I was a PK in the United Pentecostal Church. I know what suffering was like. Just like you I thought I was going to burn for eternity. I'm glad to say I finally left just like you. I left at 27 years old (I'm 76 now) it took me till I was 64 to become free of the terror. I left looking for a firsthand relationship with God. I want you to know all the crap you went through is worth what you discovered the Divine is really all about. Thanks for having the courage to jump from hell into Heaven.
i can totally relate, the church had me in total fear and it affected the choices i made and i was on the brink of suicide. i stumbled upon this meditation breathwork that saved me from myself. Thats how i found out the kingdom is within just like Jesus said, but the church wont tell you that.
I can relate too!! I was suppressing so much of myself the pain led me to finally go within, bc there were no answers “out there” to the questions I had, which I actually knew the answers to, but had to go within for healing and realization that, what I had suspected might be true and I was right about the whole time! We are all one and to deny God is to believe in separation from God which is exactly what they’ve been getting people to believe, which we’re all waking up from now! Hooray!🥳☮️💜🙏
Thank you for sharing this, Mel! So many of us with this Christian trauma. We spend the rest of our lives working to undo the damage of self-loathing and complete inadequacy.
I totally heart this. I no longer practice Christianity and it's a pain when I have to meet family friends who always say that I'm going to end up in hell. I still love them tho.
Oh sweetheart. Thank you so much for this I went through the same as you Panic attacks anger and anxiety You are so real and beautiful and brave Brava Divine One. You are speaking for so many of us Exposing all the lies and speaking the Truth. You are Magnificent I love you♥️♥️♥️🙏🙏🙏
I am very grateful for your channel, views, teaching, and guests. Have been healing from past oppressive Christian teachings and found relief from this oppression after finding this site. ❤
The worst experiences of my life turned out to be great strengths in so many unforeseen ways: relating to others in similar situations, helping me be more aware in my life, realizing that I am such a strong survivor. Peace be with you, and may your experiences become powerful strengths for you as well.
Yea well they will counter that Jesus said that many will be offended by him and that He would be a stumbling stone. Heard that plenty of times in church.
I don't "worship" Jeshua, but follow his teachings. I do attend some services, just for fellowship and be with my young grandkids. I partake, but not believe in their interpretations. I had an NDE in the early 90's so I know what's true and what is not.
Dear Melissa, I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks for the incredible impact you've had on so many lives, including mine. Your willingness to share your internal and spiritual journey has been both inspiring and transformative. Your transparency and authenticity have touched many, allowing them to connect and relate to their own experiences. Thank you and many blessings!!
I was raised in the church/cult with no name. Most of us former members call it the 2x2’s. The beliefs and doctrine are almost exactly the same as what you were raised in. A large number of us who left it have walked the exact same path as you. I too developed panic disorder with the same debilitating attacks and also had to go through therapy. I’m so happy you have reached where you are now! Much love from one survivor to another ❤
Thank you for sharing! Coming out of the church of Christianity I can totally relate. There is so much trauma attached to all the fear and judgment. God showed me that it is indoctrination. I am still healing from that programming. Now I'm learning to love myself.
Well done, Melissa 😊. That was so beautiful. Thanks for being so brave to share with us. It's so freeing and uplifting when we realise that DIVINE INTELLIGENCE/ UNIVERSE is bigger than religion or tied to Christianity. Once we're enlightened, awake, set free (out of the cage) we never want to go back. Yes, we're one with the Divine and everything. We should embrace and create our beautiful human experience with love and gratitude 💖 💕 ❤.
Your story of learning to be the whole person and fully human is what I find myself going through now. Yet another deep layer. But it also reminded me of a profound & powerful mantra that Belinda Womack taught me in the past and that I let slip away until listening to you now: “I am God fully human, I am human fully God.” Allowing ourselves to live fully human is how we best become fully our God-selves. Thank you for that reminder! ❤️🥰❤️
wow just hearing this brings up so much trauma that i have buried and blocked out psychologically… i hope people watch till the end to hear the punchline. thanks for being so bold to share this and to before those of us who haven’t been able to face it and accept it yet.
Oh, Melissa, that was SO moving. You are so vulnerable and so brave in this video. I would say this is one of your best if not THE best video you've put out. It tugged at my heart. Sending you lots of love and appreciation from a 73-year-old mother and grandmother from the Southern hemisphere.
Thank you, Mel! Your life experience has so many lessons we can all benefit from hearing, and I appreciate you sharing your story with us. I had positive religious (Christian) experiences growing up, but so many people didn't and it helps me understand other's perspectives when I hear stories like yours. ❤
Just like biblical and historical evidence proves that jesus and his apostles were vegatarians biblical and historical evidence also proves that the trinity, atonement, original sin and hell are very late misinterpretations and are not supported by the early creed hence its not a part of Christianity I pray that Allah swt revives Christianity both inside and out preserves and protects it and makes its massage be witnessed by all people but at the right moment, place and time The secred text of the Bible says ye shall know them by their fruits So too that I say to my christian brothers and sisters be fruitful and multiply Best regards from a Muslim ( line of ismail )
@@theguyver4934 Interesting. We know some of the Apostles were fishermen and they ate fish, so more likely they were pescatarian than vegetarian if they didn't eat any other meats. Thank you for your kind regards, and I wish you and your faithful people well also.
