Category: Flying Free Podcast

How Churches Can Help Abuse Victims (And How They Often Hurt Them Instead)

How Churches Can Help Abuse Victims (And How They Often Hurt Them Instead) [Episode 166]

It’s hammer time.

I’ve broken down the problems churches face when abuse victims come forward (along with how churches usually react). Then, I smash through the fallacies their hurtful behavior is constructed on. Finally, I provide the building blocks of how to respond to abuse like Jesus did, so the church can be a tool of healing instead of just…tools.

Cause there’s no point in demoing a building if you don’t intend to build something better.

Here’s how the real church should respond to women begging for help from abusive partners.

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How Do I Know What Is Real or True When My Husband Gaslights Me?

How Do I Know What Is Real or True When My Husband Gaslights Me? [Episode 165]

Is the last thing you googled, “Am I crazy?” or “Why does my husband hate me?” or the literal title of this episode?

Bleh. Living in such horrible, constant confusion can make us obsessive. Not crazy obsessive. The “desperate for answers” kind. The “I’m living in purgatory and I hate it!” kind. The “Is it me even though I’m trying so hard?” kind.

If you’re looking for a fixed point of reference—a way to know what’s real and true, then you’ve stumbled across something better than 6.84 million Google results. Because I’m going to answer your question in incredible detail.

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How Not to Be an Ass: Interview with Author Andrew Bauman

How Not to Be an Ass: Interview with Author Andrew Bauman [Episode 164]

“How Not to Be a Meanie” doesn’t hit the same, does it?

“How Not to Act Out Patriarchal Theology, AKA ‘A Chocolate-Covered Turd’” is probably too long.

And Andrew Bauman wants to get the attention of men who have bought into domination and called it love, and control and called it protection. The men who feel entitled to women’s bodies and minds and service, all in the name of God. Asses.

How does he tackle the problem? One donkey-sized piece at a time.

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The One About God and Religion and Hell

The One About God and Religion and Hell [Episode 163]

This may be controversial for some of my audience. Twenty years ago, I may have unsubscribed, not understanding what this was actually about.

What IS this about? It’s about Who God is. It’s about representing Him well. That’s what Jesus did, and that is our calling, as Christians.

This is about the way we view God and how our view impacts the way we live our lives. We either honor the truth about God’s character or we tell a lie about God’s character.

This is about a lie I used to believe about God.

I don’t have the answers. That’s what makes me different from who I was twenty years ago. Back then, I knew everything. And I told everyone so they could also know everything. And I judged everyone who didn’t know everything. Like I did.

Twenty years later I definitely do NOT know everything. I believe a couple of simple, life-changing things about God, and I run everything through the grid of that simple faith.

And it brings love and peace and joy into my life, and that hopefully touches the lives of those around me.

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What If I Had an Affair While I Was Married to My Abusive Husband?

What If I Had an Affair While I Was Married to My Abusive Husband [Episode 162]

Did you know that abuse has a bestie?

Its sneaky little friend is Shame. Shame is a talkative fellow but very dependable.

He hangs on your earlobes and yells:

“You’re not perfect, so you can’t point out your husband’s faults.”
“You yelled back, so you expect him to stop.”
“You pull away emotionally, so you can’t get angry when he stonewalls.”
“You hit him after he hit you, so you deserved it.”
“You found comfort in someone else’s arms, so you’re just as bad as him.”
“You have no right to expect better when you’re so screwed up.”

Shame keeps us bound and trapped, even long after a divorce.

So what should you do with these painful, tormenting thoughts?

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The Woman They Could Not Silence: Interview with Author Kate Moore

The Woman They Could Not Silence: Interview with Author Kate Moore [Episode 161]

Imagine a world where women are property.

Where they have no rights — not even to defend themselves against abuse or to claim ownership over their minds…to declare, for instance, that they are not insane. That they shouldn’t be held prisoner in an insane asylum because they disagreed with their husband.

That horrifying world you imagined? You’re living in it.

Of the countless women who’ve gone before you, Elizabeth Packard stands out as one who fought for the oppressed and the voiceless, for her relentless faith, and for freedom.

Her true, daring story has been dug from history, and you need to hear it. Because the impact of her life is still echoing today.

I interviewed award-winning author and champion of women, Kate Moore, to learn more about The Woman They Could Not Silence. I was on the edge of my seat, and you will be too.

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