Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
skip to main
|
skip to sidebar
Helpful Articles
- A Shepherd And His Flock
- A Word of Encouragement For Those Who Are Hurt
- Abuse In The Church: A Biblical Perspective Of Leadership
- Abuse Of Authority In The Church
- Abusive Churches
- Abusive Churches: Leaving Them Behind
- Beyond Accountability
- Breaking Free: What I've Learned About Spiritual Abuse
- Breaking The Silence On Spiritual Abuse (Dynamic Videos On Spiritual Abuse by Jeff VanVonderen
- But God Is Working In Our Church
- Characteristics Of An Unhealthy Church
- Checklist For Responsible Christians
- Checks On Power And Authority In The New Testament
- Controlling Personalities In The Church
- Controlling Personalities In The Church: Manipulation Techniques And Your Defenses
- Controlling Personalities In The Church: Staying Or Going
- Controlling Personalities In The Church: The Difficulty Of Seeing The Problem
- Controlling Personalities In The Church: The Warning Signs
- Dysfunctional Churches
- Egypt, O Egypt
- Eleven Marks Of Perverted Authority
- Five Warning Signs Of An Unhealthy Church
- Healing Spiritual Abuse: How To Break Free From Bad Church Experiences
- How To Spot An Abusive Church
- Identifying Spiritual Abuse
- If It's Not In The Bible, Forget It
- Into The Wild
- Is Your Church A Safe Place?
- It Hurts
- Kingdom Grace (A Series Of Great Articles)
- Leaving A Church And The Grief Process
- Let Nothing Be Wasted
- Narcissism In The Pulpit
- Our Shepherd
- Practicals On Spiritual Recovery
- Real vs. Fake and Spiritual Abuse
- Recovering From Spiritual Abuse (A Helpful Website)
- Recovery From Spiritual Abuse: How You Can Help
- Reveling In The Freedom To Follow
- Scriptural Reasons For Leaving A Church
- Shattered Trust (A Website For Staff Associates)
- Should A Pastor Rule Over You?
- Spiritual Abuse In The Pulpit and Pew
- Spiritual Abuse Profile
- Spiritual Abuse Recovery (When You Are Ready To Try Again: Going Back To Church)
- Stages In Recovery
- The Bible And Spiritual Abuse
- The Heresy Of Mind Control
- The Insidious Harm of Spiritual Abuse
- The Language Of Enslavement
- The Narcissistic Religious Leader
- The Tale Of Four Poplars
- The Yeast Of The Pharisees: Spiritual Abuse By Pastors And Counselors
- Walking Away From Spiritual Abuse
- Warning Signs
- What Is Spiritual Abuse (View This Video)
More Helpful Articles
- A Healthy Church
- Aberrant Christianity
- An Intelligent Faith: "Don't Check Your Brain At The Door"
- Authority - The Most Widely Absued Form of Fear
- Authority and Ministry In the Local Church
- Being Told To "Get Over It and Move On!"
- Beware of Spiritual Abuse
- Church Leaders and Honorific Titles
- Churchianity - An Insult To Christ
- Dealing With Manilpulative People
- Eight Distinctives Of An Aberational Group
- False Leaders
- Fear and Guilt: Recovering From Performance-Based Relationships
- How Can I Discern Whether I am In a Healty or Abusive Fellowship
- How Can We Recognize Spiritual Abuse?
- How Spiritual Abuse Redefines Love
- How To Discern Spiritual Abuse
- How To Recognize A Controlling Person
- Identifying A Cult
- Learning To Say "No"
- Leaving The Spiritually Abusive System - The Withdrawal Stages
- Legalism
- Nuts And Bolts Of Spiritual Abuse
- Re-imagining Success In Ministry
- Recovery From Spiritual Abuse
- Recovery Issues
- Relationship Checklist
- Responsible Spiritual Leadership
- Setting Boundaries
- Shepherding God's Flock: The Abuse Of Authority By Leadership
- Signed: Deep Pain (A Personal Story)
- Signs Of Spiritual Abuse
- Spiritual Abuse Recovery
- Spiritual Abuse Survey
- Spiritual Identity Crisis?
- Stress Making Churches
- The Code Of Silence (A Must Read)
- The Path of Freedom
- The Plague Of Counterfeit Leaders
- The Power Abusers
- The Road To The Right Conclusions
- The Warning Signs of Toxic Religion
- "They Told Me If I Left..."
- Toxic Faith
- Uncovering And Facing Spiritual Abuse
- Warning Signs of Spiritual Abuse - (Part 1)
- Warning Signs of Spiritual Abuse - (Part 2)
- Warning Signs of Spiritual Abuse - (Part 3)
- What Happens If Your Pastor Is Narcissistic?
- What Is Spiritual Abuse?
- What Language Does Your Church Speak?
- What Makes A Religious Group A Cult?
- When Has Authority Gone Too Far?
