68 | Forgiving Reality | Mental Health and the Church

02/24/20 • 41 min

Last episode we continued our discussion on spiritual abuse. This week Brandon Cook shares a sermon he gave titled Forgiving Reality. In light of our arc on abuse we have explored the place forgiveness has on our path to healing from our trauma. Brandon takes the discussion a step further by suggesting that we have the choice to also forgive reality and the difficult circumstances and truths it brings.

Previous Episode

67 | Spiritual Abuse Part 2 | Mental Health and the Church

Join us as we continue our conversation on spiritual abuse as we strive for differentiation and being well informed to identify health church relationships.

"Spiritual Abuse is when someone use their spiritual authority or manipulates your natural spiritual longings to have power over you..." Brandon Cook.

Power can come from hierarchy and position such as created by the influence of the business model and the church.

We can decide what kind of power your pastor has.

"And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven" Matthew 23:9

“Classically, there are three ways in which humans try to find transcendence--religious meaning--apart from God as revealed through the cross of Jesus: through the ecstasy of alcohol and drugs, through the ecstasy of recreational sex, through the ecstasy of crowds." - Eugene Peterson

As a leader there is a danger to find "ecstasy in crowds," and feed into ones own hype.

"Superpastor" problem

RESOURCES

Domestic Violence Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org Child Abuse Reporting https://www.childwelfare.gov/organizations/?CWIGFunctionsaction=rols:main.dspList&rolType=Custom&RS_ID=%205 Elder Abuse: https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice Toxic Faith https://www.amazon.com/dp/0877888256/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_yHyzEbTHV6EKN Sexual Abuse Recovery: The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Next Episode

69 | Flourishing Beyond Abuse Part 1

Susette and Brandon wrap up our arc on abuse by talking about recovery and how we can flourish, thrive and triumph in the face of our trauma. In this episode Susette shares experiences in which her body and mind show in a miraculous way how they are intertwined and Brandon calls us to live in compassion, not comparison, for ourselves and others who are in trauma.

Recognizing and naming abuse.

Triggers

How the body reacts to triggers of abuse: reclaiming the value of the body

Disassociation

The importance of categorizing negative experiences as trauma and/or abuse while not comparing those experiences to others.

RESOURCES