Holy shit, me too. United Pentecostal cult. No TV, radio, shorts, (showing skin caused lust, both burn forever), no sports, no jewelry, ect ect. If sick, God will heal you. Sexuality was absolutely taboo, you’d burn in hell forever. I left home at 16. Didn’t call mom for 20 years… I wasn’t hateful towards them, I just never looked back and forgot them for so long. I forgave them eventually.
Wow, I relate so much to your experience in a high control religion. Jehovah's Witnesses are similar includinbg child sexual abuse, it makes me sick. You are not allowed to read any negative things about them or you are considered an appostate. I also "woke up" and had a tremendous spiritual awakening. I found a woman who helps other people escape the Jehovah's Witnesses and also had plant-based medicine retreat that was pivitol in my healing. Congratulations on your journey and thank you for sharing it, it really helped me and I'm sure it will help many others.
Thank you so much for having the courage and humility to "expose" yourself in public...very touching and endearing. Such valuable lessons for all of us.
Never stop speaking about, and to, these things. Jesus loves Christians far more than they realize. And he loves you for what you're doing. Thank you Melissa-Bee.
Melissa ... yes ... I'm so absolutely with you here, and I feel I'm embarking on a momentous journey now. My husband wanted me to watch this video and for the first time I allowed myself to be honest. I was thoroughly trained to suppress my complete humanity as a woman all my life, and now I am angry !!!!! Oh God, I need help from here on ...
Thanks Melissa. Same here in fear based religion as a young man. Turned from all belief as a way to break away. Now full circle back to a fulfilling spiritual path of love and acceptance. Thanks for the podcast Dan
it’s y fortunate that we have to reject spirituality because of the way religion treats us. but it’s wonderful to have a story of encountering the truth behind it later on.
What a beautiful sharing. That was a deep dive on some very authentic experiences. I hope your example serves as an inspiration for many facing the same kind of journey you faced.
Some religious leaders are really off the wall, I grew up under no religion whatsoever and can't say I've missed out. These days I'm looking into Hinduism and Buddh and find it very satisfying
thanks for sharing!🙏 It helped me to work with some of my shadow stories😀 Sometimes it's just the way someone shares things. It was the way you talked about accepting that things/emotions are this way as we are humans. I am still in my process but now I've got a new perspective and I have an idea how to proceed😃 Blessings!🙏🙏 May all the blessings you give to others return to you 1000times!🙏
This was great. As someone who is rapidly aging and definitely experiencing it, I would add to your list of things at the end - things that are both very human and also divine - (and I will assure you, not easy to accept, not for me anyway) - are things like physical pain that does not go away, the deterioration of the physical body and the loss of ability to do basic things like walk without falling down. Many other things that I won't go into detail about. And of course, the ever approaching and unavoidable end of life - and all the VERY "down to earth" ways in which that transpires (the stuff they usually leave out of movies and documentaries about someone's "beautiful" death). Let me assure you, all of it is part of the human/divine experience, and most of it is NOT easy to accept or assimilate or avoid wanting to escape from. The journey goes on, and the challenges do not get easier along the way. But (or and...) you do a fantastic job with these videos. I greatly enjoyed hearing your personal story. I would encourage all though to not confuse the twisted teachings of some so-called "Christian" sects with actual Christianity. Much of what you described in this video (in my humble opinion) represented a severely distorted and warped version of the Christian faith. Although (admittedly) it IS a religion that is SO prone to getting twisted into knots.
Oh Melissa this post is downright amazing!!! I wept and resonated with so much of what you said! I think you started this channel a few years ago when I was just awakening as well… I can’t tell you how much you have helped me on this journey! Our stories are soooo similar and my family is still at that point where they think I am lost. I know so much more now through meditation, prayer, my own research and channels like yours. I really understand you though because of the strict Christian faith we both grew up in!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing today’s message..it was just what I needed at this time ❤❤❤❤❤
Another area/institution that teaches emotions and feelings are bad is the mental health industry. I have literally been brainwashed to believe that because I have strong feelings, I am diseased. If I feel it, it will make my brain worse. You MUST NOT FEEL. It is a sign of disease and YOU MUST BE MEDICATED. I have had panic attacks just thinking that I must be insane. (I am an empath) These thoughts just came to me while you were talking about spiritual bypassing, so it shows that I've been bypassing. Thank you, Mel, I love you and I am so sorry you had to go through this. The horrors that you and others have gone through are just sickening. But I am thankful that you are here now and being vulnerable. The more of us who speak the truth, the more we can heal the collective wounds.
