There is No Such Thing....

“There is no such thing as a 'self-made' man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.”
-George Matthew Adams-

Tell Me Your Tale:

Was there someone instrumental in your exit out of spiritual abuse and/or a cult?

E-mail me at toxicsheepnomore@yahoo.com with your story of 100 words or less. For the sake of privacy, please do not use the person's full name- a first name or even initials will do.

I retain the right to not publish- if an account is derogatory or threatening in nature, and/or does not 'fit in' with the tone of this blog, I will not publish it.

holding hand image by charger fan_21 on photobucket

Stand Up or Sit Down?

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

~Winston Churchill

So how to decide between courageous standing or sitting in ongoing spiritual abuse?

In the post "Defeating the Piper's Call" I recounted the rebuff of a former friend when given a card; I am convinced my 'meddling' did more ill than good.

I, myself, spurned advances made by a dear aunt to maintain family bonds when she 'deserted' the 'holy and elect pastor'.

Any attempts to sway devoted cult followers seemingly adds fuel to their committed fire.

Is this then the answer? Sit down and listen till the fortunate wake to reason from their enchanted delusional sleep?

Is interfering with the cult devotee's progress to mental destruction comparable to freeing a butterfly prematurely from his confining cocoon? Will my attempts cripple rather than free the bound wings?

Or rather am I a coward, afraid to turn and face once again the old enemy?

King Baldwin in the movie Kingdom of Heaven states:

"You see, none of us chose our end really. A king may move a
man, a father may claim a son. But remember that, even when those who move you be kings or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God you cannot say "but I was told by
others to do thus" or that "virtue was not convenient at the time. This will not suffice. Remember that."'

Should the spiritual abuser be confronted another time? Once again, as with the deluded sheep, confrontations embolden and empower the abuser to new heights of control.

And seemingly the destructive cycle is strengthened rather the weakened with each attempted to impede it's power.

Any wisdom on the matter will be greatly appreciated. If you would rather respond in an e-mail than a comment, please contact me at toxicsheepnomore@yahoo.com

Questions To Ponder

What would you think about a church or pastor that taped all incoming and outgoing phone calls of everyone without them knowing they were being taped, or calling up someone having them follow another in order to try to catch them doing something (according to the pastor) they shouldn’t yet saying “mark my words the Lord will reveal”, or sending someone over to another’s house to peek and see if they had a TV and were watching it when you were forbidden to own one of your own, or taking up offerings telling the people it was for the visiting speaker or for whatever reason and then go back into the room where the money was being counted and pocket some of it for other things, or cater to the elderly (complaining all the while) in order to get them to leave you their money when they die, or repeat to all around them all the secrets told them in confidence by their members as well as many things which they themselves made up in their own evil minds about people, or a pastor who knowingly came across a boy that had committed suicide and have all the evidence destroyed (including the trial notes the boy had written and thrown away in the garbage) saying it was an accident because they didn't want the police to come in and do a thorough investigation, or when a member leaves the church their kids are kicked out of school (although its school is open to the general public) and their kids school stuff is hand delivered to the members home in a paper sack on the weekend telling others that it was the member who took their kids out when actually the member specifically asked that their kids be allowed to remain.

How do you explain that to a small child especially when they have aunts and uncles still attending the church yet they cut off all contact.

These are only a few of the things I personally and many others have witnessed going on in a Dade City church.

Someone mentioned about going to the person and facing them. This has been done more times than you can even imagine. This is why the church has dwindled down to only a few. If this place was of God, where is the fruit?

These things are being shared in hopes that even one that’s still there might see this and would have their eyes and minds open to the truth as well as any new members to spare them.

Many things have been shared since we have all left and I’m shocked to even begin to think that someone calling themselves a PASTOR could still hold up their head.

I pray that God will have mercy on your soul.
By: Grace Awakening