Jesus warned of wolves carefully disguised as shepherds coming into local churches as pastors. It is the perfect disguise for a predator to access and devour the flock one lamb at a time while proclaiming himself as their protector and guardian. The result is spiritual devastation, broken congregations, and even destroyed churches. Darrell Puls attests from experience that the enemy has infiltrated the North American church through pastors with dangerously high levels of narcissism. These pastors hide under layers of the sacred, but it is always an illusion of smoke and mirrors. Puls has experienced this reality from the inside as a staff pastor under a narcissist, and from the outside as a church consultant. He carefully unpacks toxic narcissism in everyday terms, and lets the victims tell their own stories. Let Us Prey, Revised Edition is as real as it gets.
Jesus warned of wolves carefully disguised as shepherds who would come into the local church as pastors. It is the perfect disguise from which to devour the flock one lamb at a time. The authors were the first to study this phenomenon in North America and discover how serious the problem is. What they uncovered is shocking. The enemy has infiltrated the North American church. In this study of a large Canadian denomination, just under one in three pastors met the diagnostic criteria of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). This is one of the most destructive and least treatable of all mental disorders, but is often well hidden behind layers of ""sacred"" deception. Some are charismatic while others are quiet and even awkward, but they share the same needs for power, control, praise, and public recognition. They are also rigid, unbending, never wrong, demanding, and full of hidden rage, leaving the people working for them in demoralized fear. They see you as inferior and God as a rival, while the worst see themselves as God. If they see you as a threat, they will do everything possible to destroy you spiritually and emotionally. Is your pastor one of them? ""Armed with research data and real-life examples, Puls and Ball provide an absorbing and alarming analysis of Christian clergy who suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, describing the toll these 'wolves in sheep's clothing' wreak upon their congregations and co-workers. A must-read for clergy and those who supervise and support them."" --Kevin Livingston, Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry, Tyndale Seminary, Toronto ""Ball and Pulls do an amazing job of bringing a sensitive issue to the light. Filled with powerful stories, up-to-date research, and godly counsel, Let Us Prey is a great resource that brings wisdom, guidance, and healing to Christian leaders and church communities."" --Tim Clinton, President, American Association of Christian Counselors ""Let Us Prey contains ground-breaking research regarding the plague of narcissism in the church. It also provides practical direction for the diagnosis, intervention, and mitigation of narcissism in our pastorate and our congregations. A must-read . . ."" --Michael Patterson, PhD, LMHC, NCC, BCPCC, Chair, Department of Behavioral Science, Corban University ""Painstakingly researched and terrifyingly realistic, this book shocks us into facing up to the monsters within the body of Christ who prey on the sheep rather than pray for them. Read it and equip yourself to identify and confront these predators with firmness and faith."" --David Murray, Pastor, Grand Rapids Free Reformed Church; Professor of Practical Theology, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary Darrell Puls is a professional conflict interventionist with forty years of experience, and founder of Peacebridge Ministries, a Christian nonprofit that works directly with faith communities experiencing internal conflict. He is the author of The Road Home: A Guided Journey to Church Forgiveness and Reconciliation (2013). R. Glenn Ball is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in Canada, where he has served for more than thirty years in parish ministry and as a specialist working with distressed churches.
Adapted from articles originally published in the legendary Last Post magazine, Let Us Prey offers penetrating analyses of Canadian business in the early 1970s. Subjects include Bell Canada, with its complicated corporate manoeuvrings to create profitable subsidiaries beyond the reach of federal government regulation; Bata Shoes, a Canadian-based multinational whose Czech owner had close connections to the Nazis in the 1930s; Brascan, with its investments in Brazil and its long string of corporate executives turned Liberal cabinet ministers. Let Us Prey directs a critical eye at the affairs of some of the largest corporations operating in Canada in the 1970s.
