When people (image-bearers of God) are unfaithful, cruel, or absent, it can begin to feel as if God Himself is that way. I don't know everything there is to know about doubt, but if you are struggling with it (as I have!), this might be a gentle discussion that you find refreshing. 

A story of what happens when people professing to love God abuse a child--and what happens when God meets you at the bottom of your spiral. Rated explicit. Marc has specifically requested no solicitation for anything related to his past as a pornography performer. Any and all solicitation is unwanted and will be considered harassment. 

Referenced study: 

Kinney, A. R., Graham, J. E., & Eakman, A. M. (2020). Participation Is Associated With Well-Being Among Community-Based Veterans: An Investigation of Coping Ability, Meaningful Activity, and Social Support as Mediating Mechanisms. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(5). doi:10.5014/ajot.2020.037119

Link: https://ajot.aota.org/article.aspx?articleid=2766482

How many of these cliches have you heard? "Forgiveness brings healing." "Forgiveness brings restoration." "Forgiveness causes the other to come to repentance." "Forgiveness unlocks a cage, only you find that you are setting yourself free." How do these cliches stack up against Scripture? Hopefully, this will help church people who haven't been through a violent crime to be more truthful and gracious about the messy realities of our favorite forgiveness stories, and it will help survivors to confidently walk through the grief, lament, and legal process without trying to live up to false non-ideals. 

How do trauma and recovery impact marriage? What should the spouse of a survivor know or do? What can a survivor do to address their trauma so that it doesn't harm the marriage? What separates trauma-background marriages that make it from those that don't? 

It is not an abuser and a victim in a bubble; there are people around the abuser, and people around the victim, who also get hurt in the process of abuse. What should we know about secondary victims? What resources are out there? Why do religious cliches fall flat? 

What would you do if your father, your church's former pastor, was found out to have sexually molested children for over 40 years? What would you do if you were the church's only leader, and had been in leadership for only two years? 

This is one man's story. It is a grueling story of unusual wisdom in the face of immense pain.