Spiritual Abuse
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Why Didn’t You Leave
“When things were bad, what made you stay?” I looked at the faces around the room—eyes glued to me, waiting patiently for my answer. I wondered if this was the trauma-informed way of…
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Silence: When Gossip is Redefined to Keep You Quiet
Radio silence. That’s what it’s been like for decades when it comes to Free Gospel Bible Institute. The fact that so many have endured horrifying experiences there is no surprise to any of…
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What God Has Joined Together: When Spiritual Control Crossed the Threshold
“What selfish reason made you want to get married?” That was a question we recently discussed in Sunday School. It came from a book called, “Love Like You Mean It” by Bob Lepine. …
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False Scripts: Image, Narratives, & Perception in Spiritually Abusive Settings
I wrote a book when I was 20 years old, at the request of my boss and pastor. He came to me with the suggestion that a book for brats written by a…
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Loyal to a Lie: When Obedience to Man Replaces the Gospel of Christ
I’ll be honest and say that the sight of this cover still makes me shudder. And I know I’m not the only one that feels this way. I often wonder to what extent…
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Free Gospel Bible Institute: What I Learned, What I Lost, and What You Should Know
I was 15 the first time I set foot on campus at Free Gospel Bible Institute. After a four hour drive from Western New York, my mother and I meandered up the final…
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Dragged to the Altar: When Exploitation Masquerades as Ministry
I saw this picture while scrolling. It was meant to be funny, and in its posted context, I suppose it was slightly humorous. I couldn’t help but be reminded of a youth camp…
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Theft of Autonomy: When Spiritual Abuse Redefines Faithfulness
The control wasn’t loud. It was quiet. Calculated. Disguised as obedience. The system didn’t just demand action—it rewired how we thought, how we interpreted God, how we defined faithfulness. The deepest damage happened…
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25 Years in Church—But I Can’t Remember Hearing the Gospel
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝟐𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥? I believe it happens when pulpits are filled with men who 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥. While they may…
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Is Everything Bad from the Devil? What Does the Bible Say?
About six years ago, I received the kind of discipleship depicted in Matthew 23:15. In that passage, Jesus rebuked a group of hypocrites, saying: “For you travel across sea and land to make…
