Barbara's Picks: Recovering from Spiritual Abuse

	The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse In a breakthrough book first published in 1991, the authors address the dynamics in churches that can ensnare people in legalism, guilt, and begrudging service, keeping them from the grace and joy of God's kingdom.Written for both those who feel abused and those who may be causing it, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse shows how people get hooked into abusive systems, the impact of controlling leadership on a congregation, and how the abused believer can find rest and recovery.

	Healing Spiritual Abuse: How to Break Free from Bad Church Experiences Many of us have gone through bad church experiences that have left us feeling like failures. Blaming ourselves, we asked for God's forgiveness, but felt distant from the church and sometimes from God too.Often, however, the fault is not ours but that of Christian leaders who abuse spiritually. How can we recognize the signs of spiritual abuse? What can we do to gain healing from the wounds we have experienced?With clarity and refreshing honesty, Ken Blue answers these questions and offers hope and healing to the victims of spiritual abuse. In addition he shows Christian leaders how to avoid abusive patterns and instead offer Christ's gospel of grace to every casualty of bad church experiences.

	Toxic Faith Toxic Faith distinguishes between a healthy faith and a misguided religiosity that traps believers in an addictive practice of religion. It shows how unbalanced ministries, misguided churches, and unscrupulous leaders can lead their followers away from God and into a desolate experience of religion that drives many to despair. Toxic Faith shows readers how to find hope for a return to genuine, healthy faith that can add meaning to life. In the words of the author, “I want to help you throw out that toxic faith and bring you back to the real thing.”

	Twisted Scriptures Leaders of many religious groups (even including several mainstream churches) are twisting the Scriptures to subtly coerce cooperation from their members. In the process, personalities are changed and lives ruined. Mary Alice Chrnalogar is a deprogrammer with an international reputation. Chrnalogar reveals how classic mind control techniques are used to systematically seduce followers into total obedience. Twisted Scriptures: A Path To Freedom From Abusive Churches shows readers how to tell when churches are suppressing freedom of speech, intimidating followers, and distorting the Bible. Twisted Scriptures is invaluable as a self-help guide and as a tool for families and friends to free loved ones from destructive groups.

	Churches That Abuse At its best, the church is a "reliable source of comfort, spiritual guidance and fellowship to Christians." But unfortunately, some churches - run by those who don't understand biblical leadership -- put more burdens and guilt on members than God ever intended. In this book, Ron Enroth offers a list of red flags that indicate an abusive church while sharing the stories of real people who found themselves in intolerable situations and had to leave. Very helpful for those coming out of abusive churches who think they are alone - which is how we all felt when we came out and were shunned by those we left behind.

	Bad News Religion: The Virus That Attacks God's Grace Bad News Religion is a convicting, liberating exploration of how we, in the name of religion, have shifted the focus from the work of God to our ability to become worthy of salvation. The result is bondage and defeat. The key to success in the Christian life is not what we do, but who we know. Knowing God and knowing the fullness of His grace is a liberating experience. Most of us don't realize how we have robbed ourselves of experiencing the richness of God's grace.

	Recovering From Churches That Abuse In 1991, Tripp and I left an abusive, hyper-legalistic, cult-like Christian church. The first book we read which let us know that we were not alone, but that there were mumerous churches with abusive leadership was Ron Enroth's Churches That Abuse. After reading it, we contacted Dr. Enroth and our story is included in this sequel (he called us John and Miriam Bowers) in Chapter Four: "Grace to People Who Know They Need It." We wanted to share how we had made a successful recovery by applying the 12 Steps - acknowledging our own sin in being involved and making amends to those we had hurt when they were reviled by the leadership.

	The Three Battlegrounds This book explores the three arenas of spiritual warfare that the maturing Christian will face: the mind, the church and the heavenly places. It provides a foundation of insight, wisdom and discernment on the nature of the battle and the keys to victory.

	Invasion of the Body Snatchers For those coming out of an abusive church situation - the kind where the group-think means you are shunned for leaving - there is a lot of pain and self-recognition involved. When Tripp and I were recovering, we had support meeting for others in the same boat. We shared this movie at the end for a few laughs - a way to get more perspective and take back some "normal" ground.

	Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokeness Many Christians have experienced pain, loss, and heartache at the hands of other believers. To those believers, this compelling story offers comfort, healing and hope. This is a lyrical story based on the story of David, Saul and Absalom.

All written content is © Barbara Curtis www.mommylife.net

Mommy Life

Montessori megamom serves up smorgasbord of parenting, cultural, political, and spiritual wisdom. Because she can.

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