Seen through raindrops on glass, a hazy view of a weak sun in a sky full of gray clouds. Also hazy: the black silhouette of dark, hilly, overgrown terrain with what appears to be a church steeple rising behind it.

Witchcraft in the church

In the church, those obsessed with manipulating, intimidating and dominating can pose as those serving God. And we can be very fooled for a very long time.

White hatchback car, sitting at a gas pump in the dark

The most unwanted assignment

  • Post category:My Story
  • Post last modified:November 4, 2023

Sitting in my car at that gas station on that winter afternoon, staring at Isaiah 58:1, I began to cry ... Oh. Lord. Not. This. Assignment.

Back view of woman with brimmed straw hat, standing in field of tall grass, her arms outstretched at her side, her face toward the setting (or rising?) sun

Cries of the shunned

In the middle of that dark-valley time, I often found myself alone with God, crying aloud and writing passionately in my journal. During that time too, I came to identify with David, the shepherd-poet-warrior-king, in ways I had not before. For David was also ostracized by people he trusted. And he cried out in distress - and in faith.

Smoke and mirrors: A looking glass - held up in front of a large, wispy plume of smoke in the distance - reveals only thick, impenetrable smoke, very near at hand.

Beth Moore and LifeWay: The ploy

When the "threat alarm" goes off in an abusive church system, the response is orchestrated and brutal. But it's church: Appearances must be kept up. People loyal to the system confuse while pretending to clarify, cover-up while pretending to address, attack while seeming to answer, put-down while pretending to help.