Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Wicked Shepherds

Wicked Shepherds site deals with spiritual abuse mostly among Reformed Baptist churches. It includes a pretty decent checklist of spiritually abusive traits, though because some of the abuse in this particular church involves pitting spouses against each other, it does include some traits not mentioned in too many other lists. There are good articles on the site, too, such as When should a Christian leave a church? and Calling a spade a spade, an analysis on name-calling and Matthew 23, along with a list of names Jesus called the abusive religious leaders of his time.

Monday, November 23, 2009

The Loveliness of God Amidst Pain

A Malaysian blog on spiritual abuse, Messy Christian, points out how hard it is on abusees when "friends" who've never experienced spiritual abuse make unhelpful and damaging comments. Also, good insights on how even though a person might be soured on church after experiencing spiritual abuse, they can find a more intimate walk with God.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Ex-members of church say pastor abused his power

Radiant Life Church
The Sacramento Bee highlights a story about spiritual abuse in California. Members bought houses close together on the same cul-de-sac and lived subservient lives, so that some observers called it a "cult-de-sac. " This guy allegedly raked in thousands and lived quite comfortably while his devotees scrambled to survive. The sad part is how this so burned members that the ones mentioned in the story no longer want anything to do with churches. One member claims he was defrauded of more than two hundred thousand dollars. They talk of the pastor going on Maui vacations and staying in 5-star hotels. Envelopes of cash were handed to the pastor after services. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Silly Women

Here is a video (audio, really) on the subject of "silly women," refering to 2 Tim 3:6, about abusers creeping into houses and bringing into captivity silly women. Most of the audio is a discussion of what constitutes spiritual abuse.