When evil seems invincible: Two surprising sources of hope
Where two malignant narcissists ruled, so did ruthlessness. Where evil seemed invincible, Mordecai and Esther seized on two surprising sources of hope and life.
Illusionists! The abusers we have not seen
We expect to see illusionists in magic shows, entertaining us. We don’t expect to find illusionists in our everyday lives, betraying us. Yet anywhere it pays for abuse to hide behind an abuse-free image, abusers and abusive systems can hide in plain sight.
Treachery and divorce: When God sees betrayal
If you have been betrayed by a spouse: The God who sees you has been there. And as Malachi 2 tells us: The Lord hates treachery. The Lord defends the betrayed.
Nat Arnett / freeimages.com
Beware the illusion of refuge: Abuse in the church
Any number of motives can prompt leaders in our church systems to create an illusion that refuge for the abused exists, where it does not. “They say, ‘All is well, all is well,’ when it is not.” So how can we know?
Shunning in the church
Any group that shuns is withholding your deepest needs in order to control you. That’s the opposite of loving you. It’s people you trusted, trying to erase you.
When Christian leaders reject God
I saw it for the first time in a meeting I called and led. No. Actually: I realized then what I had been seeing for years. It broke my heart. I’ve tried to tell the story twice before. Both times, I described what happened in that meeting, but did not include any backstory. Now it’s time to write the whole story. Bring honor to your name, holy Lord.
Is the SBC capable of Caring Well?
Many see the SBC #churchtoo issue as, primarily, a matter of wrongdoing on the part of some individuals and churches. But that approach gets us exactly the same place as when we try to figure out a narcissistic abuser by assuming he has the same qualities, feelings and motivations that truly caring people do.
Cliques in the church
Cliques are by nature, exclusive. Wherever they occur in the church landscape, they fragment the church. They prevent the people of God from becoming one.
Resented without a cause
This is a plea not to suppress anger and grief in such a way that they morph into something malevolent. It’s a call to recognize such malevolence in someone else when it is turned against you. ♥️
The enemies of rest
I’ve updated Return to Your Rest, and included a chapter about enemies of rest I have faced. May God give us courage to rise up in the face of all that fights against it - and to return to rest.
Masters of misdirection
Masters of misdirection spend their lives using anyone, everyone, to get whatever they want. They do it so subtly, so skillfully, that the exploited ones usually do not know they’re being used.
Spiritual schizophrenia and the two-headed snake
"How long will you try to go both ways?" Elijah cried. Where people identified with God cling to deep double-mindedness, they empower a two-headed snake.