Unholy Charade - Jeff Crippen

Unmasking the Domestic Abuser in the Church

Author: Jeff Crippen Page 60 of 88

Want to Know What Your Abuser is Thinking?

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On April 27, 2020

In Abusers

Micah 2:1-2  Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand.  (2)  They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.

One of the most difficult obstacles standing in the way of a “normal” person (that’s you) coming to understand just who an abuser is in essence is coming to the realization of the thoroughness of these wicked ones. In part this is because we do not think like the abuser does, but our default setting in this regard is to believe that abusers DO think like we do. Wrong. The scripture quoted above from Micah goes a long way in helping us cross this hurdle.

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New Book by Jeff Crippen is Now Published: Wise as Serpents: Growing Wise to the Evil Among Us

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On April 25, 2020

In Blog News


We have now published my latest book and it is available on Amazon. Here is an Amazon affiliate link* to the paperback version.  It is 351 pages.  A Kindle version* is also available.
Here is the description I put on Amazon:
 
 

A very popular television series from years past announced that it was a program, “about nothing.” That series was a comedy, but this book is not written to make you laugh. It is, however, in a sense “a book about nothing.” Why? Because it’s subject, evil, is a kind of “nothing.” It is defined as a type of parasite. A leech riding upon that which is good and right. The words we use for it show what my meaning is: •Darkness – an absence of light. •Unrighteousness – the lack of that which is right. •Lawlessness – an absence of law. Nevertheless, this thing we call evil is not a nothing. It even has a king, the ruler of this present fallen world, the devil. And while it may be defined as an absence of that which is good, evil is a “nothing” that effects misery, harm, and death. In this book, based upon a series of sermons I preached in 2016 at Christ Reformation Church, I want to show you how this darkness works to disguise itself, creep in among us – especially among us in the Christian church – and work its destruction on the most vulnerable innocents it can find. It is past time for us all to become wise as serpents about evil, while remaining innocent as doves by not being duped into becoming its ally.

Many thanks from me to twbtc and Jessica and Verla for all the work they did to make the book available. And of course to all of you who have helped me become wiser to this evil among us.
So please spread the word to others. The only advertising we do is right here on the blog so you all can consider yourselves Justice Keeper Publishing’s field reps!
Oh, and we are working on publishing another book soon as well. It is going to be called Light for Dark Times and is a compilation of some 300 pages or so of blog posts from Unholy Charade.  I thought it would be good to make posts available in printed book form as well as online.  Thank you all!!
 

 *Unholy Charade is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking Amazon.com and affiliated sites.  See additional information here.

Ephesians 5:11 and Exposing Evil – A Real Case

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On April 22, 2020

In Churches/Church Response

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible  (Eph 5:11-13)
Jesus exposed evil. The Light of the World does that. His people are the light of the world and we are to do the same evil-exposing that He did. His Word shows us the pattern:
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matthew 23:25)
Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. (2 Timothy 4:14-15)
I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. (3 John 1:9-10)
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. (1 Cor 5:1-2)

Need I go on? This is the pattern of Light exposing evil as God commands. Is it the typical pattern we see in churches now? Hardly.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Notice very carefully that the failure to expose evil hiding in the church is necessarily then to participate in that evil. When child molesters parading as Christians are tolerated, excused, “forgiven,” “loved,” and thereby not exposed for what they are, the church leaders and members who refuse to obey the Lord are in fact molesting those children themselves because by their disobedience they are participants in these sordid deeds.

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Let Me Say this Once Again – Evil Claims it can Read Our Motives and Thoughts

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On April 20, 2020

In Abusers

1 Corinthians 2:11  For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

I have written on this subject before but it has happened to me so often that I believe it is an extremely common tactic of wicked people – domestic abusers, spiritual abusers, and others. In an effort to accuse and disempower his target/victim, an evil man will use these kinds of statements as a weapon:

  • I know why you did that
  • I know why you enrolled in that class
  • I know why you moved to that location
  • I know why you said that to me

And guess what? He will go on to complete the sentence even if you don’t want him to. He will attribute an evil or a stupid or some other kind of bad motive to you. It is all about accusing, guilting, and shaming.

