Every fundamentalist - Evangelical must read!!!
Every fundamentalist - Evangelical Christian should read this book!!!!
It's simply something Christians are...should I say it..... "kept in
the dark about".
When you look back at Christian history and see how many thousands of innocent Christians have been blackmailed, raped, tortured, mutilated and murdered, by those professing to be doing it in the "Name of Christ", you know you are observing a serious problem.
What exactly was the true motivation for those abuses?
The desire to retain power over people and use them as a resource, is always the true motivation behind abuse.
However this was cleverly cloaked under a disguise of "We are the Vicars of God".
So ask yourself the question....has fallen Adam evolved such that we
Christians don't have to consider the same motivators are at work in our
churches and in our ministries today?
For those who dare to take an unbiased look under the hood, the answer
is clear.
Why are so many Christians given to automatically assume that an
ordained minister is:
1)More spiritual then they
2)More mature in the things of God than they
3)More pure in motivations than they
The reason that the vast majority of Christians assume these things is because the message (the ministry is the "good guy")is repeated every Sunday.
"A lie told often enough becomes truth" Vladimir Lenin.
I tell you the exact same spirits that moved those bygone "officers of
the church" to blackmail, rape, torture and murder are still very much
Alive today. Its just that our eyes are not willing to see.
We assume the motivations of Christian ministries are modulated by the
spirit of the Lord, as this would be theoretically true.
It is similarly true that our federal representatives govern out of pure unselfish motivations.
We know how far from reality that is, but we never allow ourselves to connect the same dots when it comes to the church. And we neglect this, to our own damage.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
When we allow ourselves to become vulnerable to certain individuals, we give them permission to take advantage of us.
As the Proverbs say: The fool believes every word.
When we understand the vast majority of Cult leaders evolve out of
Fundamentalist and Evangelical backgrounds, we should be seeing the "RED LIGHT" flashing.
Mary here lays out all of the scriptures that are subtly miss-applied in
order to get church members to promote ministry.
She shows how these have been absorbed within different arenas of Christendom.
She digs down to the exegetical level on some of the scriptures, but this is done using "street-language" so its easily laid out.
You need to be armed with this information.
The next time somebody points their finger at you and declares "don't
touch God's anointed!", you will know how to stand in "balanced" truth, and not be manipulated.
The bride needs to wake up and smell the coffee!!
Mary is sounding the alarm.
Thank you greatly Mary for this book!!!
I only wish I had it 30 years ago.
Wow...
Very interesting look... I've been approached in many of these ways at many times. It's an important work for overcoming the chains of "group think" and coming out with a relationship with the Father rather than the group.
This book came at just the right time
This book gives great insight to abusive relationships within a church environment. Thank you to the author for sharing her personal story and other experiences. I have a family member who is currently suffering from the longterm effects of her involvement with an abusive group/descipleship. I have passed the book along to other family members and as soon as she is able, we will have her read it also.
Must read for church leaders & members
This book describes in good detail how spiritual abuse can happen and how some people get out of it.
The interesting thing about spiritual abuse as described in the book, is that it doesn't only occur in religious
cults, but can occur almost anywhere religious people meet if the environment is right.
I was impressed with the description of how people who abuse others spiritually often change the meaning of
common words in order to influence the minds of their subjects. I work in the mental health field and I am also very involved in church activities. This book is very helpful to me.
John,
Arkansas
Twisted Scriptures
This book is well worth reading if you have been affected by power-hungry leaders in any faith system. I thought she did a great job of confronting false truth, however subtle, in the teachings of faith cultures. "Twisted Scriptures" reminded me that we should watch out for those who would take advantage of their position and exploit unsuspecting followers.
"Twisted Scriptures" adds to the good discussion about abusive discipleship systems and helped me to sort through some of these issues in my past.
(26 reviews)