- When To Leave....Think It Over
New Articles
- Behind The Bars: Life In A Toxic Community Of Faith
- Beware Of Wolves: You Shall Know Them By Their Fruits
- Biderman's Chart Of Coercion
- Controlling Relationships
- Dealing With Manipulative People
- Dealing With Manipulators
- Defining Spiritual Abuse (A Collection Of Articles From The Blog "Under Much Grace")
- Definition Of An Abusive Group
- Finding True Friends In Christ
- How Cults Work
- How To Deal With Sociopaths
- Identifying A Manipulator
- Manipulative People: How To Deal With Them
- Narcissism And The Dynamics Of Evil
- Narcissistic Behavior
- Profile Of A Sociopath
- Profiling The Narcissist
- Spiritual Abuse
- Ten Signs Of Spiritual Abuse
- The Con Artist Pastor
- The Mask Of A Sociopath
- The Psychopath: The Mask Of Sanity
- Three Poisons For Love: Manipulation, Intimidation, And Domination
- Voices From The Fringe
- What's Happening To My Church?
Online Books
I Recommend This DVD
God's Love
Wikipedia Links
Helpful Study Links
Blogs I Visit
Books I Recommend
Websites I Visit
"True feedom is having nothing to prove." -Mark Batterson
"Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own home. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting."
- Mother Teresa
"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." - Henry Drummond
"There is nothing the Father desires for you more than that you fall squarely in the lap of His love and never move from that place for the rest of your life." - Jake Colsen
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these." - George Washington Carver
- Mother Teresa
"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." - Henry Drummond
"There is nothing the Father desires for you more than that you fall squarely in the lap of His love and never move from that place for the rest of your life." - Jake Colsen
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these." - George Washington Carver
Total Pageviews
Visitors
10 comments :
The similarities to our former church are uncanny! What is it with these pastors? Do they all have a meeting and share their secrets on how to control and manipulate people?
Hi,"Set Free." Thanks for linking to Charismania. I just spent some time looking through your blog. It is amazing to me that these guys DO all seem to follow the same playbook.
My husband and I grew up in other non-Charismatic but Bible-teaching churches. When we entered "Charismania" several years ago, we both KNEW that it was odd when our "Charismaniac" pastor thought he was such a celebrity that he had velvet ropes separating his special path from his office to the stage. I guess he was afraid that people would accost him and demand impromptu prophecies or somthing. I dunno. But we thought it was so strange at first. Later, though, after we'd bought into the mindset about how "anointing" somehow magically confers celebrity, we'd defend this behavior. I'm really embarrassed to look back on it now! I know our family and friends thought we'd lost our minds for awhile.
But seriously - my husband and I have often wondered how it is that all these guys do the same things in all these different churches? We've often joked that there's got to be some sort of playbook somewhere that outlines all this stuff. Sometimes I wonder if it's NOT really a joke at all? Maybe there is some set of guidelines? It's almost too uncanny to be a coincidence.
They don't need to meet. The spirits that are active in their lives and ministries are familiar with all of them.
We may not have a pulpit, but we still have a voice. It is time for someone else to be heard, other than the one who stands behind the pulpit and thinks he is the only one who has the right to talk.
Proverbs 6:15-20 (English Standard Version)
16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
When you leave they accuse you of sowing discord. How do they not think they are sowing discord when they tell people to shun all their friends who leave and then ignore them all in public?
Do they think when they get to heaven they will have a gated community?
The article is all too familiar.
The one good thing my husband and I had over some in our former church is that we did not "lift up" the former pastor. I remember several times that he spoke something and I found myself on the way home saying, "He's the pastor, but I can't exactly agree with that." When things were spoken that were "personal", I had room to judge them by the Spirit. He was and is a human vessel.
What we do regret is that we had become all about the Word and had lost our focus on the "Word Himself"!
Do not be deceived. Don't people recall that many a "call to the alter" had numerous responders? The sides of the auditorium would often have people waiting for space to be available up front. People face "life" - with its challenges and yes, disappointments - inside and outside of ANY church. God's Word and His protection are what we stand on and look to wherever we are. Much joy, and much sorrow took place in the former church. How can anyone not SEE this? (We will not be exempt from the 'sorrow' until we reach Heaven!)
After having observed an ugly progression in that church, I have a greater understanding of the reality of "For the love of money being the root of all evil, which, while some coveted after, they have ERRED from the faith, and pierced themselves through w/ many sorrows" (1 Tim. 6:10) - a common thread in some ministries. I also have a renewed understanding and joy found in "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15. We would do well to be about our Father's business!
I just read the linked article and the situations are almost identical. I personally think that it's a demonic spirit at work. This problem with controlling churches is so wide-spread and it seems like the same things are going on in every instance.
But, I thank God that He is BIGGER than the demonic spirit! He is BIGGER than the control and abuse! The Holy Spirit can help us pray and we can take authority over it! He can show us how to reach people and get them to see the truth too. I am thankful for blogs like yours that help people see things for what they truly are. The Holy Spirit is working through you to get people out of these situations and helping people through the "wreckage" that is left to deal with once they're out. Thank you again for the link. It helped me.
One "playbook" that many of these churches use comes from a certain accountant that teaches this stuff in his seminars. Our former church used him and I have heard many of his money raising, pastor worship tactics used to control people.
A great post can be found at “Loving Jesus, Leaving Church.” It is called “An Old Add.”
http://leaving-church.blogspot.com/2008/08/old-ad.html
I read that article and I think my former pastor went to every one of those classes!
WOW! I failed the test. I was under the influence! Not any more though!
Post a Comment