An Interview with John Collins on Branhamism and Abuse (Part Two)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/03/15

Abstract 

John Collins is an Author, and the Webmaster of Seek The Truth. He discusses: severe forms of abuse in the William Marrion Branham “The Message” community; the different abuse tactics used on men and women to keep them in line; the social control tactics; the lack of critical thinking and critical theology in the “The Message” church of the late William Marrion Branham; and the tragic cases of abuse, and heartwarming ones of those who got out.

Keywords: author, Christianity, faith healing, John Collins, Seek The Truth, The Message, webmaster, William Marrion Branham.

An Interview with John Collins on Branhamism and Abuse (Part Two)[1]^,[2]

*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citation style listing after the interview.*

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: If we are looking at the severe forms of abuse, what are the main ones within community to keep members in line?

John Collins: This is a difficult question to adequately summarize in one single conversation. The “Message” cult following of William Branham has repeatedly evolved and branched after multiple iterations of core doctrine, creating very different sects in multiple regions of multiple countries around the world, and each sect created from each branch in each region of each country has varying levels of abuse. It would be like asking which forms of abuse have been used in the Catholic Church in the past seventy-five years; even with the recent allegations and convictions of abuse in the Catholic Church, each instance of abuse cannot represent the Catholic community as a whole and the sum of all abuse cannot represent the views of the religion. Yet the abuse exists, and in many cases, the predators are protected and will abuse again.

In the United States, the most extreme example of abuse in the “Message” that has been documented happened at a cult commune in Prescott, Arizona, that William Branham called “Goshen” (Referring to the land given to the Hebrews by the Biblical pharaoh of Joseph).[i] Members of the commune ranging in ages from children to adult were emotionally, physically, and sexually abused as a means to control the group.[ii] Leaders of the commune would ostracize people from the community and separate families. Children were forced to march around the compound military-style and were physically beaten if they fell out of line. Some children were sexually abused by Branham’s close associate Leo Mercer, others burned with fire so they would “know what hell felt like”. Parents were instructed to perform acts of abuse upon children or each other, while leaders of the commune acted as a “witness” to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. The problem was so widespread that the courts were forced to delicately question cult members in areas of sexual and physical abuse, incest, and homosexuality.

Undeniably, the worst documented cases of abuse happened at Colonia Dignidad in the Maule Region of Chile under the leadership of “Message” pastor Paul Shaefer.[iii] Shaefer preached against “sins of the flesh”, often segregated men and women, and practiced enforced celibacy as religious atonement. Those who did not comply were brutally beaten.[iv] Members of the commune were monitored by armed guard in a military-style compound. After a child escaped and alerted authorities, an investigation led government officials to secret underground chambers where cult members were tortured by electric shock.[v]

When asked about abuse as a means to control, former members of the “Message” have different opinions. Many who experienced abuse have the opinion that their abusers were not aligned with the views of other members of the “Message”, and though abusive to enforce cult doctrine, should be excluded. Others argue that in many cases, leaders of the cult protected and enabled their abusers. Since William Branham himself praised physical abuse[vi], members of the cult often turn a blind eye to predators in positions ranging from leaders[vii] to lay members. Only in the cases where a “Message” cult pastor is exposed after having brainwashed and raped women of the church[viii] under the guise of “spiritual husbandry”[ix] is the abuse as a means to control beyond question.

At the same time, many former members overlook the more obvious forms of abuse. Having spent years and sometimes decades suffering through emotional abuse from figures in authority, they become so familiar with its effects that patterns of abuse turn into a normal part of life. It is not uncommon for members to be persuaded to ostracize friends or family members who question cult doctrine, or to be emasculated from the pulpit for not adhering to cult rules. Often, this persuasion is reinforced using Branham’s praise of corporal punishment for women and children. When it is put into action in the homes of parishioners, emotional abuse is followed by physical and even sexual. Branham praised those who brutally beat unclothed victims to the point of swelling and mutilation of skin[x], and the worst cases of abuse involve stripping females and both shaming and severely beating them.[xi] [xii]

Though the nature and severity of the abuse widely differs between cult churches, there appears to be a common theme. Former members who attended churches led by elders who used Branham’s statements to support emotional and physical abuse seem to have noticed more victims than those who attended churches that avoided those statements. Said one former “Message” member: “Most kids I know including myself were physically abused, all in the name of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ (A statement Branham frequently made in his sermons to support corporal punishment). Interestingly, similar patters appear in testimony from former members who attended “home church” – gathering in homes to listen to Branham’s recorded sermons from 1947-1965 – or who frequently listened to those recordings during the week between services. In a majority of cases described by former members, the abuse was designed to enforce cult rules and doctrine.

