Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Church conflict
Tomczak Sets the Record Straight
"But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."
Spiritual Abuse: Why Are Pastors Silent About the Real Reason People Are Leaving the Church?
"For from the least of them to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. And they have healed the brokenness of my people superficially saying, “Peace. peace,” but there is no peace." Jeremiah 6:13-14 This morning it dawned on me, I have heard sermons on just about every subject imaginable ranging from social issues, church history, doctrine, creation, gossip, anger, but I have never heard one sermon on spiritual abuse. Not even in some of the good churches. Why? The answer is relatively obvious. Pastors rarely preach on the subject because, by and large, pastors and other church leaders (including parachurch ministries) are the perpetrators of such exploitation. It is far easier to do a sermon about shared sin, like anger and immorality. It is even easier to do a sermon about how the church membership is not doing their part to build up said leader. It is much harder to talk about an issue that is primarily one-sided. Some of us have a faulty view of Christian leadership which can hinder recovery from spiritual abuse. Once again, we look to Continue reading →
Pastoral Abuse: One Man’s Difficult Journey and Advice
"We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness…" CS Lewis –Transposition and Other addresses Artist rendition of Kepler 11 if the Constellation Cygnus-NASA “It was very therapeutic to write about this “ So began this gentleman’s email to TWW. Coincidentally or rather, providentially, this communication arrived just as we were beginning our series on the book, Spiritual Abuse Recovery. We immediately saw a correlation to the post on the importance of blogging in recovery. We decided to post the story at this juncture and will continue the review of the book tomorrow. The word, “therapeutic,” jumped out at us. You see, this man went through a painful process at his church. The very act of writing it down helped him to process the events that occurred, analyze his reactions and thoughts and outline the steps he made towards removing himself from the situation. He is now sharing his journey with our blogging community with the hope that his insights might help others better understand how to react to, as well as avoid, struggles in church. Although he did not use the word "abuse," we believe in the old adage, "if Continue reading →
Serious Questions for Evangelicals: Why Two Missionaries Became Catholic (Part 2)
We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty. -G.K. Chesterton Communion courtesy of freefoto.com Part 2 Yesterday, we left our missionary couple entering Guatemala in 1992. Here is what Kristine had to say. “Shortly after we arrived in Guatemala, my tidy paradigm of “true Christianity” began to disintegrate.” The Americanization of Christianity They hoped to find a church with a distinct Latin American flavor. Instead they found transplanted, American-Christian styled churches, the only difference being that Spanish was spoken. The music, the curriculum, the governing style were clones of the American church. She said it was like "watching the Dukes of Hazard dubbed into Spanish." Evangelicalism has been present in Guatemala for over 100 years. Supposedly there are Latin American, national pastors. However, she claims that American missionaries are the bosses, holding the real power in the churches. Years ago, I worked for the Navajo Tribe as a home health coordinator (or should I say hogan health coordinator?). Under the Indian Self-Determination Act, the Tribe was, over time, to assume the functions and duties of various aspects of government Continue reading →
The Wartburg Watch-Unveiled
Coming out of the closet regarding our identity.
Harvard Business Review Reports Gossip Is Good
The Harvard Business Review found that gossip is actually good for organizations.
Update on Davey (Watchdog) and Goliath (FBC Jax)
Update on the FBC Jax Watchdog lawsuit
Role Playing in a Toxic Faith System
"Toxic faith exists when one or more dysfunctional systems provide false concepts of God, faith, and the individual." Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton
Ten Toxic-Faith Characteristics
Ten Characteristics of a Toxic-Faith System.
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