[Trapped]

Hodos,

Thank you for the clarification. I think I understand now.

Have you read any books on spiritual abuse? For example "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" by Johnsen and VanVonderen? Or "Healing Spiritual Abuse" by Ken Blue? There is a certain level of help that saints who used to be in the LSM churches can give you, and then there is a different level of help (not better, not worse, but just helpful in a different way) that people who have never set foot in an LSM-related church can provide. It is quite an experience to read books written by people who have never been in an LSM church, but who wrote books that match up with so many characteristics of the LSM churches. These books, which are about spiritual abuse and abusive doctrines found in abusive churches, shine the light on what exactly is going on in the LSM church movement and how these kind of doctrines are found all over the place in other abusive churches and groups with aberrant doctrines.

Somehow, reading these kinds of books helped to release some of the chains around me. They helped to pull my perspective out from feeling like I was on the ground in the middle of a battlefield, to being in a plane flying over the battlefield looking down on it from 2,000 feet above the earth. It gives you a totally different perspective, broader, wider. And it shrinks the "authority" of the LSM leaders down to where it belongs - about an inch high, if that. I wonder if these books would be helpful to you and others?

There is another book called "When Narcissism Comes to Church" by Chuck DeGroat. I have read a portion of the book, but have not read the whole thing yet, so I cannot recommend it outright, but it seemed to be on the right track.

Another book recommendation that appeared on Jo Casteel's facebook letter thread that many people following the thread bought is called "The Uriah Syndrome" by Robert Dixon. He explains how the Bible shows that it's the church itself that has the authority (say, to discipline sinning saints, appoint elders, etc), and not the elders and co-workers. Yes, elders/apostles can be involved, but the church should actually be much more involved than the LC ever allows. Once you read it, you start to see that concept pop up all over in the Word.

Some of the books have recommendations for people who have come out of an abusive church. Some of them have recommendations for leaders who have realized they took part in an abusive system. There are other books out there on the same topic too. I think these are an invaluable read for anyone who has touched the LSM movement.

Trapped