2. Jacobsen: How do these tactics differ for men and women? 

Collins: Any strategy used to manipulate or control members of a cult that differ between genders is directly related to the way in which gender roles are defined. This is true whether we are discussing William Branham’s “Message” cult based on Pentecostalism, Warren Jeff’s FLDS cult based on Mormonism, or any other religious cult displaying obvious differences in gender roles. The difference in tactics becomes more noticeable in religious groups whose definition of gender roles differs from society, especially when the cult’s definition of gender roles is based upon cult doctrine.

Gender roles in the “Message” have been defined very similarly to that of Christian Fundamentalism during the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s. William Branham encouraged the men to be the sole provider for the family unit, the women to be the family cook[xiii], and preached heavily against women who had any ambitions of a career.[xiv] Men are permitted to vote on political decisions, while women are strictly forbidden.[xv] Men keep up with current fashions, for the most part, while women are not allowed.[xvi]

Men are publicly shamed from the pulpit to enforce the control of their spouse,[xvii] inciting men to punish wives who do not adhere to the rules while denigrating women by insinuating they are property to be controlled. If wives disobey cult rules, Branham instructed men to beat them with boards.[xviii] Those who follow Branham’s advice begin a pattern of emotional and physical abuse that in many cases becomes more brutal over time.” [xix]

Many doctrinal teachings in the “Message are specifically designed to manipulate women through emotional abuse. Branham taught his followers to believe that the female part of the human race was designed by Satan, and that Satan was still making adjustments to the design.[xx] He taught that women were designed specifically to deceive, by her beauty, and that the female human was designed to have less morals than females of all other animals.[xxi] According to Branham, women would eventually be the cause of the destruction of the United States.[xxii] Women are emotionally manipulated to suppress their natural desire to be beautiful, to learn, to achieve, and to succeed. This suppression of thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ambition is so painful that it pushes some women into depression and suicidal thoughts.[xxiii]

3. Jacobsen: Why do these social control tactics differ in these ways?

Collins: The methods used to manipulate, influence, and control members of any religious cult differs between gender roles, especially within cults that originated before the Women’s Rights movement of the 1960’s having doctrine opposed to change. Outside a destructive cult, the lines separating gender roles have shifted significantly over the past fifty years. In cults based on Christian Fundamentalism of the United States, these lines do not move at the same pace, and sometimes not at all.

In the “Message” cult following of William Branham, the core teaching has been preserved through time by audio sermons recorded prior to Branham’s death in 1965. Though some sects of the cult have deviated from the core doctrine, a majority continue to preach and practice the views and opinions of a Christian Fundamentalist preacher fighting against the rapid pace of change in the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s. These recordings, without the central figure, have immortalized the cult leader, and the recordings themselves have become the central figure of the cult. As a result, the fight against change continues – even though the “change” has already taken place – and far more difficult to enforce or even fully understand in modern culture.

Many churches that follow Branham’s teachings consider William Branham to be their “pastor”…

…listen to the recordings, and replay Branham’s fight against cultural change every Wednesday and twice on Sunday. Those who do not play the tapes structure their sermons to match Branham’s agenda from the recordings, continuing the battle against gender equality[xxiv] and Civil Rights.[xxv] The typical sermon in a “Message” cult church will contain many references to the recordings, using direct quotes from William Branham to express Branham’s misogynistic views, and use similar patterns of emotional abuse to further enforce the cult’s views.

According to Branham, women were specifically designed by Satan for sex:

“But she is designed to be a sex act, and no other animal is designed like that. No other creature on the earth is designed like that.”

