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A woman leaves a church shaped like a cage. A man inside says "Wait! I wouldn't go out there if I were you!" WHEN TO LEAVE THE CHURCH You can leave church for many reasons: bad teaching, lousy coffee, no youth group, terrible music, uncomfortable chairs. But there are two NECESSARY reasons to leave the church: When it’s abusive.When you can’t be free. Many leave the church for the first.More should leave for the second. I experienced a lot of the first and found a safer place.The reason I finally left is for the second reason. I migrated to churches...

THE TOXIC PACKAGE A woman leaves a church. The pastor says, "Just a warning: we've so conditioned you that if you leave it will absolutely KILL you!" It all came as a package. The abuse. The control. The theology. The denomination. The church. Some said it was just the abuse so find it without the abuse. Some said I just needed to find it without a controlling leader. Some said it was just the theology so find a church with better theology. Some said it was with the denomination so find a better one. Some said it was the church, there’s a better one out there. I tried...

A church full of people with Pastor Bob at the front, all lights on him, signs about Pastor Bob everywhere and everything is about Pastor Bob, but he says,, "Let's give glory to God!" Have you ever been in a church like this or had a leader like this? No matter how much religious talk there is, everything seems to be about the charismatic leader. Come, let us adore him! It's difficult to live free when a leader expects your unquestioning adoration.

ANGELS ON THE HEAD OF A PIN While wolves tear into a flock of helpless sheep, their three shepherds argue over how many angels can sit on the head of a pin. When I was a pastor of local churches, I always took seriously the several severe warnings to shepherds in the bible... like in Jeremiah and Ezekiel... two prophets who cared more for the people than their own leaders did. I believe theology is a good science. But we shouldn't let it get in the way of basic decent humanity. I really appreciate it when we help one another, support...

Does deconstruction have to be sad? In the popular poem "Footprints in the Sand” Jesus says, "The times when you have seen only one set of footprints is when I carried you."  I think he said, “This is where I dragged your ass!” Carl Jung said, "Walk your path or be dragged."  Recently someone said he prefers my funny cartoons and that I shouldn’t focus so much on negative things about the church.  Maybe this cartoon shows I haven't lost my sense of humor.  When I do cartoon and write about, say, spiritual abuse, I'm helping people embrace their experiences, trust their guts, find...