@wasthere89to91 thank you for your courage and for sharing what you and your wife went through. I am so sorry for the spiritual abuse and manipulation you both suffered. It’s awful. The number of stories of abuse perpetrated at the at the hands of Jim Cymbala are piling up, but you and your wife aren’t merely a statistic. Every single story is so heartbreaking and personal.
You were fortunate to find a pastor at BT that wasn’t willing to cover for Jim, lie, and encourage you to stay in the spiritual bondage you have described. You got out. And I am glad for you and your wife in that respect. Like so many others, it could have been decades of you and your family missing out on God’s plan and purpose for your life, usurped by Jim’s whims.
Your topic title is important: “Glad to find this forum.” That is one of the reasons it is so important to spread the word about the topics in this forum. There is healing in community. And there is danger in isolation. I encourage everyone who reads this to text, email, tweet, share this forum. It could be that someone’s spiritual well-being is at stake, having been abused and left alone. There are more victims of one type or another. I know of some of them who have come to me personally. I believe this site has helped them to know they are not alone. Some have shared their stories here. Some are still reeling from their abuse and have chosen to read other’s stories to gain their strength.
No amount of carefully crafted books can cover the lives torn down and wrecked at the hands of Jim Cymbala. His pattern of behavior will reach a tipping point; and I believe it has. The years of abuse is now and will continue to be exposed. The Church God Blesses will not be the one where the senior pastor is molesting his congregants. No matter what it looks like on the outside.
For those of you who have the strength, share your story as I have and as this husband @wasthere89to91 has.
Evil thrives in dark places.
Pray for the abuse to STOP. Pray for Jesus, whose name is Justice, would intervene. Pray the victims would find safety and healing.