since i have been a member of this forum i have noticed no one has touched up on spiritual abuse we have a lot of topics on the rapture judging endtimes false prophets so i thought lets set up a topic on spiritual abuse were we can share openly and hope fulley what is shared can help a new christian or a non beliver who is lookig at settling into a church this wil show the non believer what to look for that way he or she does not end up hurt or have their wil taken off them where they cant think for themselves i notice when you bring this up proffessing christians either run for the hills or rebuke you
Jesus confronted this its evident paul even confronted this its evident in his epistles he wrote and i am sure the disciples would have confronted this
Jesus pointed out another form of manipulation that was used among the Gentiles and he commanded his disciples to never let it hit the church
Luke 6 English standard version 22 - 25
Jesus said to them The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benafactors
if we know all the warnings mentioned in our bibles we read from and if we are aware that we wil be standing before God what gives a christian the right to manipulate another person what gives a leader or some one grounded in the word to where they have their hearers eating out of their hand
the pharisees manipulated Gods word so that they could manipulate people
The same is true of spiritual abusers today One of the first things that spiritual abusers will tel you about themselves or their followers will tell you about them is that they have special insight tremendous discernment great wisdom unique gifts spiritual power or some other credential that gives them authority in what they say
whenever you hear someone dwelling at length on what makes him or her special or his leader special or authoritative that should be your first clue that you could be dealing with a spiritual abuser
one method spiritual abusers use to keep themselves in the limelight is to make sure that their disciples are always focused on what they have to say
spiritual abusive groups wait for their recruits to become emotionally attached to the group before they employ the heavy handed tactic of threatening the new member with expulsion this is because they know such tactics will not work until the prospect of being put out of the group is very painfull to the new member But after the person gets settled in preferrably to some extant isolated from the outside world it is commen to experiance for he or she to live under any number of Disciplinary threats the ultimate being expulsion
christians hate me and my friends i have studied up not just on cults but on abusive churches and i can pick a spiritual abuser or what i call a control freak i learnt this from my three old pastors in the very first church i found my self in and my best friends who took me into their home when i came out of jail in 1988 who became my spiritual mentors taught me what to look for when it comes to the bible and the verses spiritual abusers like to quote if ever questioned
we dont lord it over our members in the philippines our members are told to use the brain god has given them we dont think for our members where we tell our members how to live and how to behave and what to where in the community they live in or do we tell our members to cut of ties with their familys who are non believers we encouage our members to reach out to there family members who are non believers the churches my fiancee and her main pastor planted in the philippines are not legalistic
even the young people are told to use the brain god has given them i gave them this verse to memorize
1 Corinthians 2 English standard version
5 That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God
the reason i am so prottective and so against spiritual abuse our members in the philippines are poor and i have seen where con man have come into poor communties to where they manipulate the poor this happens a lot in india and their is a guy who challanges the so called elite he teaches the indians what to look for
i have seen what spiritual abuse does to a new christian and i have talked to many who have left cults my x wife was raised a Jahova witness she told me what she was put through and was worried that i was being manipulated i told her not to worry i am not beign manipulated or are the pastors in my church lording it over me she was kicked out of home at the age of 12 one day she came home to find her bags packed with 5 edlers and her mother and her new husband who was connected with the fellowship to be told you are excommunicated my x wife stood up to the elders and to her mother her mother complained to the elders seeing what they could do when they saw that my x wife was not willing to listen they told her mother she is to have her daughter kicked out
i met my first wife when she was 19yrs old
manipulation Intimidation leads to manipulation the pharisees manipulated gods word so that they could manipulate the people And both the bible and church history demonstrate to us that the simplest easiest way to manipulate people is through legalism this is because legalism can be practised in such a way as to make the spiritual abuser look good and keep the victem of balanced vulnerable and oppressed
Matthew 23 v 23 - 24 NIV
woe to you teachers of the law and pharisees you hypocrites you give tenth of your spices mint dill cummon But you neglected the important matters of the law Justice mercy faithfulness You should have practiced the latter with out neglecting the former you blind guides you strain out a gnat but swollow a camel