Thank you for sharing this raw and personal video with us 🙏❤️ I was not part of any cult growing up, but I do see myself in a lot of your experiences and know I have to do the same inner work of accepting myself fully. Thank you again ❤️❤️❤️
I am very happy that you were able to get away from the vile beliefs taught during your childhood, and are now such a complete, loving, and helpful person. I love your interviews.
This video answered all my questions about how to manage those difficult emotions. I did not know about your childhood connection with a cult. You have come quite a long way from where you started. And you’ve taught me so much today. 1 million thanks! ❤
Raised in Southern Baptist religion. Hell, Fire, and Brimstone week after week. What freed me from those thoughts was something I heard on a channel like this. Can you imagine taking one of your children who does something bad, or said they hate you (as young children sometimes do), and take them out to a bonfire and pitching them in? I couldn’t conceive that the most loving God of the universe would do that to even one of his beloved children. Some in the church blindly follow their leaders who continue to instill fear into them. One way to keep them coming back I guess. I choose to listen more to those who teach love instead of fear. Thanks for sharing so much.
One reason I appreciate your channel is because of this common experience we both have, of having awakened from christian cultism. Mine was Mormonism, which I realize most conservative christian churches don’t recognize as “christian”, but it’s still every bit as steeped in the doctrine of original sin, Jesus as a “savior” from our fallen, sinful natures, hell, heaven, and the sense of being separated from the “evil” World. Like you, I went through some other attempts at spiritual community and practice, though I never fully bought into any group, because they all quickly showed themselves to have the same symptomatic characteristics as the Mormon church. One of the key characteristics I’ve learned to notice is; if the members of the group censor their thoughts and feelings consistently in order to align with some sort of groupthink ethos. I found this happening in shamanic circles, reiki circles, and Buddhist communities. It’s also present in the corporate world. If you’re at the ground level of the corporate sphere, you can get away with subversive thinking and speaking among the other ground level employees, but go up into management, and you’re required to parrot the company ideology, pretending the stated ideals are what’s actually happening. There are a lot of other signals that a group is a high-demand group that engages in cult like behavior (mind-control), but in my experience, this self-censoring is like the canary in the coal mine; if you can’t say what you actually feel and experience, something truly unhealthy is going on.
Omg, I remember Bill Gothard, I went to a week long seminar when I was around 13. I have had the same upbringing. Just in the middle of nowhere NC with only church and Christian school. I was so sheltered I had NO CLUE what sex even was till I was 16. I literally thought when a woman gave birth the baby just appeared because I was always told it was a miracle. I could write a whole book about this topic. Thanks for speaking out!
Thank you so much for bravely sharing your story. I had similar abuse and wounding being raised in Fundamental Christianity. I so related to everything you said. I’m 50 now and still trying to accept myself and my power and humanness. Thank you, thank you!
Thank you for sharing your story. I have been listening to your podcast for a long time and I really love the content. I had no idea that you had been through all that religious indoctrination. So happy for you as a woman to discover your true nature not to mention your sexuality! You have found the secret to enjoying your life and living fully! ❤❤
Wow, this old girl is impressed. You being authentically you experiencing your highest joy in the now with pure love and no expectations. What an amazing journey you had...Thank you for sharing such deeply personal experiences with us all. I am grateful. My Ma and Matias De Stefano help me finish constucting my enlightened peaceful life...Living with Love, Honor and Integrity. Knowing that Creator loves us without expectations of any kind helped me love myself as I loved everyone else...and find a joyful peace in a chaotic physical world.
The fear of not believing within the barriers of their dogmatic views is horrifying. It sets you up for terror. Because you think the consequences are hell, from God.
Melissa, thank you so much for sharing! My visit on your episode where I talked about my narcissistic Pastor husband, fear driven Calvinism, …the response has been amazing. A theme I hear from Christians is struggling with self-judgement. It can be really difficult for them to not see themselves as failing…their God is a God of judgement. I’m glad you’re bringing up this topic more and more, exposing Christianity. Would love to come on again and discuss these struggles.❤
Thank you so much for sharing! I can relate to all that you said and experienced. I totally agree with you that enlightenment happens in the body by facing the dark and light in us without judging it anymore. For me true freedom begins there because I don´t need to hide my "unloved or unwanted" parts anymore and I can just be my authentic human self. I appreciate your vulnerability and courage to share your personal story. Bless you and much love!❤
Thank you for being brave enough to share your experience. I’m so sorry to had to go through that in your early years. As a pastor’s wife I find it very troubling to heard those stories. I don’t agree with scaring people with religion. I’m a free thinker and I know my God (Source) is bigger than that. Love is the most powerful thing in the universe. I wish you the best ❤
Absolutely Beautiful! I can relate with so much of your story and truly appreciate that you share it here! This human experience is at the very least an grand adventure into the themes of duality and polarity and those of us who are committed to an inner awakening do well to realize that it is all messy and beautiful and perfectly imperfect for a perfectly good reason. Divinity never isn't.
