helping those wounded by wolves
Editor Note: This is Oliver's story. It includes his journal which was written in February of 1997, as well as his personal journey over the past 25 years. This was written in his own words and shared with his permission. My account of the surreal week in Feb 1997 when the Narrowgate cult disintegrated. …
This is the first of several entries that are co-written by other Narrowgate members. The information was gathered through interviews and from original journals, notes, and letters written by Pooky at the time of Narrowgate. These first-hand accounts are fascinating to read, almost 25 years later. It is always refreshing to get another person’s perspective, …
The next morning I woke up and wondered if the past 24 hours was all just a bizarre dream. But reality reminded me that I was waking up alone in our King-sized bed. Pooky had fled with Emma and her Baby, and I was alone. Because I was the only one (that I knew of) …
Reaching & Teaching International Ministries (RTIM) claims that it "exists to reach the peoples of the world through evangelism and by meeting the great need for deep discipleship, pastoral preparation, leadership training, and theological education around the world." A Godly, righteous-sounding mission. Yet incredibly, at one point in the not-so-distant-past, three men who were either …
Continue reading "Red Flags at Reaching & Teaching International Ministries (RTIM)"
There is a song by the popular Christian music group Casting Crowns, entitled “While You Were Sleeping.” The song takes a different approach to the classic Christmas carol about the Little Town of Bethlehem – while the town of Bethlehem was going about its usual business (which they correlate with “sleeping”), Christ the savior was …
The last entry was pretty traumatic for a lot of people and perhaps as a result of reading this, they were re-traumatized to spiritual abuse in your own life. One dear friend who was not in Narrowgate reached out to my wife this past week and said that reading our experience re-traumatized her to some …
Author's note: This blog was quite possibly the hardest yet to write. Of all the experiences we've had in the Narrowgate cult, this is most certainly one of the most traumatic experiences of my entire life. It's difficult to dig this up - several people who I have talked about this experience have blocked it …
Continue reading "Armageddon: Part Eleven of My Life Inside the Narrowgate Cult at Messiah College"
Insomniac poetry. (Yes, I know I have a ways to go. And YES I know all churches aren’t bad and NO I don’t think everyone should stop going to church. This is just my personal experience, it’s my therapy, so excuse the darkness.) From a prompt “__________ is the thing with ___________” based on Emily …
You build me up, you break me down until I'm falling to pieces. The price I pay to live this way, and the fantasy stays alive. (Dream Theater) There were so many teachings during this general time period. Some of them were documented in my journal, though some of them just sort of popped up …
Continue reading "Narrowgate X: Part Ten of My Life Inside the Narrowgate Cult at Messiah College"
Yesterday, our story was published in a USA Today article titled "The tongue is a fire’: Southern Baptist church fractures over secrets and spiritual abuse" by Tricia Nadolny. Some external information was referenced in the story, which I have documented below. Note that the content of this blog entry may be updated or edited as necessary. …
Continue reading "Supplemental documentation for USA Today article on Oakwood Baptist Church"
