The Church’s Abuse Problem is a Theology Problem
When we find men and women of God who genuinely want to serve and be a part of something for the Kingdom of God, we often find a certain personality type. They're usually humble. They're usually meek. They're usually submissive. And unfortunately, these qualities make them ripe for manipulation, gaslighting, and abuse. I've seen it too many times to count. For a long time, I thought I had had one long, unlucky streak in my church and ministry experiences. It seemed like everywhere I went, I encountered narcissistic personalities high up in ministry, willing and eager to manipulate in the
The Lessons We Should Learn from Daystar
In recent days, news has begun to trickle in the Christian community about a budding scandal at Daystar Television Network. For the most part, this news has stayed fairly buried, only showing up on fringe X accounts and lesser-known journalists' websites. I have my suspicions about why that is, but I'll get into that in a bit. In a nutshell, the story that is emerging is a tale as old as time. Jonathan Lamb, son of the late Marcus Lamb, and his wife Suzy have come forward with claims of sexual abuse against not only Suzy, but their young daughter
We Have No Other Choice Now
It's time to fix what we've done to the Church. If we don't, God will, and I don't think anyone is prepared for that. Author's Note: To this point, in every article I've written, I have been careful NOT to mention names, dates, or locations of any of the churches I have been part of. My purpose has been to share systemic issues I've witnessed, not bring down any one entity or person. You will see a clear departure from that rule in this article. I will mention names, dates, and locations. The reason for the departure from my
Protecting Abusers in the Name of Protecting the Brand
What happens when church leadership not only protects abusers but sets up a system to enable them? We Forgot How to "People"A friend of mine once lamented to me that her main grievance with the Church today is that we just don't know how to "people." For an institution that was created firstly to worship God and secondly, to make disciples, we have certainly forgotten that people are the key factor to both of those things. People are the heart and soul of a church because a church would not be necessary were it not for the existence of people. Perhaps
The Not Exhaustive But Ridiculously Too Long List of Grievances
It seems like the Church today is prone to spiritual abuse. Whether Catholic or Protestant, mega or mini-sized, the Church is rampant with bad leaders acting selfishly, manipulating and lying for purposes that defy logic. Why? What is the pattern that facilitates this behavior? And how can we get better? Be better? Do better? This is the conversation I think we must have. Now. I've been a part of all kinds of churches, of all kinds of denominations and theological backgrounds, of all sizes. I've attended the little ol' country church on the county line and the mega-church with a
Why Book 6 is the Most Difficult Book I’ve Ever Written
I think some of you are going to be a bit taken aback by this next book. There are reasons for that, namely that the content is a lot darker, the subject matter is a lot heavier, and the imagery is a bit bleaker. No, I'm not going through an existential crisis that I projected onto these pages. The truth is, I pushed myself to write something more honest than I've ever written. I took off some of the dampers I had self-inflicted and allowed myself to explore some of the darkest themes I have personally faced. Abuse. Neglect. Fear.
