Unholy Charade - Jeff Crippen

Unmasking the Domestic Abuser in the Church

Author: Jeff Crippen Page 64 of 88

The Wicked Often Hide Behind a Mask of Theological Acumen – Watch Out for Them

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On January 8, 2020

In Abusers, False Teaching

Mat 23:23-24  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.  (24)  You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

I have seen a very common pattern of how the wicked disguise themselves as fine saints, eminent examples of holiness, shepherds who we must go to in order to be fed, etc. It is so common in fact that I can issue this warning:

When a professing Christian, a supposed pastor, a church leader or theologian type writes lengthy articles filled with detail, evidences an academic air focusing on debate to prove their own theological point, beware. The devil himself is quite a theologian. He is quite capable, as are his servants, of writing intricate and convincing theological tomes that will receive praise and recognition from those who admire a form of godliness without the power.

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This Comment Deserves a Post of its Own – Real Wisdom Here

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On January 7, 2020

In Biblical Teaching

The following is a comment made by no one down here in response to the post Willful Blindness to Evil Loves “Simplicity” and Hates Wisdom. I wanted to be certain everyone saw the comment and that we all give serious thought to it. This gem of Bible truth is obvious and plain as day, yet it is routinely skipped over and just plain ignored. Many thanks to no one down here for seeing this and sharing it:

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Willful Blindness to Evil Loves "Simplicity" and Hates Wisdom

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On January 6, 2020

In Churches/Church Response

A friend of mine, a survivor of horrific abuse both at the hands of her ex abuser spouse and by her ex “church” and pastor, pointed me to the following verse recently. It powerfully rebukes the evil of people’s refusal to see the wicked for what they really are. Insisting upon being willfully blind, they ignore the testimony of those who have been the targets of these wolves in wool. Here is what the Lord says to them:

Pro 1:22-26  “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?  (23)  If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.  (24)  Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,  (25)  because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,  (26)  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,

As my friend also said: “In my life these last few years, it hasn’t made sense that people believed their own third party perceptions of [abuser], rather than believe what his wife and kids (who lived with him!) were saying. To contemplate how highly they must regard their own opinion in such a situation is sobering.”
The wicked know of this willful blindness, and they use it. Here is a perfect description from Dr. Robert Hare, the man who knows more about the psychopath than just about anyone:

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We Must Use the Discernment the Lord Has Given Us

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On January 3, 2020

In Churches/Church Response

Joh 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  (35)  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
1Jn 2:10-11  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.  (11)  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

As I look back over many years of Christian ministry now, I am seeing with more clarity one way in which I was frequently duped by the enemy and his servants. As I have grown wiser in this regard, I am accused of being “too judgmental” and of “over-reacting.” Nope. I’m not.
Let me explain by illustration.

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There Really is a New World Coming – and that is where your real life is

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On January 1, 2020

In Biblical Teaching

Rev 21:1-5  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  (2)  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  (3)  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  (4)  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  (5)  And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Today is the beginning of the new year, 2020. 2019 has forever passed into history. And one day, perhaps very soon, the story of this fallen world will pass into history forever. There will be a new heavens and a new earth, a new creation in which no evil person or thing will ever be experienced again.
The promise is true, made by the Lord who cannot lie. Behold, I am making all things new:

Rev 21:27  But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

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Who is a Christian – Psalm 15 Answers the Question

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On December 30, 2019

In Abusers

Most of you have had to struggle with the question, “is my abuser a Christian?”  Why? Because he (and sometimes she) claims to be. Because the abuser so often parades as the finest saintly holy one in the entire church, and most of the people believe it. Just as the abuser’s father can appear as an angel of light, so can his servants.
Local churches and pastors often and even typically insist that the abuser is indeed a child of God, not of the devil. We all sin, you know. So they allow him to remain in the pew, and sometimes even in the pulpit!
But what does the Bible say? Who is a Christian and who is not a Christian? While Scripture clearly answers these questions over and over, we are just going to look at one such text in this article. Here it is. Read carefully:

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She Came to her Own, But They did not Receive Her

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On December 25, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

Joh 1:11-12  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.  (12)  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

I want to show you the fundamental reason victims of abuse are routinely and regularly rejected by their pastors and churches when they expose the abuse and ask for help. It actually is no mystery.

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Accusation by Abusers to Victims: "You Cannot Keep Friends"

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On December 18, 2019

In Abusers

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:2-3)

Abusers are the children of their father the devil. So it is not surprising that they share one of his favorite tactics — accusation. And one of the very common charges that abusers level at their victims is something like this: “You never keep friends. Your friendships never last. You always reject them eventually. Or they reject you when they see how weird you really are.” Ever heard that line? I have. Plenty of times.

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Grumbling When Good is Done is a Mark of Pharisees

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On December 16, 2019

In Churches/Church Response

And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. (Luke 13:11-17)

One of the clearest signs that a church (and many, many of them today are) is ruled by Pharisees and hypocrites is when you see leaders and members of such a place loudly protesting and gnashing their teeth when someone, like this daughter of Abraham, is loosed from bondage to Satan. It’s the very same thing. An abuse victim who has suffered torments for years and years calls out for help and is rejected by the pillars of the church. Then the truth comes along, she sees it, and she gets free.
What happens? Celebration? Hardly.

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Watch Out for Wolves in Wool — a True Story of Disguises

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On December 13, 2019

In Abusers

We all know that abusers love to hide in the pews, wearing “holy” garb as a disguise. It’s one of their favorite methods, and a very effective one too.  I never cease to be amazed at how many of these mask-wearers are in churches.
Recently I did some searching online to see what had become of a fellow and his wife who I had known many years ago. They were church members and he was active not only in the church but also held a seminary degree and worked in a professional ministry setting with a well-known Christian organization. I found that he had died, as had his wife, and I located their obituaries and read them.

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