The Joy
But then, I find Christopher
Peterman named by Paradise Recovered, too! I deemed Chris as BJU's
Tank Man of Tienanmen Square this past year, another who also suffered
great loss for his stand against the tyranny of spiritual and sexual
abuse within the IFB through the Do
Right BJU protest. And today, I found faithful friend Lewis
Wells' name on the list, too. Add to this great stuff that Andie
Redwine, the author and producer of Paradise Recovered,
supports Wellspring
Retreat and Resource Center. I would not go so far as to say
that I wouldn't be around today if it hadn't been for their founder,
Dr.
Paul Martin, but I would certainly be the lesser without his
encouragement through his writing, excellent research, presentations,
and his friendship. And neither the counter-cult nor the anti-cult
effort would be the same without Wellspring and Paul. So this made
my day and many days over this past week, and I am both grateful and
proud.
Visit the Paradise Recovered blog
and buy the film since proceeds benefit Wellspring, and note that
their scholarship fund is always empty. If you want to help the
wounded folks who make it out of patriarchy, consider helping to
sponsor someone at Wellspring by contributing
to the scholarship fund. There are few causes that are more noble.
The Justice
For those of you who followed the Tina
Anderson case, you'll be happy to note that she now has a blog
where you can read her encouraging words and lessons learned. She
calls it Glimpses
of Hope. Those who recall from her personal account, she
suffered injustice at the hands of her stepfather, but it was
announced that she may see even more justice. In August, the Concord
Monitor announced that her abusive stepfather was indicted for
sexually assaulting her. This coming week, follow the posts here at
Under Much Grace concerning repentance, false repentance, and the
terrible pain that injustice creates for victims of abuse, considering what people like Tina have suffered. Justice
is a function of ethics and righteousness, and mercy for the guilty
cannot be done without it. Neither can forgiveness.
The Independent Fundamental Baptist
(Roloff Style) reform homes were featured in the Tampa Bay Times
after a year long investigation of the homes in Florida alone. Read
all three installments of the series at the In
God's Name page at the Tampa Bay Times and weep. I did.
Time
Magazine picked up on the series and reported on it nationally,
and I was personally pleased to see it. TBT did an excellent job as
did all those who assisted in the investigation. I applaud them.
To help stop the
abuse in these and other abusive residential homes, visit
this post to learn more and link over to sign the Stop
Child Abuse in Residential Teen Homes Act.
Late entry: Not much to say that Google can't turn up for you, but after many years of working at it, it looks like Noel and many others at Sovereign Grace Ministries might just have their day in court over the injustice suffered when their children were molested. A class action suit was filed for the suffering of these families. The churches and SGM system treated the families of the sexually abused children like the real criminals. Well done, Noel and happymom and many others, for your patience. I know it has been a long time in coming. Many victims will not get justice, as the rumors of abuse go back further than the suit identifies. May God have mercy on all and bring vindication to all of the victims who suffered in silence.
And last but not least in the justice section, Julie Anne won in court when the judge threw out the charges against her earlier this year. She gave her church a bad review on Google, and her pastor sued her. You can follow her saga out of spiritual abuse at BGBC Survivors. This is old news to you who keep up on blogs and almost everyone in the blogosphere has commented and felt I didn't need to do so, but it deserves more than honorable mention here today. Dr. Barb Orlowski did a great job in her cheering section and mightily celebrated the victory. You couldn't for better encouragement in a pinch. FBC Jax Watchdog reported on Julie Anne's situation, too, and he can well relate. He saw some justice this past year as well concerning the charges his church raised against him. That dog on his blog looks scrawny, but he can fight like bulldog!
The Sorrow
Branham's spawn is at it again. Four
years ago, a
five month old baby died in the “care” of his parents due to
severe neglect while his parents experienced the spiritual “party
all the time” lifestyle at the International
House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO. Jeremiah
Candler, the decedent, actually weighed less on the
day of his death from neglect than he did at his birth. Though
people from the church kept in touch with both parents while they did
their short time in custody for the homicide, the church denied knowing them publicly and
attempted to distance themselves from the case.
For those who are unfamiliar, the
International House of Prayer is operated by Mike Bickle of the
Kansas City Prophets, the progeny of William Branham – something of
a brother to Wimber's Vineyard Movement, Joyner's Morning Star, and
whatever you want to call Bentley's mess. It's not bad enough that
the lot of these Charismatic dominionists get their prophesies from
spirit guides and mediums (just Google
“Emma,” a KCP favorite)... At the International House of
Prayer, they offer a 24/7 holy roller praise and worship fest,
essentially, to worship God in sexual overtones ("Jesus is my boyfriend") with mind-numbing, repetitive praise and
worship music. Young Candler's parents were there, doing their
spiritual thing while they left their infant at home to starve to
death.
Well, Ken Silva of Apprising
Ministries emailed me this week, alerting me to the latest crisis
at IHOP on his quest for more details. It appears that one of IHOP's cell
group leaders, someone who was listed as a “Division Coordinator”
for the cell group program (midweek home gathering groups) ordered a
“hit” on his wife to keep her quiet about their sex club. The
husband/ IHOP “Friendship Group” Division Coordinator enlisted
the help of an IHOP student and member of the cell group to commit
the murder which they tried to make look like a suicide.
In keeping with IHOP's past behavior, they're denying
that they had any substantive relationship with Tyler Deaton, the
husband, and claim that he was not ever a leader in their group.
Damage control... I'm too disgusted to put in all of the links, but
you can read all about it and follow the case at Truthspeaker's
Weblog. Truthspeaker is my Yankee friend and fellow survivor of Word of Faith and
other Charismatic madness. I appreciate all of the work that this
fine iconoclast does online as well as important missions work in
NYC.
My mom was born again at a church that
traces its roots through Gordon Lindsey to Branham, and that church
suffered its share of sex scandals. My cultic patriarchal
Shepherding Discipleship church had loose ties and interest in
various strains of the Kansas City Prophets, I ended up on an insane
and painful missions trip with some KCP folks at one point in my
life, and a close friend of mine sent her daughter to school at Rick
Joyner's whatever you want to call it. I have trouble calling it an
actual facility or school. My heart breaks for people who are still trapped in
this group. Aside from the altered states of consciousness and brainwashing, it apparently may not be good for your health if you're a
woman or a child.
And BTW, glad to see that Mishel of Deception Bytes is back blogging again. For a good window into the Latter Rain/Branham Spawn movement, start HERE on her blog.
And BTW, glad to see that Mishel of Deception Bytes is back blogging again. For a good window into the Latter Rain/Branham Spawn movement, start HERE on her blog.
I would like to add...
Please pray for children who suffer
harm every day at the hands of their parents who profess the
Christian faith. There are many who need your prayers today, not to mention that this abuse makes a mockery of Christianity. Many cases don't get reported because the children barely escape death,
otherwise, they would be reportable to the public. I hear about these abuse cases all the
time from concerned friends and family, but the system protects the
privacy of these children. If we don't hear about them, it means
that the children survived, but we don't hear the details. But know
that there are small children today that need your prayers for survival, comfort, and sometimes for a peaceful passing. Please remember them today.
There were a bunch of other things I wanted to mention here today, catching up on tidbits from here and there, but I'm too upset to remember them. I'm kinda bummed. I started to like the "kinder, gentler" side of blogging. But they had to go and kill somebody else.
Now, can you can imagine how sweet it has been for me to read Andie Redwine's Paradise Recovered blog this week?
Sweet indeed.