I mean, I just love this sharing so much, Mel! It made me cry for what you, and so many go through, and feel awe at your courage. Your open mind and heart (and soul) has taken you on this incredible, painful, challenging journey and now you are gifting the world with your wisdom, learnings and love. Deepest blessings and gratitude!💙💚💜
Thank you for sharing Melissa ❤ this is helping many people. It's helped me understand more about me i feel i can understand and release now. Blessings to us all 🌎
Thank you for sharing this! I was caught up in Christianity for a very long time too, and I also experienced the hatred from family and so called friends when I left. You call it "deconstruction", but I call it "defecting" (from the cult). As a mainstream Christian, we thought of non-mainstream Christianity (Mormons, Catholics, New Agers and Jehovah's Witnesses) as being cults, but it didn't occur to us that we ourselves were ALSO in a cult. I look back at that now and I have to laugh at the ignorance.
Newer subscriber here. Thank you so much for this video. I too, have c-ptsd. Also been judged by people who say I chose this or manifested it. The one thing that had attracted me to Matt Kahn was that he would speak out about victim blaming and shaming but did it in a way that people would hear and hopefully understand. We can be our own worst judges of ourselves. We don't need others jumping on the bandwagon and beating us up some more. I really appreciate you and this video. Thank you.
Well, thank you, Mel. You always have deep insights. I am so amazed at someone who is so young in this world, and yet is truly an old soul. Much eastern teaching is also sexually suppressive and suppressive of the body. Even many of the Masters whom I love the most are that way. I have learned a great deal from listening to you. Thank you.
69 years old me detoxing from 20years on 4mg ativan(a benzodizepine) so glad you did't go down that road!!!!!!! BIG LOVE and BLESSINGS always in all ways! We gt this❤❤❤❤❤❤
@@Scott_Alex11 better. Don't have much support here But I'm doing it. Got down to two many times. Last month only took 1 5days in a row for the first, then I got a bad case of poison ivy after a few weeks sleep dep I wasn't healing. Back down again and I actually slept last night; when sleep becomes consistent this will much easier. I just started leaving comments. This is the first time anyone commented on mine. Thanks for asking.
May God give us all the honesty and genuiness as you express in this video! We all would be rich! Thanks! You are so adorable to God! Shalom to you for eternity!
WOW, thank you so much for sharing. I relate to so much of your story. I don't recall a lot of my childhood, it's really not surprising coming from that much trauma growing up. The panic attacks you're talking about I can relate 100%. I just want to say thank you thank you for your courage thank you for sharing this with the world God bless you. You helped me immensely just by being you and opening up honestly. I'm so glad and proud of you for coming to this realization at your age I'm 63 years old. So much I want to say so much I want to talk about I'm just not there yet. My son passed away 3 years ago today. Anyway I'm saying more than I wanted the bottom line is thank you thank you thank you for your honesty and sharing your experience with the world.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us and where you find yourself now. It is a story of hope and encouragement. I know this will help many people along their own paths. Namaste!
When you were saying how you always judged yourself, I thought, you were guarding against being harshly judged by others. It strikes me as self- preservation, which despite those difficult expectations, you were loving yourself by protecting yourself. Just sharing a thought that popped into my mind. Back to video…. I can’t imagine how it is for you and others who have so much ‘religion’ to undo, but I do hear the journey of agony, to the point of so many feeling suicidal. I wasn’t raised in much religion, it was just a social expectation. I was able to pursue spirituality, because it was reality for me, but no one to talk to about it. That doesn’t compare to your deconstruction. I have always been grateful to not have that to deconstruct, to use your word. I wonder if you were deconstructing being a sensitive, which would be impossible. I heard my entire life, small child, teenager, young adult, assault victim… I was too sensitive! It was meant as an insult. Well I’d rather be a Sensitive and be true to my nature, which also is not easy and isolating. Again, none of these experiences compare to yours, but it helps me understand the cellular depth of it’s impact. I am so sorry your earlier life was so unfair and dehumanizing. Churches with leaders, just baffles me. Why not use our Devine hot line to Source? Devine sense of self! Much love to you and your journey❣️
You are a hero and a star seed in this time of spiritual awakening 🙏🏻 keep up the work and May your healing elevate yourself and all those coming to your channel 🧘♂️
LOVE your honesty! I went through almost the exact same thing! Mine started at 13 when I was saved in a very strict church and I lived under guilt and shame for many many years trying to cope with life under all the rules I was trying to keep to please God, finally broke away!