– Branham, 1965, Feb 21. “Marriage and Divorce”

Under Branham’s doctrinal teaching, men are trained to believe that women were a “only a scrap”, made to deceive the men:

“Only a piece, scrap, made of a man, to deceive him by; God made it, right here has proved it. That’s what she was made for.”

– Branham, 1965, Feb 21. “Marriage and Divorce”

Some cult pastors claim that these doctrines only apply to women who do not adhere to the cult’s female dress code, carefully avoiding some of Branham’s statements about the Creation Story. But when combined with Branham’s statements supporting or promoting the physical abuse of women and children, it is a recipe for disaster.

4. Jacobsen: How does the lack of internal support for critical thinking and, in fact, critical theology provide a ripe basis for the members of the community to be taken advantage of, throughout life?

Collins: The most unusual conversation I’ve had with a “Message” believer was when I began identifying several newspaper articles confirming William Branham’s 1907 birth year. One of the core beliefs in the “Message” was that the year 1909 was “spiritually significant”, and that the stars and planets aligned to announce William Branham’s birth. William Branham often described how the year 1909 was spiritually significant, and the majority of cult followers celebrate his birthdate as April 6, 1909.[xxvi] This was the date Branham used on the marriage license to his second wife, Meda.[xxvii]

Yet according to the 1920 Census[xxviii], William Branham’s parents listed his age as 12, placing his birth year in 1907, and newspaper articles I found confirmed the dates listed in the 1920 Census.[xxix] As it turned out, William Branham also used the year 1907 as a “supernatural sign” while speaking to the followers of deceased cult leader John Alexander Dowie in Zion City, IL.[xxx] Making matters even more confusing, William Branham listed his birth year as 1908 on his marriage license to his first wife, Hope.[xxxi]

To the follower of William Branham, I said, “William Branham could not have been born in all three years, 1907, 1908, and 1909. And if 1907 was ‘supernaturally’ significant because of his birth, then 1909 could not be ‘supernaturally’ significant because of his birth.”

His response surprised me: “I don’t understand it, brother, but I believe every word the ‘prophet’ spoke”.

When followers are manipulated into disabling critical thought, they open the door to critical problems. Not only are they allowing themselves to be influenced into believing things they would not ordinarily believe, they are allowing themselves to be persuaded into doing things they would not ordinarily do. While some might argue that abusive personalities would have abused other members of the cult without the emotional abuse Branham used in his sermons or the statements that he made promoting emotional and physical abuse, disabling critical examination of the sermons while giving ultimate authority to Branham’s words turns every statement into an order or action that must be carried out. It is how those orders are carried out that can be debated by members, and unfortunately, the abusive personalities carry them out in literal form. In the extreme cases, they have been combined with Branham’s misogynistic statements and have resulted in sexual abuse.

The problem, of course, is that this danger does not end after escaping the cult. Many escape Branham’s “leadership”, seeking to replace him with another “leader”, and find themselves trading one cult for another. Others, unaware that manipulative personalities exist in all walks of life, find themselves taken advantage of at home, in the workplace, on the streets, or even in new churches by other members. Though the non-cult situations are far less extreme, they could have been prevented simply by applying critical thought.

5. Jacobsen: What have been some – without names – more tragic cases of those who were hurt within community? What are some more heartening ones where people got out and started healthy lives outside of the myopic worldview of the purported “Message”?

Collins: For many years, current and former members of the “Message” were largely unaware of the abuse that existed in the cult. There were rumors, obviously, that spread whenever an elder or leader of a cult church stepped down due to sexual misconduct, but for the most part, leaders of the “Message” have been largely successful in suppressing information regarding abuse.

Beyond the horrific cases I’ve already mentioned, the abuse is seldom talked about even by former members. Victims who speak out are often further victimized, and some of them have reconciled with their predators or abusers. To speak out would be to re-open wounds that are in the process of healing and expose others whose victims believe the abuse has ended. The predators and abusers were also victims of the cult, manipulated in ways that are difficult for anyone to understand, and some former members have sympathy for both the abuser and the abused.

