Tag Archive | legalism
Checklist: 55 Attributes of a Spiritually Abusive Leader
To recognize a spiritually abusive leader, first we have to define spiritual abuse. Jeff VanVonderen, co-author of the classic book The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, defines spiritual abuse like this: “Spiritual abuse occurs when someone in a position of spiritual authority–the purpose of which is to ‘come underneath’ and serve, build, equip and make God’s […]
Frankenstein Faith: Misuse of the Old Testament (Part 5 of 10)
In the late 1990s I attended a running camp for two summers in the mountains of New Hampshire. The camp had a lake, cabins, and was surrounded by thick piney woods. Built into a natural plateau was a field. We used it for ice breakers, cabin competitions, and Ultimate Frisbee. Trees ringed the field. The […]
Review of “Girl at the End of the World”
Girl at the End of the World by Elisabeth Esther. Convergent Books, 2014. 224 pp. Elisabeth has written a poignant memoir, one that will likely ring true with many other survivors of fundamentalist cults. Elisabeth’s grandfather started a group called “The Assembly,” and her parents served as leaders.The book title comes from The Assembly’s focus […]
Does the Church of Wells Teach a False Gospel?
Over the past several months, the Church of Wells in Wells, Texas has received national media attention, most recently by the ABC show Nightline Prime with Dan Harris, which aired on 4/5/14. Background Concern about the group first rose to prominence when the church allowed a baby to die in the summer of 2012 rather […]
How to Deal with Personality Disorders among Church Leaders (Part 5 of 5)
I am not a clinician and this is not a prescription. This is my attempt to start a conversation which is long overdue. I welcome the input of Christian brothers and sisters whose education and experience better fit them to tackle this topic. Thankfully, you don’t need a psychology degree to start to construct a […]
Personality Disorders in the Church: Paranoid Personality Disorder (Part 4 of 5)
In my research on cults—and in my own experience as a former cult member—I have learned that many cult leaders evidence traits of undiagnosed personality disorders. What is a personality disorder? According to the Mayo Clinic: “A personality disorder is a type of mental illness in which you have trouble perceiving and relating to situations […]
“The Other Half of My Brain is My Grandmother”: Why Christians Must Learn to Think
I grew up in a Bible cult full of intelligent, sincere people. Many were college graduates. But when it came to studying the Bible, for the most part we rolled over and accepted whatever our pastor said. He was a Princeton grad and had attended seminary. He knew Greek and Hebrew. He had a commanding […]
Brother’s Keeper or Big Brother? 15 Signs of Surveillance in Your Church
We’re back to our series entitled “Frankenstein Faith” about scriptural distortions in the church and how to correct them. [You can see other posts in this series at the end of this post] In George Orwell’s famous dystopian book, 1984, the main character is ever aware of the presence of “Big Brother” looking on. In […]
To Train Up A Child…. Abuser (Part 2)
This is the second part of a post about the abusive teachings of Michael and Debi Pearl’s book, To Train Up a Child. You can read the first part here. 5.) Faulty Theology – Pearl’s entire “training” system is built on the speculative premise that children must be trained to obey a parent without question […]
To Train Up A Child… Abuser (Part 1)
Michael and Debi Pearl are the authors of To Train Up a Child: Turning the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children. The title of the book comes from Proverbs 22:6, which says “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The […]
Liberty for Captives 