Enjoyed hearing that and I identify with your experience a lot because of my own childhood. I'm in for non duality now too, although it took a minute. Thanks for what you do, really helpful in my own journey.❤
I was also brought up for part of my childhood in an evangelical cult like you describe. I get what you say about allowing yourself to finally feel and express your feelings. It’s scary and overwhelming and takes getting used to. Watching a “worldly” movie, listening to music I like, wearing what I want, dancing for fun, being intimate with a partner & doing it all without ingrained guilt, I find, isn’t achieved in one day. But well worth the journey.
Thank you wo much for sharing this. Everything you said resonated so deeply in my heart I feel like you named things I have felt for a long time but didn't have the vocabulary to express. I admire the human being you are, your journey and courage. It makes me so happy to see living your truth and fulfilling your purpose. We are so blessed to have you and I am so thankful for your life and your channel ❤
Dearest Mel. Thank you dear luved one. My story is sooo like yours, and this beeeeeautiful freedom we are getting to remember is pure pure bliss. Sooooooooooooooooooo much love to you.
You’re the real deal, Melissa. This was great. Happy to learn from and witness your journey. You let your life be the message, and you communicate your struggles/triumphs beautifully!
Very similar and similarities being raised in the LDS aka Mormonism religion. In the Temple's they teach the same "under the umbrella" ideology. We wear special underwear to keep our clothing modest and to remind us of our covenants we made in the Temple. Plus so much more! It's all about fear, money and control. I'm now enlightened and life is so much richer and happier!! Thank you for sharing your story. ❤
Thankyou Melissa for your courage and honesty in speaking about your personal life and issues 👏👏 After so much trauma, look at where you have arrived in this human existance. Your podcast is helping so many people... you are on the right path 🙏❤
I was also raised under the philosophy of Bill Gothard. My deconstruction led me through the Hebrew Roots Movement (another cult) and in 2018 away from organized Abrahamic Religion. Being " I AM " is the path to unconditional love. Thanks for sharing your journey.
I was a PK in the United Pentecostal Church. I know what suffering was like. Just like you I thought I was going to burn for eternity. I'm glad to say I finally left just like you. I left at 27 years old (I'm 76 now) it took me till I was 64 to become free of the terror. I left looking for a firsthand relationship with God. I want you to know all the crap you went through is worth what you discovered the Divine is really all about. Thanks for having the courage to jump from hell into Heaven.
❤
thanks for sharing your story it’s really an inspiration.
@@eremiasranwolf3513 preachers kid
Nice comment, Sir. 👍
I hope one day to be convinced I'm not going to hell.
i can totally relate, the church had me in total fear and it affected the choices i made and i was on the brink of suicide. i stumbled upon this meditation breathwork that saved me from myself. Thats how i found out the kingdom is within just like Jesus said, but the church wont tell you that.
I'm so glad you found your path, my friend!
Yes, I love how you put that…save me from myself. I have also been saved from myself. I love meditation! It’s such a powerful tool.
I can relate too!! I was suppressing so much of myself the pain led me to finally go within, bc there were no answers “out there” to the questions I had, which I actually knew the answers to, but had to go within for healing and realization that, what I had suspected might be true and I was right about the whole time! We are all one and to deny God is to believe in separation from God which is exactly what they’ve been getting people to believe, which we’re all waking up from now! Hooray!🥳☮️💜🙏
Thank you for sharing this, Mel! So many of us with this Christian trauma. We spend the rest of our lives working to undo the damage of self-loathing and complete inadequacy.
I've never heard of this before but I've been through this. I guess I'm a Survivor 2
yes it’s such a challenge
@@shannon2228i had never heard of this before until i heard it from Melissa. she’s a pioneer to bring awareness.
I totally heart this. I no longer practice Christianity and it's a pain when I have to meet family friends who always say that I'm going to end up in hell. I still love them tho.
😢 🌬️🌈❤️
Oh sweetheart. Thank you so much for this
I went through the same as you Panic attacks anger and anxiety You are so real and beautiful and brave
Brava Divine One. You are speaking for so many of us
Exposing all the lies and speaking the Truth. You are Magnificent
I love you♥️♥️♥️🙏🙏🙏
yesss!!!
I am very grateful for your channel, views, teaching, and guests. Have been healing from past oppressive Christian teachings and found relief from this oppression after finding this site. ❤
same here! a blessing and a helping hand
The worst experiences of my life turned out to be great strengths in so many unforeseen ways: relating to others in similar situations, helping me be more aware in my life, realizing that I am such a strong survivor. Peace be with you, and may your experiences become powerful strengths for you as well.
right on!!
If a religion makes you feel bad, it is not divine. I left Christianity years ago. Best decision I've ever made
Yea well they will counter that Jesus said that many will be offended by him and that He would be a stumbling stone. Heard that plenty of times in church.
I left churchianity.
I don't "worship" Jeshua, but follow his teachings.
I do attend some services, just for fellowship and be with my young grandkids.
I partake, but not believe in their interpretations.
I had an NDE in the early 90's so I know what's true and what is not.
