The teaching of the church has compounded much of this hurt rather than alleviating it. Victims of continued abuse have been told they must stay married, and if they do get divorced, they have been told they cannot remarry until their former partner has died. And sometimes those who have…
Read MoreWe want to make you aware that Pastor Crippen's sermon today at Christ Reformation Church is on marriage and divorce. Using the sermon text of Matthew 19:1-12 and scripture reading from Deuteronomy 24, Pastor reminds us of the importance of rightly handling the word of truth. And there are very…
Read MoreI don’t like to think about spiritual abuse, or abusive churches, or abusive pastors. I don’t like it. For one reason, this is because the abusers I have had to deal with over the years as a pastor LOVE to accuse me and our elders and our church of having…
Read MorePro 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. I need to open this post with a very clear explanation of what scenario I am going to be discussing, lest I be misunderstood and the things I am proposing be…
Read MoreMat 5:6-12 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (7) “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (8) “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (9) “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of…
Read MoreJohn 2:23-25 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. (24) But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people (25) and needed no one to bear…
Read MoreLuk 6:27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, We saw an example in last Friday's post of how "christian" fiction and fantasy does great harm, especially to victims of abuse as it hides in the church. That example, published…
Read MoreOur Daily Bread, a daily devotional publication, posted the following at odb.org for August 20, 2019. It was entitled Touched by Grace and written by Sheridan Voysey. Here it is: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. (Luke 6:27) In Leif Enger’s novel Peace Like a River, Jeremiah Land…
Read More1Co 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I suspect that most of you have had this verse quoted by people who are at work to keep you in an abusive relationship. We must love our abuser, you know. After all - love…
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