“Let Us Prey” is a modern-day fast moving SUSPENSE THRILLER spanning the globe to take you from the destitute in the depths of despair in the heart of Philadelphia’s lower West Side.... to the heights of opulence comparable only to that of royalty across the sea in Bristol, England! You will go from the courtroom... to the morgue, from the prison... to the asylum, AND from the sane... to the psychotic! Embark upon a psychic journey through time to the Golden Age in the early 1900’s... and back again. You will probe in depth the 21st Century minds of the Psychic, the Medical Examiner, the Detective, the Forensicologist, the Criminal Psychiatrist, the Public Defender, and finally ... the deranged sociopathic mind of ... the SERIAL KILLER!
A church is where an insecure sixteen-year-old girl should feel welcome, happy, and most importantly, safe. Tragically for some, the church can become a place of great harm. Sandy Phillips Kirkham details her account of how a charismatic youth minister preyed upon her, a betrayal which left her broken, with a shattered faith, and the ultimate shame of being blamed and forced from the church she loved. From their very first meeting, the new youth minister slowly and methodically turned the sacred relationship of a trusted spiritual leader to one of abuse: sexual, emotional, and physical. When his actions were discovered, he was simply moved to another church, leaving Sandy to pay for his deeds. She was not his first victim, nor would she be his last. Despite a successful and happy life as a wife, mother, and friend, Sandy successfully concealed her abuse for twenty-seven years until a trigger forced her to face the truth. Sandy's story will take you on her journey of healing which began in 2004, first by seeking justice and closure from both the pastor and the church. Her strength and courage will inspire you. Let Me Prey Upon You details Sandy's journey from innocent sixteen-year-old victim to survivor and advocate.
In this world, you're either predator or prey. I come from a long line of pure-blood predators, but when my shift finally happened, I turned out to be prey. A bunny to be exact. A freakin' bunny.The guy I'd been promised to since birth rejected me. My own father has turned his back on me - shipping me off to Apex Academy even though it's practically a death sentence with what I am.Oh, and of course, my ex-fiance and his friends are here at the academy and more than happy to make my life a living h***.But then I met my teachers. Five incredibly gorgeous apex predators, each one more mysterious than the last. And all of them, very much off-limits.There is something dark at Apex Academy - something that's killing off students and teachers alike. As prey, I'm afraid I'm the easiest target, but who can I trust to keep me safe?
Being a teenager is bullshit.You'd think being an heir in one of most powerful families in predator society would make it easier, but you'd be dead wrong.From the moment I was old enough, my bloodthirsty parents made sure I understood my job is to smile, nod, and look pretty in public. None of my choices are my own, including my friends, my future, and even my hairstyle. The only sliver of happiness I cling to is my boyfriend, Todd, and attending Apex Academy where I'll be free of the chains holding me down. Unfortunately, my life is a cosmic joke and everyone but me is laughing.The perfect prom night I envisioned ends in disaster and my entire world explodes in the blink of an eye. I didn't emerge as a predator and now there's hell to pay. My name is Delores Drew and I've got news for the friends and family who betrayed me when I turned out different than they expected. I'm no ordinary bunny.
Beloved heroes Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are up against a powerful vigilante group with an eye on vengeance in the latest in the beloved series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author. “We’re going to murder people who need to be murdered.” So begins a press release from a mysterious group known only as “The Five,” shortly after a vicious predator is murdered in San Francisco. The Five is believed to be made up of vigilante killers who are very bored…and very rich. They target the worst of society—rapists, murderers, and thieves—and then use their unlimited resources to offset the damage done by those who they’ve killed, donating untraceable Bitcoin to charities and victims via the dark net. The Five soon become the most popular figures on social media, a modern-day Batman…though their motives may not be entirely pure. After a woman is murdered in the Twin Cities, Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport are sent in to investigate. And they soon have their hands full--the killings are smart and carefully choreographed, and with no apparent direct connection to the victims, The Five are virtually untraceable. But if anyone can destroy this group, it will be the dynamic team of Davenport and Flowers.