Dear Melissa,
I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks for the incredible impact you've had on so many lives, including mine. Your willingness to share your internal and spiritual journey has been both inspiring and transformative. Your transparency and authenticity have touched many, allowing them to connect and relate to their own experiences.
Thank you and many blessings!!
I was raised in the church/cult with no name. Most of us former members call it the 2x2’s. The beliefs and doctrine are almost exactly the same as what you were raised in. A large number of us who left it have walked the exact same path as you. I too developed panic disorder with the same debilitating attacks and also had to go through therapy. I’m so happy you have reached where you are now! Much love from one survivor to another ❤
Thank you for sharing! Coming out of the church of Christianity I can totally relate. There is so much trauma attached to all the fear and judgment. God showed me that it is indoctrination. I am still healing from that programming. Now I'm learning to love myself.
Well done, Melissa 😊. That was so beautiful. Thanks for being so brave to share with us. It's so freeing and uplifting when we realise that DIVINE INTELLIGENCE/ UNIVERSE is bigger than religion or tied to Christianity. Once we're enlightened, awake, set free (out of the cage) we never want to go back. Yes, we're one with the Divine and everything. We should embrace and create our beautiful human experience with love and gratitude 💖 💕 ❤.
yesssss
Your story of learning to be the whole person and fully human is what I find myself going through now. Yet another deep layer. But it also reminded me of a profound & powerful mantra that Belinda Womack taught me in the past and that I let slip away until listening to you now: “I am God fully human, I am human fully God.” Allowing ourselves to live fully human is how we best become fully our God-selves. Thank you for that reminder! ❤️🥰❤️
wow just hearing this brings up so much trauma that i have buried and blocked out psychologically… i hope people watch till the end to hear the punchline. thanks for being so bold to share this and to before those of us who haven’t been able to face it and accept it yet.
Oh, Melissa, that was SO moving. You are so vulnerable and so brave in this video. I would say this is one of your best if not THE best video you've put out. It tugged at my heart. Sending you lots of love and appreciation from a 73-year-old mother and grandmother from the Southern hemisphere.
Thank you, Mel! Your life experience has so many lessons we can all benefit from hearing, and I appreciate you sharing your story with us. I had positive religious (Christian) experiences growing up, but so many people didn't and it helps me understand other's perspectives when I hear stories like yours. ❤
Just like biblical and historical evidence proves that jesus and his apostles were vegatarians biblical and historical evidence also proves that the trinity, atonement, original sin and hell are very late misinterpretations and are not supported by the early creed hence its not a part of Christianity I pray that Allah swt revives Christianity both inside and out preserves and protects it and makes its massage be witnessed by all people but at the right moment, place and time
The secred text of the Bible says ye shall know them by their fruits
So too that I say to my christian brothers and sisters be fruitful and multiply
Best regards from a Muslim ( line of ismail )
@@theguyver4934 Interesting. We know some of the Apostles were fishermen and they ate fish, so more likely they were pescatarian than vegetarian if they didn't eat any other meats. Thank you for your kind regards, and I wish you and your faithful people well also.
Holy shit, me too. United Pentecostal cult. No TV, radio, shorts, (showing skin caused lust, both burn forever), no sports, no jewelry, ect ect. If sick, God will heal you. Sexuality was absolutely taboo, you’d burn in hell forever.
I left home at 16. Didn’t call mom for 20 years… I wasn’t hateful towards them, I just never looked back and forgot them for so long. I forgave them eventually.
there’s a lot of holy shit comments here and i’m one of them as well
Wow, I relate so much to your experience in a high control religion. Jehovah's Witnesses are similar includinbg child sexual abuse, it makes me sick. You are not allowed to read any negative things about them or you are considered an appostate. I also "woke up" and had a tremendous spiritual awakening. I found a woman who helps other people escape the Jehovah's Witnesses and also had plant-based medicine retreat that was pivitol in my healing. Congratulations on your journey and thank you for sharing it, it really helped me and I'm sure it will help many others.
Thank you so much for having the courage and humility to "expose" yourself in public...very touching and endearing. Such valuable lessons for all of us.
We are many who are going through this or had . Thank you for Sharing ❤We are healing ❤❤
Thank you Melissa for sharing your message with us. You are a beautiful Soul and inspiration to many.
Never stop speaking about, and to, these things.
Jesus loves Christians far more than they realize. And he loves you for what you're doing.
Thank you Melissa-Bee.
Thank you for sharing, I appreciate the kind words!
yesss i agree
Melissa ... yes ... I'm so absolutely with you here, and I feel I'm embarking on a momentous journey now. My husband wanted me to watch this video and for the first time I allowed myself to be honest. I was thoroughly trained to suppress my complete humanity as a woman all my life, and now I am angry !!!!! Oh God, I need help from here on ...
Thank you so much for sharing! I know this will touch many souls that need this! To be OK not being ok! Especially Women! Bless you!
