Month: March 2017

Koolaid

I’m bored with church. I sat there this morning listening to the sermon. Three verses and the pastor jumped to a commercial that was supposed to somehow back the scripture. Sorry, scripture does not need to be backed by the Koolaid Man. It’s become a frequent event, this idea of scripture followed by a TV break, and it’s not the first church I’ve seen this in… or that I’ve left when this happened.

This morning he jumped into the Koolaid Man commercial. I phased out. The next thing I heard was a brief lecture on how some of us are just attending for entertainment, and that when we stop being entertained, we leave. This church puts a lot of emphasis on faithful, local church membership. I refuse to become a member for a couple of reasons. However, I don’t attend for entertainment. And if I leave, it won’t be because I’m seeking entertainment, but because I’m sick of it.

I understand that Jesus used parables to teach the people. However, he used every day, real life situations to teach them, not entertainment systems. He incorporated the teachings of the scriptures into everything he said. He didn’t go on tangents about how funny a commercial was. And the people listened.

I’ve been told too often that people today aren’t interested in deep Bible study. But everything I hear from others shows that they are as tired of the entertainment in sermons as I am. The Koolaid Man doesn’t belong in a sermon.

Why can’t we get along?

Something I thought of just now. It has been about 35 years ago I attended a very small (50 adults and handful of kids) United Church. They did something that I don’t think would happen with certain unhealthy churches. There was another Methodist church just starting up. I think it was in our town, another part of town. Our pastor sent a few people over there to help them get going. There is so much jealousy amongst the unhealthy churches that I don’t think they would do this until less it was some distance away in another town or another part of the state. They want all the attendance they can get in their town. They want to be the only church of that denomination/belief there is in their town.

Not long before I left my church, I discovered there had been another church of the same denomination, just a few blocks from my church. Best kept secret. I did go to help another person who was wanting to be in church but had left the one we were going to. My pastor asked me “Are you leaving too?” I told him no – little did I know…… But you see how paranoid they are. Now that little church had about 5 members including adults, the pastor, his wife and their two nephews. My friend took her kids and they doubled the size of that church. That pastor was really interested I tell you. But she decided to not continue going.

I don’t know why they could not have combined churches but no, they had to keep separate. The other pastor probably should have gone to another part of town……but here again, there can only be One True Church in a town. Our town/city is about 125,000 – 130,000 so is not huge but should be able to support several churches. In fact it does but while they hold the same oneness Apostolic beliefs and may even be different denominations (and that is probably one of the problems) only one of the churches says they are the only one with All the Truth and the others (especially one) are stealing the One Church’s sheep – but the sheep leave on their own and want somewhere to go. Some of the sheep left town, actually moved when they found another church, some just dropped out altogether and were considered to have left God (because apparently God only can live in one church here).

So why can we not all get along?

First Book Giveaway of 2017

This giveaway has now ended, March 7, 2017.

We have given away books for years as part of the spiritualabuse.org ministry and this will be our first one via this blog for 2017. This is your chance to receive one or more free books on various issues. After making your request, be sure to respond to my email requesting your mailing address if I do not already have it. The last giveaway we had someone request several books but never responded. This keeps material from others.

The first people with a USA mailing address who respond will receive their choice of books at no charge to them. (Unfortunately, it is cost prohibitive to mail these books outside of the USA. Canadians with a USA mailing address are welcome to request books.) To respond, just leave a comment for this post. If you are unsure what any book is about, the links will take you to Amazon where you may read their description and reviews.

Up for grabs are several used books and DVDs.

