A few days ago, I had this link forwarded to me from a blog I subscribe to. The blog is http://thewordonthewordoffaithinfoblog.com . Their tagline- BREAKING FREE from The Word of Faith Movement,,, and telling the World about it! TELL US YOUR STORY. This is a group blog sharing their perspective on the Word of Faith Movement founded by Kenneth Hagin. This is the ministry that Jane and Sam Whaley came out of as they started Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in Spindale, NC. I have not read everything on this other blog. However, when I saw the link to an interview with Jeff VanVonderen, it caught my eye. In this interview, he gives some keys to detect spiritual abuse. I will give a couple of excerpts and allow you to decide for yourself if you want to click the link (above) to the whole article. The post is dated August 13, 2010 on the above mentioned site. You will have to scroll down to find that post. Below these excerpts is a direct link to the article on another site. In my opinion, it is a good read, very insightful and worth the time.
STEPS: Talk some more about spiritual abuse in the Bible. What did it look like then?
Jeff: It looked essentially the same then as it does now. Spiritual leaders exploited people for their own gain. Authority was misused in order to get things done in the name of God that weren’t really about God at all.
Later on:
STEPS: You have already talked a bit about the role of authority in spiritually abusive relationships. In your book you list “power posturing” as one of the key features of spiritual abuse. What is that about?
Jeff: Spiritual abuse is always a power issue. In order for abuse to happen, by definition, it has to come from a place of higher power to a place of lesser power. People in low-power positions can’t abuse people in highpower positions….
As with most every reference book I use, this book “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse” can be found at Amazon.com. A little research finds the original interview with Mr. VanVonderen here: http://www.spiritualabuse.com/?page_id=58 I have yet to explore this second website, but it looks like it may hold some valuable tools. Again, links referenced here are selected at your own risk. I have not viewed all material on all sites listed on this blog.
Thank you, for taking time to visit and read this blog. Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. The author is not a licensed mental health professional and encourages those that need professional help to seek it. The intent of the material is to inform and be a resource. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. There are readers at WOFF. Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.
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(Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, the information about WOFF is from my memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. ) Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 182.