The Anatomy of Spiritual Abuse

Churches and faith communities should be a source of healing, love, blessing and spiritual growth. Godly spiritual leaders will model and help others in growing closer to Jesus. Sadly, this is not always the case. Some churches or spiritual leaders are characterized by toxic relationships. Sometimes churches will wound instead of bringing love, joy, peace and healing. While insecurity, jealousy, anger and more are often behind all this, the term to best describe this unfortunate phenomenon is “spiritual abuse”.

Jesus taught a lot about spiritual abuse without actually using that term. Jesus experienced this type of abuse and he expects his disciples to grow in discernment and awareness of it as part of the Great Commission.

In this audio message, you can learn about fourteen dynamics of spiritual abuse. Maybe you have experienced some of these, or know someone who has or is experiencing this now? When you face a problem, it is always helpful to understand the nature and dynamics of the problem. Then, you can more clearly and resolutely pray about it, seek counsel from others and ask for the Lord’s direction.

NB: If you have any issue in listening to this audio message, consider downloading Windows Media player on your computer.

Author: Dieter K Mulitze, PhD

Dieter has written three books on the ministry of transforming and healing prayer. One of Dieter’s main roles in this ministry is teaching the seminar series and speaking at conferences. Dieter’s three books serve to articulate and strengthen the theology and practice of the ministry of transforming prayer for the whole person. Dieter graduated from the U. of Guelph (BSc) and holds a PhD in quantitative genetics from the U. of Saskatchewan. Dieter was an associate professor with the University of Nebraska, and has co-authored scientific papers in several professional journals. He is a graduate of Regent College, Vancouver, B.C., with the Master of Christian Studies (MCS) degree, concentrating in spiritual theology. Dieter has served as an elder in a number of churches. Dieter is bi-vocational, serving as the Chief Scientific Officer for Agronomix Software, a software development company which develops, distributes and supports a software application for plant breeders and agronomists worldwide. With his experience in the corporate world, Dieter has also taught on the theology of work. Dieter is no stranger to international travel – having lived in Syria and Morocco for a total of 6 years and travelling to over 50 countries worldwide for business or ministry. Dieter and his wife Ellen live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They have one daughter, Karissa, who lives in France with her husband and children.

6 thoughts

  1. The audio message kept stopping at 17 seconds and so I was not able to listen to it.

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  2. Yes. I was able to listen to it. Thank you. I am going to pass your message on to friends and relatives. So helpful.

  3. When people begin to love God and other people more than they love power then they can get in the Pulpit for the right reason. A lot of men and sometimes women use the word of God and His holy name for their Unholy agenda.

    1. Hi Petrina – how true and that’s the core point – loving the Lord and being filled and thankful for His grace and Peace such that idols such as power and significance have zero place in one’s life.

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