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Nets, Fish, and the New Creation

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On April 15, 2020

In Victims

John 21:1-11 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. (2) Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. (3) Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. (4) Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. (5) Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” (6) He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. (7) That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. (8) The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. (9) When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. (10) Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” (11) So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

As we work in this ministry to expose evil, specifically the evil of abuse, we should also take some “time-outs” as Jesus did.  He would go off by Himself and talk with His Father, and that is not a bad thing for us to do as well.  In fact, it is a necessity.
As evil as these days are, the Christian is a person of hope.  Not just the “cross your fingers” kind of hope, but genuine hope of a real certainty.  Christ has conquered sin and death.  He has already initiated the New Creation in us.  Our redemption draws closer and closer.  On that Day, we will never know abuse nor the abuser again.

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If They Didn't Really Know Him – How can they say he repented?

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On April 13, 2020

In Churches/Church Response

2 Timothy 4:14-15  Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.  (15)  Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.

The Apostle Paul was wise about evil. Notice that in this warning to Timothy, Paul does not make any excuses for Alexander nor does he minimize his culpability. Paul does not tell Timothy to “pray” for Alexander or to urge him to repent.
The typical line that professing Christian people use on victims of domestic abuse is something like, “but I’m sure he is sorry. I’m sure he has changed. I just know that he loves you.” Blah, blah, blah. But here is my question for everyone who lays that kind of load on a victim:

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"He has Really Changed – You Need to go Talk to Him"

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On April 8, 2020

In Abusers, Churches/Church Response, Counseling

Romans 8:16  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

I know what it feels like. To have someone come up to you and tell you how much your abuser has changed for the good. After years of evil treatment at his hands, you finally were able to get away and start healing. But now, along comes some “well-meaning” person who has recently communicated with him and they just have to tell you that he is a changed person.
Now, they don’t have to complete the sentence. They have already said enough to let you know why they are telling you this. They think that you need to go see for yourself. No, they think that you need to forgive and forget now that the devil you knew is transformed into an angel.
Are these kind of people thinking that they are helping? I suppose in some cases. But the fact is that when someone does this to you, do you go away feeling encouraged? No! You feel triggered and re-traumatized. The thing is very DIS-couraging. People can be so, so, stupid, can’t they?

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The Wicked Use Bribery Against the Righteous

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On April 6, 2020

In Abusers

Exodus 23:8  And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
Proverbs 17:23  The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.

If  you search the Bible for the word “bribe” and its various forms, you will be surprised I think at how many times it is the subject of Scripture. This should tell us to be wise to this evil and very common tactic.  In my previous post I talked about how the wicked use false witnesses against the righteous and mentioned that such liars are often recruited with a bribe.
So it is today.

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Excellent Thoughts from My Friends

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On April 1, 2020

In Biblical Teaching

In the last couple of weeks I have received some comments from a few friends who all have survived wicked abuse. I decided what they said is too valuable to keep to myself, so here they are for all of you. They don’t address one specific tactic or subject, but here they are all in one place:

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Sometimes it is the Christian's Duty to Flee From Danger

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On March 30, 2020

In Churches/Church Response

Matthew 24:16-18  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  (17)  Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house,  (18)  and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

These verses are of course from the Lord’s words to His disciples which we call the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25). Jesus is speaking to them here about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, but we can correctly apply what He says to our own daily lives now as well:

We see that flight from danger may sometimes be the positive duty of a Christian. The servant of Christ undoubtedly is not to be a coward. He is to confess his master before men. He is to be willing to die, if needful, for the truth. But the servant of Christ is not required to run into danger, unless it comes in the line of duty. He is not to be ashamed to use reasonable means to provide for his personal safety when no good is to be done by dying at his post. There is deep wisdom in this lesson. The true martyrs are not always those who court death, and are in a hurry to be beheaded or burned. [J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, p. 318-19]

One of the most deceitful and wicked wolves hiding in sheep’s clothing that I have ever known used to love to push this business upon people. “Oh but just think of your reward in heaven if you willingly undergo this suffering,” he loved to say to people who were being reviled and maligned by some other wolf among the flock. Of course if anyone were to malign HIM, he would blow up in anger and not stand for it for a second. Abusers have double standards you know.  Always double standards.

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