My passion is for those who are suffering in abusive relationships who have no recourse to the court system.
Abusers follow the example of the Abuser in Chief and overwhelm their victims with motions and challenges that the victim cannot fight without attorneys.
And since attorneys cost money, and the abuser usually controls the money, their victims have no one to help them.
We have the organizations in place – we have advocacy centers and legal aid organizations, but the funding has been slashed so much that it is impossible for them to fill the need.
So one of my biggest priorities in St Paul will be to fully fund the non-profit legal aid organizations and advocacy groups: and then work with those same experts in reforming the laws to strengthen orders of protection, provide easier avenues of appeal for victims of crimes, and work with existing non-profits to fund safe places for women and children with nowhere to go.
A society is only as strong as its care for its most vulnerable. We can work on this together, but it will take courage.
Abusers don’t let go easily.
Author: Sam Powell
What am I doing here?
I am an ex-Reformed pastor. I love the system of doctrine found in the confessions of the church because they lead to Jesus, exalt Jesus, and clarify the life and work of Jesus.
But I worship him, not the confessions. I will never use the confessions of the church to beat someone down or to win some kind of argument.
In Reformed and Presbyterian churches, I hear over and over again how the books of order, the constitutions, and the centuries of procedures are used to silence the abused, drive away the sheep, protect the powerful, and maintain the status quo.
If you haven't seen it, you haven't been paying attention.
On top of this, in the 1980s and 1990s, several influential and powerful men introduced a new theology in the church as a response to feminism. They called it "complementarianism". They based it on a novel interpretation of the Trinity, by introducing authority and submission into the persons of the Trinity. Doing this, they contradicted the unanimous testimony of the church since the 4th century.
And one more - in the 70s, a cult leader named Bill Gothard invented a religion which he called "Institutes of Basic Life Principles". He peddled it to millions under the guise of Christianity.
All of these streams combined into a weird, oppressive, violent, vicious mixture which has infiltrated the churches. It is a strange new religion, under the guise of Christianity, but has nothing to do with it. It has gone by different names: Moral Majority; Christian Nationalism; Patriarchalism;
It worships power and authority, it worships traditions and parliamentarian procedures, it worships celebrity, and it worships those who can argue down a liberal or a feminist. It values destroying enemies with argument, it values contempt and winning the debate.
It calls for the release of Barrabas - at least he was trying to do something about Rome-
And shouts for Jesus to be crucified.
What this new religion doesn't have is:
Jesus, the Lamb of God
Grace
Mercy
Compassion
Understanding
Listening
or Good news.
All it knows is law. And all it trusts in is power. It knows nothing of washing feet, of letting the mind of Christ dwell in us, or of taking the lowest place.
So this is why I am here. For those who have been run down by Driscoll's bus, who have been crushed by the Gothard machine, cast out by Wilson's cult (or Piper's or MacArthur's)...
...for those who are so confused that they don't know how to separate the gospel of Jesus Christ from the lies and tangles that the enemy has woven into a snare...
I offer my services. I can listen. I can help untangle the lies by pointing you to the simplicity of the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
You can find me at sampowellministries.com
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Sam Powell for Senate 