It wasn’t until recently that former members began speaking publicly about their abuse in the “Message” cult. A former member with a passion to help the victims setup a website, Casting Pearls Project (http://castingpearlsproject.com), and began publishing testimonies by former members who had escaped the abuse and reclaimed their lives. This led to several others stepping forward, both publicly and in private, allowing those outside the cult to catch a personal glimpse into what it was like to be an abused female in the “Message”.

On the website, there are stories describing nine-year-old girls that were psychologically, physically, and sexually abused for years.[xxxii] Multiple women were often forced to strip their clothes off to be shamed or molested while fully nude.[xxxiii] Some were brutalized while nude, one of which was beaten with a Louisville Slugger baseball bat.[xxxiv] In one case, a child was murdered by a sexual predator whose crimes had been covered up.[xxxv] The testimonies given by former members are horrific. It would be impossible to rate them as to which are less tragic, and which are more. Each victim, each form of abuse, carries just as much weight when one former member reaches out to help another. For them, their pain was the worst.

The beauty of the Casting Pearls Project is that there are happy new beginnings. Each person will carry a burden for a lifetime but have been able to start healthy lives. One is an author who is actively helping other victims as a volunteer speaker in the Arizona Department of Corrections for the Impact of Crime on its Victims Classes (ICVC), discussing the murder of children, the impact of child abuse on children, and the impact of domestic violence on women.[xxxvi] Women, who were trained from birth to believe that women should not enter the workforce, have started successful careers.[xxxvii] Some have found new and healthy churches to attend,[xxxviii] while others will never trust religion again.[xxxix]

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Author; Webmaster, Seek The Truth.

[2] Individual Publication Date: March 15, 2019: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/collins-two; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2019: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

[i] Branham, William. 1964, May 31. The Oddball. “And to come here this morning and look, this fine little Jerusalem setting out here, little, what I called, it Goshen, I believe, when we come over this morning. Remember, Goshen was one of the places that they worshipped, one of the first places the tent was pitched.”

[ii] People vs Keith Thomas Loker. 44 CAL. 4TH 691, 188 P.3D 580, 80 CAL. RPTR. 3D 630. Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-loker-33137#opinion

[iii] Ellrodt, Oliver. Brown, Stephen. Insight: German sect victims seek escape from Chilean nightmare past. “Schaefer followed the teachings of American preacher William M. Branham, one of the founders of the “faith healing” movement in the 1940s and ‘50s. Born in a log cabin in Kentucky, Branham said he had been visited by angels and attracted tens of thousands of followers with sermons that advocated a strict adherence to the Bible, a woman’s duty to obey her husband and apocalyptic visions, such as Los Angeles sinking beneath the ocean.” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-chile-sect-idUSBRE8480MN20120509

[iv] Ellrodt, Brown. “Former members of the sect say that Schaefer preached against “sins of the flesh.” He also segregated men and women, they say, subjecting all but a few to enforced celibacy. Anyone who disobeyed was brutally punished, often by Schaefer personally.”

[v] Collns, John. Colonia Dignidad and Jonestown. Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=67352

[vi] Example: Branham, William. 1958, Mar 24. Hear Ye Him. “Now, you can take some of these little two-by-fours if you want to, but that’s what God said. That’s what Christ said. Now, that’s the truth. Oh, God be merciful. What must the great Holy Spirit think when He comes before the Father? You say, “Why you picking on us women?” All right, men, here you are. Any man that’ll let his wife smoke cigarettes and wear them kind of clothes, shows what he’s made out of. He’s not very much of a man. That’s exactly right. True. He don’t love her or he’d take a board and blister her with it.” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from http://seekyethetruth.com/Branham/resources-deep-abuse.aspx

[vii] G. Sarah. Brain Hurt. “It was very difficult as well to attend a church when you knew the pastor had been convicted of sexually molesting a young girl. He went to prison, yet, when he was released he didn’t want to give up his church. If that wasn’t bad enough, just a few years later, this same man was caught in another country with a prostitute in his hotel room shower. Still to this day he has a church following.” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/brain-hurt

[viii] Example: Chikafa-Chipiro, Rosemary. Discoursing women, Christianity and security: The framing of women in the Gumbura case in Zimbabwean media. Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/kMIYBeS8G7jwRU5CEbdz/full

[ix] William Branham Pastor Convicted of Rape and Pornography. Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq0NYcrl94o

[x] Branham, William. 1956, July 28. Making the Valley Full of Ditches. “She’d beat her till she’d be so full of welts, you couldn’t get the clothes over the top of them. That’s what needs to be done tonight.”

