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Tag Archives: authority

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 13: The Weight of Religion

13 September 2012, 06:00

MatthewS

1

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 13: The Weight of Religion We continue our Thursday series blogging through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.” The first post in the series is here. What about the backlash of too much grace? What if we give people too much grace and not enough pressure to perform […]

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 12: Straining Gnats, Swallowing Camels

6 September 2012, 13:30

MatthewS

13

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 12: Straining Gnats, Swallowing Camels We continue our Thursday series blogging through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.” The first post in the series is here. Jesus used an evocative word picture when he told the Pharisees that they strained out gnats even as they swallowed camels. Gnats […]

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 11: Image Is Everything

30 August 2012, 06:00

MatthewS

4

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 11: Image Is Everything We continue our Thursday series blogging through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.” The first post in the series is here. Jesus talked about the false leaders who did their deeds to be noticed by people and who desired to be seated in the […]

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 10: “You Can Trust Me”

23 August 2012, 10:00

MatthewS

14

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 10: “You Can Trust Me” We continue our Thursday series blogging through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.” The first post in the series is here. Chapter ten continues the consideration about leaders in spiritually abusive systems with a discussion about trust. In Matthew 23, Jesus raises two […]

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 9: “Because I’m the Pastor, That’s Why!”

9 August 2012, 06:00

MatthewS

4

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 9: “Because I’m the Pastor, That’s Why!” We continue our Thursday series blogging through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.” The first post in the series is here. The previous chapter concluded part 1 of the book, which focused on the victims. Part 2 (chapters 9-16) looks at […]

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 8: Revictimizing Victims, cont’d

2 August 2012, 07:22

MatthewS

4

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 8: Revictimizing Victims We continue our Thursday series blogging through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.” The first post in the series is here. It is a devastating re-abuse of victims when a code of silence over the wounds they have experienced is enforced by a misuse of […]

Behind Every Good Man…

30 July 2012, 06:00

Moderator

52

The concept of authority is central to Bill Gothard’s teachings. So much so, that I remember performing a coronation ceremony crowning my dad “king” of our family as a Wisdom Booklet project. I was 16 at the time, and struggling with authority being defined as dad’s complete control over every aspect of my life. My […]

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 8: Revictimizing Victims

26 July 2012, 09:27

MatthewS

4

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 8: Revictimizing Victims We continue our Thursday series blogging through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.” The first post in the series is here. Chapter 8 concludes part 1 of the book which has focused on abusive systems and the victims. We have found that abusive systems can […]

Here’s The Courtship; Where’s The Love?

25 July 2012, 06:00

Moderator

52

When I was twelve, my parents came home and said, “Just so you know, you’re never going to be allowed to date.” This was fine by me; I was more into books than socializing. In fact, although I had a speech prepared on why I didn’t date, I never did get to use it. Still […]

What Have You Done with My Daughter?

14 July 2012, 06:00

Moderator

36

My first experience with anything Bill Gothard was the Eternal Vision program. My then 18-year-old daughter, who had for years rejected God, had been amazingly touched by God in a Denny’s parking lot. This girl was beaming with joy, sleepless from excitement, and so new and fresh. I urged her to visit some people we […]