outwardly the pharisees manipulated the scriptures in order to ensure that they appeared to be the most conscientious and righteous observers of gods law to be found But look at the effect this manipulation had on people the people were deprived justice mercy and faithfulness from their leaders
this still hapens today yet what i notice christians who are aware of what wil happen when god says its time to judge this earth not one proffessing christian is willing to rock the boat or dare question its as if some are to scared to rock the boat
but we have pro life supporters coming down on us who use our head and dont force what we hold close to us on to others
you have christians hidding behind their favorite bible verses
you have people wanting to be teachers
you have three diffrent jesus being preached in this forum
you have false doctrines being pressented into this forum
you have even false prophets hanging out in this forum
Ezekiel 34 v 1 - 6 NIV
The word of the lord came to me Son of man prophesy against the shepherds of Israel prophesy say to them This is what the sorverign lord says Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves Should not shepherds take care of the flock ? You eat the curds clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals but you do not take care of the flock You have not strengthened the weak healed the sick our bound up the injured You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost You have ruled them harshly and brutally So they were scattered because their was no shephered and when they were scattered they became food for the wild animals My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill They were scattered over the whole earth and no one searched or looked for them
this happend with me no one rang me or bothered to turn up on my door step when i was going threw my divorce the only person who put the hand out was a non believer he hitched all the way from Boggabri to canberra drove my car with my things in the car with me back to his place when i was arresstted the police officer in civic police station asked me to put down a list of phone numbers he did not want to see me spend 2 days in Jail he saw what i was going threw he understood i was hurting but because i used my brain to were i did not alow anyone to step over me the pastor who told my x wife to leave me told the police officer who was a non believer i wil not pay for the bail the police officer rang 9 people in the old church and the people he rang all said no so i had to spend 2 days in jail this gave my wife enough time to leave so she could not face me she packed her stuff and my sons clothes up he was 3 when i saw him last he is 11yrs old know
pastors who have done what my old pastor did wil be facing god god sees what we go through yet the pathetic excuses spiritual abusers use god wil not punish me i am his anointed he has ordained me he wil not punish me
i am having to even come before god i dont want to take no ones will of them or do i want to be seen as an abuser
i am giving over my concerns to god i shared what is on my heart with my fiancee who is a pastor and she understands were i am comming from
by what i have left wil show me if we are truely his followers if we say we are his followers the gifts he has given you are you ussing the gifts he has given you were you sheild the weak protect the weak are you merciful or are you lording it over your hearers
Luke 6 English standard version
36 Be merciful even as your father is merciful
i dont hide behind the scrptures i know so wel or do i use the scriptures i know so wel to do the talking for me i dont worship the bibles i read from i let gods spirit guide me and lead me
i am a very caring man i have seen enough to were i am making sure no one goes through what i have gone through or the people in my church have gone through i want to see new christians growing closser to god to were they are developing a relationship with him i want to see new christians free from their past i want to see new christians using the gifts god has given them i dont want to see were a spiritual abuser is abusing those who god sends to him if i see this i wil chalange and i wil rock the boat the members in your church are human beings you have no right to take their will of them to where they do as you say people should be alowed to grow people should be alowed to use their brain that god has given them people who come to your church should be alowed to even question what they hear and what they see and you should be able to respond with out abusing those who god sends to you
i want to see christians develop a healthy relationship with the other members and i want to see new christians keeping contac with their familys were they are not told if they do you wil be excomunicated if a child does not want to give his or her heart to the lord dont bash them over the head with the bible by ussing doom and gloom scriptures dont do what other parents have done who belong to the exclusive brethren where you cut all ties with the out side world and your family
God wil deal with you everything you do while you are alive on this earth wil be brought before him you wil have no were to run or wil you be able to blame your pastor or wife or husband or mates or blame the devil by saying he made me do it any one who has been hurt by your very words that come out of your mouth or if you have lorded it over a weak brother or sister god wil deal with you
Damo
