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God Doesn’t Want to Use You; Why You Need to Stop Asking
The title sounds harsh, but as I see it, presenting God as a deity who will use His children to further His ends heads down a dangerous slope. I am not judging Christians who like to say this phrase. For most, I am sure it comes from a place of wanting to be a part of what God is doing. I want to be a part of what God is doing, too. But I definitely don’t want to be used. At first, I thought my dislike of this phrase had to do with my narcissistic ex-husband, and undoubtedly it does. He used me all the time to run interference between…
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The Spiritual Abuser: The Five Lies They Tell
At thirteen years old, in eighth grade, I became the victim of a spiritual abuser. I just didn’t realize it for years. I attended confirmation classes in my church and sang in the choir, rang bells in the handbell choir, and participated in the youth group. Ardent for the Lord, I led my youth group in a twenty-four-hour prayer vigil. But I was also vulnerable and awkward. Too tall too fast and prone to saying the wrong thing, I carried a full contingent of insecurities. So when my mother’s prayer partner and friend, (I will call her Gladys) cornered me one day after I had babysat her children for an…