was founded by Rony Denis (whose legal identity and background have been questioned in investigations, with allegations that it is an assumed name from a stolen identity in the 1980s). Denis reportedly split from the New Testament Christian Churches of America, recruiting about 15 ministers and members to form the new group in 2003 – 2004, then incorporating as a 501(c)(3). The organization expanded to multiple locations in Georgia, Texas, Washington, North Carolina, California, and others. It typically targets military communities and veterans.
Publicly, it presents as a Pentecostal denomination focused on worship, prayer, Bible study, and evangelism. Members have described it as upholding traditional holiness standards. Some ex-members and media reports, however, have labeled it as cult-like due to alleged manipulation, isolation, and exploitation including:
- Extreme demand for obedience to pastors and leadership.
- Heavy financial demands (e.g., large offerings and tithing).
- Claims that leaving the church could lead to spiritual consequences like damnation.
This church, too, has run into legal problems with its leaders being indicted for a $22 million bank fraud scheme that targets U.S. military members and veterans – even maintaining members’ personal information, controlling their finances, and orchestrating divorces and property transfers.
So why do people get sucked into churches like that? There are obviously many reasons, but virtually all of them can be traced back to one single thing – they don’t know biblical worldview beliefs.
Part of people’s gullibility involves not knowing what the Bible teaches about church leaders. There are all kinds of warnings in Scripture about people of bad character and those holding false beliefs who try to worm their way into the church in order to lead people astray. The leaders of those churches (cults) are false teachers, and Christians need to objectively look at their leaders before they ever make the decision to follow them.
Another part of the problem is that so many Christians simply do not know the essential Christian worldview beliefs that are taught in the Bible. Rather than taking personal responsibility for mastering biblical beliefs, they depend on other people to teach them rightly. If they unknowingly choose to follow a false leader, they are in trouble.
There simply is no substitute for taking personal responsibility for one’s theological education. The resources are available. It is up to individuals to make genuine spiritual growth a priority.