[xi] Example: A. Anna-Lisa. Turning Pain Into Power. “The abuse included the most degrading forms of humiliation. I was locked in a basement cellar for hours or even days, naked, with no food. I was forced to walk around my home completing chores, not a stitch of clothing on my body. I was coerced into performing various exercise routines, naked, my parents laughing while they picked apart and ridiculed my body. My legs were scarred from where my mother grabbed me and dug her nails into me. Handprints and nail marks were left on my face after being slapped or pinched on the nose and drug wherever I was wanted. Punishments also included beatings with a belt and a Louisville Slugger, the resulting welts impossible to describe.” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/turning-pain-into-power.

[xii] Example: Layton, Martha. Psalm 147:3. “We started listening to Message tapes. I believe the Message pushed him over the edge. I was beaten, thrown out naked into the streets, choked, and almost killed.” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/psalm-147%3A3

[xiii] Branham, William. 1956, Oct 3. Painted-Face Jezebel. “listen, sister dear, God made you for one place, the kitchen. When you get out of there, you’re out of His will. Remember that. Women was made to be a helpmate at the house. She never was made for office work. And it’s caused more disgrace and divorces and things.”

[xiv] Branham, William. 1957, Oct 6. Questions and Answers on Hebrews #3. “Our nation has come so little until they’ve even taken the jobs away from the man, and put women out here in these places, till ninety percent of them, nearly, are prostitutes. And talk about men being gone, sure, it’s because they got women out there in their jobs. And they got so low-down till they put women as peace officers on the street. That’s a disgrace to any nation!”

[xv] Branham, William. 1960, Nov 13. Condemnation by Representation. “It shall also…has been an evil thing done in this country, they have permitted women to vote. This is a woman’s nation, and she will pollute this nation as Eve did Eden.”

[xvi] Branham, William. 1960, Feb 21. Hearing, Recognizing, Acting on the Word of God. “Morals, there’s no moral to it no more. Women, dressing evil; come through television, all kinds of impersonations of evil people of Hollywood, all kinds of stuff, fashions.”

[xvii] Example: Branham, William. 1954, May 9. The Invasion of the United States. “You say, “Well, the women.” Yes, and you men that’ll permit your wives to do that, that shows what you’re made out of.”

[xviii] Branham, William. 1958, Mar 24. Hear Ye Him. “All right, men, here you are. Any man that’ll let his wife smoke cigarettes and wear them kind of clothes, shows what he’s made out of. He’s not very much of a man. That’s exactly right. True. He don’t love her or he’d take a board and blister her with it.”

[xix] Example: Lefler, Joyce A. From Miracle to Murder. Accessed 2019, Feb 27 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/from-miracle-to-murder

[xx] Branham, William. 1965, Feb 21. Marriage and Divorce. “But in the human race, it’s the woman that’s pretty, not the man; if he is, there is something wrong, there is crossed-up seed somewhere. Originally it’s that way. Why, why was it done? To deceive by. Her designer, Satan, is still working on her, too, in these last days.”

[xxi] Branham, William. 1965, Feb 21. Marriage and Divorce. “Notice, there is nothing designed to stoop so low, or be filthy, but a woman. A dog can’t do it, a hog can’t do it, a bird can’t do it. No animal is immoral, nor it can be, for it is not designed so it can be. A female hog can’t be immoral, a female dog can’t be immoral, a female bird can’t be immoral. A woman is the only thing can do it. 116 Now you see where Satan went?”

[xxii] Branham, William. 1960, Nov 13. Condemnation by Representation. “Women, given the right to vote, elected President-elect Kennedy, was the woman’s vote, the wrong man; which will finally lead to full control, of the Catholic church, in United States. Then the bomb comes that explodes her.”