  1. Three paperback copies of Codependent No More by Melody Beattie. (One has some highlighting.) ONE TAKEN
  2. One paperback copy of Love Is A Choice: Recovery for Codependent Relationships by Hemfelt, Minirth & Meier. (Has some underlining.) TAKEN
  3. One hardback copy of How People Grow by Henry Cloud & John Townsend. (It has a little highlighting.) TAKEN
  4. One paperback copy of Safe People by Henry Cloud & John Townsend. TAKEN
  5. One hardback copy of Boundaries by Henry Cloud & John Townsend. (Has a little highlighting.) TAKEN
  6. One paperback copy of Boundaries In Marriage by Henry Cloud & John Townsend. TAKEN
  7. One paperback copy of Cults In Our Midst by Margaret Singer. (Has highlighting and in a little rough condition.)
  8. One paperback copy of The Co-Dependent Parent by Barbara Becnel.
  9. One hardback copy of I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai. TAKEN
  10. One paperback copy of The Search For Freedom by Robert S. McGee. TAKEN
  11. One paperback copy of Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall. (polygamy)
  12. One hardback copy of Who’s Pushing Your Buttons: Handling the Difficult People in Your Life by John Townsend. TAKEN
  13. One DVD of Holy Bible KJV Complete by Alexander Scourby. TAKEN
  14. One CD MP3 NIV Audio New Testament Dramatized by Faith Comes By Hearing.
  15. One paperback copy of New Testament Amplified Bible Pocket Thin. TAKEN
  16. One hardback copy of The Church Awakening by Charles Swindoll. TAKEN
  17. Two hardback copies of The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. ONE TAKEN
  18. One bonded leather copy of The NIV Study Bible by Zondervan. (The cover is in poor condition and there is some writing/underlining, but the inside is mostly good.) TAKEN
  19. One paperback copy of Facing Codependence by Pia Mellody.
  20. One hardback copy of Does This Church Make Me Look Fat by Rhoda Janzen. (Mennonite related) TAKEN
  21. One hardback copy of My Utmost for His Highest Daily Devotional Journal by Oswald Chambers.
  22. One paperback copy of Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Sheeres. TAKEN
  23. One hardback copy of The Year of Living Like Jesus by Ed Dobson. TAKEN
  24. One bonded leather copy of Nelson’s NJKV Bible with Concordance. (pocket size- cover is in poor condition)
  25. Three paperback copies of The Shack by Wm. Paul Young.
  26. One paperback copy of The Unauthorized Guide To Choosing a Church by Carmen Renee Berry.
  27. One paperback copy of New Testament Amplified Bible Pocket Thin.
  28. One paperback copy of Testament The Bible Odyssey.
  29. One hardback copy of The Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll. TAKEN
  30. One hardback copy of Secrets of Your Family Tree Forgiving Our Parents Forgiving Ourselves by David Stoop & James Masteller. TAKEN
  31. One hardback copy of We Are Driven (Compulsive Behaviors) by Hemfelt, Minirth & Meier. TAKEN
  32. One hardback copy of Overcomers Outreach A Bridge To Recovery by Bob & Pauline Bartosch.
  33. One hardback copy of Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic. TAKEN
  34. One hardback copy of Naves Topical Bible.
  35. One hardback copy of The New Strong’s Concordance of the Bible Concise Edition. (Only the concordance.) TAKEN
  36. Three hardback copies of Authority Abusers by G.G. Bloomer. TWO TAKEN
  37. One hardback copy of Holy Bible New Revised Standard Version.
  38. One paperback copy of Holy Bible KJV Reference Edition edited by C.I. Scofield. (Has some water damage at the bottom through part of the Old Testament. Still very usable.)
  39. One paperback copy of The Art of Forgiving by Lewes Smedes. TAKEN
  40. One paperback copy of From Forgiven To Forgiving by Jay Adams. TAKEN
  41. One paperback copy of More Jesus, Less Religion by Stephen Arterburn & Jack Felton. TAKEN
  42. One paperback copy of The Kingdom Of The Cults Limited Edition by Walter Martin.
  43. One paperback copy of Since Nobody’s Perfect…How Good Is Good Enough by Any Stanley. TAKEN
  44. Two paperback copies of Neo-Phariseeism by David Wasmundt (former UPC minister)
  45. Two paperback copies of The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds. ONE TAKEN
  46. One paperback copy of Out Of The Salt Shaker & Into The World by Rebecca Pippert. TAKEN
  47. One paperback copy of The Pursuit of God With Study Guide by A.W. Tozer. (Has writing/highlighting & underlining.) TAKEN
  48. One paperback copy of Finding The Real Jesus by Lee Strobel.
  49. One paperback copy of 2009 United Pentecostal Church Manual.
  50. One DVD of Divergent. (Has parallels with spiritual abuse.) TAKEN
  51. One DVD of Paradise Recovered (new- on spiritual abuse/unhealthy churches). TAKEN

The first people with a USA mailing address who respond will receive their choice of book(s) at no charge to them. To respond, just leave a comment on this post. Please understand that comments require approval unless you have previously commented. So while it may look like you are first or second, etc. there may be someone ahead of you whose comment is pending. Be sure to use your actual email address when setting up to comment as I will be contacting you through it. Check your spam folder as email sometimes goes there. (For your privacy, do not put the email or address in your actual comment.)

Be sure to mention in your comment which book(s) you would like and you may refer to them by number instead of the title. There is no limit on how many you may request, though you may only have one copy of any title.

Top February Posts

This is for those interested in seeing the top ten read blogs from February 2017.

We are always looking for new people to join our group of bloggers, so please register and watch your email for more information. You are under no obligation to make a certain number of posts. Commenting directly on the blog is an encouragement to our authors as they often cannot see all the places where these are shared and discussed on social media.

Below are the top ten read posts for the month. Thanks so much to all our readers and authors! It is our hope that many more will be helped and encouraged by our blogs in 2017.

Is Your Pastor Ruinous To Your Spiritual Life? – author Lois. (accessed 497 times)

When A Pastor Morally Fails – author Lois. (accessed 467 times)

Stumbling block: a little about what happened to me – author Mary. (accessed 233 times)

Questioning Teachings: Is There Any Biblical Precedence? – author Lois. (accessed 230 times)

Correction In The Church – author Lois.

Lessons Learned: The Light Came On – author Random Thoughts.

Gary Chapman- The Five Love Languages – author Mary.

Return to the Body of Christ? – author Lois.

Love Without Fear – author Grace.

Veiled Threats In Sermons – author Lois.

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