Hello 👋 how are you doing today?
Melissa, this is going to help so many people! Thank you for being so honest and open about your experience. 💗
Hello 👋 how are you doing today??
Thanks Melissa. Same here in fear based religion as a young man. Turned from all belief as a way to break away. Now full circle back to a fulfilling spiritual path of love and acceptance. Thanks for the podcast
Dan
it’s y fortunate that we have to reject spirituality because of the way religion treats us. but it’s wonderful to have a story of encountering the truth behind it later on.
The CPTSD issues you stated, I have experienced as well. Thank you for sharing!
Hello 👋 how are you doing today?
Thank you Mel, for being open, honest and vulnerable. Many will be helped by hearing your story.
You’re very brave to speak out on this . Keep speaking your truth 💕✨✨
Beautifully expressed Melissa thankyou for being so real we feel you much love ❤
I love the raw nature of this, this is lovely and refreshing. All best for you❤️
What a wonderful presentation! So beautifully spoken, truly touched my heart.
Hello 👋 how are you doing today?
Thank-you so much for sharing your story. Love and light to you.
What a beautiful sharing. That was a deep dive on some very authentic experiences. I hope your example serves as an inspiration for many facing the same kind of journey you faced.
This is truly awesome. Thank you for sharing your story. 💕💕💕
Some religious leaders are really off the wall, I grew up under no religion whatsoever and can't say I've missed out. These days I'm looking into Hinduism and Buddh and find it very satisfying
right on…
Thanks for sharing the story of your transformation. Beautiful soul. Powerful shifting forces taking place.... just so happy to be part of it. Aloha!
You outlined everything so perfectly!
thanks for sharing!🙏 It helped me to work with some of my shadow stories😀 Sometimes it's just the way someone shares things. It was the way you talked about accepting that things/emotions are this way as we are humans. I am still in my process but now I've got a new perspective and I have an idea how to proceed😃 Blessings!🙏🙏 May all the blessings you give to others return to you 1000times!🙏
This was great. As someone who is rapidly aging and definitely experiencing it, I would add to your list of things at the end - things that are both very human and also divine - (and I will assure you, not easy to accept, not for me anyway) - are things like physical pain that does not go away, the deterioration of the physical body and the loss of ability to do basic things like walk without falling down. Many other things that I won't go into detail about. And of course, the ever approaching and unavoidable end of life - and all the VERY "down to earth" ways in which that transpires (the stuff they usually leave out of movies and documentaries about someone's "beautiful" death). Let me assure you, all of it is part of the human/divine experience, and most of it is NOT easy to accept or assimilate or avoid wanting to escape from. The journey goes on, and the challenges do not get easier along the way.
But (or and...) you do a fantastic job with these videos. I greatly enjoyed hearing your personal story. I would encourage all though to not confuse the twisted teachings of some so-called "Christian" sects with actual Christianity. Much of what you described in this video (in my humble opinion) represented a severely distorted and warped version of the Christian faith. Although (admittedly) it IS a religion that is SO prone to getting twisted into knots.
Oh Melissa this post is downright amazing!!! I wept and resonated with so much of what you said! I think you started this channel a few years ago when I was just awakening as well… I can’t tell you how much you have helped me on this journey! Our stories are soooo similar and my family is still at that point where they think I am lost. I know so much more now through meditation, prayer, my own research and channels like yours. I really understand you though because of the strict Christian faith we both grew up in!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing today’s message..it was just what I needed at this time ❤❤❤❤❤
yesss!!
Another area/institution that teaches emotions and feelings are bad is the mental health industry. I have literally been brainwashed to believe that because I have strong feelings, I am diseased. If I feel it, it will make my brain worse. You MUST NOT FEEL. It is a sign of disease and YOU MUST BE MEDICATED. I have had panic attacks just thinking that I must be insane. (I am an empath)
These thoughts just came to me while you were talking about spiritual bypassing, so it shows that I've been bypassing. Thank you, Mel, I love you and I am so sorry you had to go through this. The horrors that you and others have gone through are just sickening. But I am thankful that you are here now and being vulnerable. The more of us who speak the truth, the more we can heal the collective wounds.
Wow, Melissa… Thank you for sharing this. So much wisdom and so well-expressed! Beautiful!
Hello 👋 how are you doing today?
Thank you for sharing this raw and personal video with us 🙏❤️ I was not part of any cult growing up, but I do see myself in a lot of your experiences and know I have to do the same inner work of accepting myself fully. Thank you again ❤️❤️❤️
yes thank you!!!
I am very happy that you were able to get away from the vile beliefs taught during your childhood, and are now such a complete, loving, and helpful person. I love your interviews.