[xxiii] Example: H, Jennifer. Unwanted. Accessed 2019, Feb 27 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/unwanted

[xxiv] Branham, William. 1965, Feb 21. Marriage and Divorce. “Only a piece, scrap, made of a man, to deceive him by; God made it, right here has proved it. That’s what she was made for.”

[xxv] Example discussing Integration: Branham, William. 1963, Jun 28. O Lord, Just Once More. “He makes white man, black man, red man. We should never cross that up. It becomes a hybrid. And anything hybrid cannot re-breed itself. You are ruining the race of people. There is some things about a colored man that a white man don’t even possess them traits. A white man is always stewing and worrying; a colored man is satisfied in the state he is in, so they don’t need those things.”

[xxvi] A Special Day. Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://branham.org/en/articles/442017_ASpecialDay

[xxvii] 1941, Oct 23. Marriage License: William Branham and Meda Broy

[xxviii] 1920, Jan 20. Fourteenth Census of the United States.

[xxix] Example confirming William Branham’s age on the 1920 Census: 1924, Jun Mar 21. Hospital Bill Rendered. Courier Journal. “William Branham, 16 years old”

[xxx] Branham, William. 1951, Sept 29. Our Hope is in God. “How Doctor Dowie, in his death, prophesied that I would come to that city forty years from the time that he died. Not knowing nothing about it, he died on one day, and I was borned on the next. And forty years to the day I entered the city, not knowing nothing about it.”

[xxxi] 1934, June 22. Marriage License: William Branham and Hope Brumbach

[xxxii] Lefler, Joyce A. From Miracle to Murder. “No one listened to me while my ex-husband psychologically, physically, and sexually abused her over the years that followed.” Accessed 2019, Feb 27 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/from-miracle-to-murder

[xxxiii] Example: Layton, Martha. Psalm 147:3. “He told us that God had a special message for us. He told us that God wanted us to get naked and pray in a circle together. We proceeded to strip off our clothes and then the lights were turned out. I know I was only four, but I felt a sense of embarrassment having to strip off in front of my dad and brother. As we begin to pray my brother decided to touch me sexually for the very first time.”

[xxxiv] Example: A. Anna-Lisa. Turning Pain into Power. “I was coerced into performing various exercise routines, naked, my parents laughing while they picked apart and ridiculed my body. My legs were scarred from where my mother grabbed me and dug her nails into me. Handprints and nail marks were left on my face after being slapped or pinched on the nose and drug wherever I was wanted. Punishments also included beatings with a belt and a Louisville Slugger, the resulting welts impossible to describe.” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/turning-pain-into-power.

[xxxv] Lefler, Joyce A. From Miracle to Murder. “Thanks to two police detectives and a state prosecutor, Adam’s case was finally solved. It was discovered that the coroner had been wrong in the timing and cause of Adam’s death. If there had been a thorough investigation in 1983, the year Adam died, it would have been discovered that Eugene, the babysitter, had a history of domestic violence and vile behavior towards children. He abused his first wife and tried to strangle and sexually molest their son. Eugene sexually molested his second wife’s daughter from her first marriage and then sexually molested the two daughters they had together. Maybe Eugene’s family was aware of his history but didn’t inform me. I was an easy target. The “Message” hadn’t prepared me to think or speak for myself or to question authority.” Accessed 2019, Feb 27 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/from-miracle-to-murder

[xxxvi] Lefler, Joyce A

[xxxvii] Example: A. Anna-Lisa. Turning Pain Into Power. “Fast forward 8 years later: I am 29 and absolutely the most confident I have ever been. I am a single mother with a career that is taking off and will take me places I NEVER imagined I deserved.” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/turning-pain-into-power.

[xxxviii] Example: Jennifer H. Unwaned. “After leaving the Message, my husband and I joined a church that was the opposite of the Message. Here we found sound Biblical doctrine, love, and the Celebrate Recovery program.” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/unwanted

[xxxix] Example: Christine H. Breaking the Chains. “I will NEVER trust a religion again. I now rely only on a true God that loves me unconditionally. Broken and scarred, I am still worthy!” Accessed 2019, Feb 26 from https://castingpearlsproject.com/breaking-the-chains

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