Thank you so much for sharing your personal story, Melissa ❤ You are a brave and beautiful soul. Thank you again 🙏
This video answered all my questions about how to manage those difficult emotions. I did not know about your childhood connection with a cult. You have come quite a long way from where you started. And you’ve taught me so much today. 1 million thanks! ❤
I love hearing your personal stories. Such as your NDE! Very moving! This was excellent as well! Thank you!
Raised in Southern Baptist religion. Hell, Fire, and Brimstone week after week. What freed me from those thoughts was something I heard on a channel like this. Can you imagine taking one of your children who does something bad, or said they hate you (as young children sometimes do), and take them out to a bonfire and pitching them in? I couldn’t conceive that the most loving God of the universe would do that to even one of his beloved children. Some in the church blindly follow their leaders who continue to instill fear into them. One way to keep them coming back I guess. I choose to listen more to those who teach love instead of fear. Thanks for sharing so much.
One reason I appreciate your channel is because of this common experience we both have, of having awakened from christian cultism. Mine was Mormonism, which I realize most conservative christian churches don’t recognize as “christian”, but it’s still every bit as steeped in the doctrine of original sin, Jesus as a “savior” from our fallen, sinful natures, hell, heaven, and the sense of being separated from the “evil” World. Like you, I went through some other attempts at spiritual community and practice, though I never fully bought into any group, because they all quickly showed themselves to have the same symptomatic characteristics as the Mormon church. One of the key characteristics I’ve learned to notice is; if the members of the group censor their thoughts and feelings consistently in order to align with some sort of groupthink ethos. I found this happening in shamanic circles, reiki circles, and Buddhist communities. It’s also present in the corporate world. If you’re at the ground level of the corporate sphere, you can get away with subversive thinking and speaking among the other ground level employees, but go up into management, and you’re required to parrot the company ideology, pretending the stated ideals are what’s actually happening. There are a lot of other signals that a group is a high-demand group that engages in cult like behavior (mind-control), but in my experience, this self-censoring is like the canary in the coal mine; if you can’t say what you actually feel and experience, something truly unhealthy is going on.
Omg, I remember Bill Gothard, I went to a week long seminar when I was around 13. I have had the same upbringing. Just in the middle of nowhere NC with only church and Christian school. I was so sheltered I had NO CLUE what sex even was till I was 16. I literally thought when a woman gave birth the baby just appeared because I was always told it was a miracle. I could write a whole book about this topic. Thanks for speaking out!
Went through basically the same. Your channel and your interviews also played a big part in helping me. Keep going strong.
Thank you so much for bravely sharing your story. I had similar abuse and wounding being raised in Fundamental Christianity. I so related to everything you said. I’m 50 now and still trying to accept myself and my power and humanness. Thank you, thank you!
Hello 👋 how are you doing today??
Doing well Scot Alex. How are you?
@@luvcreate Good. Sorry for late response
@@luvcreate Nice to meet you here. Well my name is Scott I’m originally from Malte but live in Houston Texas USA . You
Thank you for sharing your story. I have been listening to your podcast for a long time and I really love the content. I had no idea that you had been through all that religious indoctrination. So happy for you as a woman to discover your true nature not to mention your sexuality! You have found the secret to enjoying your life and living fully! ❤❤
Mel, you are a brave soul and thank you so much for sharing your experience. Your growth will be the light for many. ❤
Thank you so much for your honesty and vunerability!
Beautiful narrative.
Much Love to You!
Thank you. This illuminates many of the things that bother me about religion and the christianity I was raised in.🙏💖
Hello 👋 how are you doing today??
Wow, this old girl is impressed. You being authentically you experiencing your highest joy in the now with pure love and no expectations. What an amazing journey you had...Thank you for sharing such deeply personal experiences with us all. I am grateful.
My Ma and Matias De Stefano help me finish constucting my enlightened peaceful life...Living with Love, Honor and Integrity. Knowing that Creator loves us without expectations of any kind helped me love myself as I loved everyone else...and find a joyful peace in a chaotic physical world.
The fear of not believing within the barriers of their dogmatic views is horrifying. It sets you up for terror. Because you think the consequences are hell, from God.
Melissa, thank you so much for sharing! My visit on your episode where I talked about my narcissistic Pastor husband, fear driven Calvinism, …the response has been amazing. A theme I hear from Christians is struggling with self-judgement. It can be really difficult for them to not see themselves as failing…their God is a God of judgement. I’m glad you’re bringing up this topic more and more, exposing Christianity. Would love to come on again and discuss these struggles.❤
Hello 👋 how are you doing today??
Thank you for sharing, Melissa. I appreciate your transparency. This was a great degment. Good stuff. 🥰
Hello 👋 how are you doing today??
Thank you for being such a blessing. Your teaching about enlightenment is so beautiful. And true!
Hi Melissa thank you so much for sharing your experiences and knowledge that is helping me on my spiritual path and growth 🦄💖🌞
Thank you so much for sharing! I can relate to all that you said and experienced. I totally agree with you that enlightenment happens in the body by facing the dark and light in us without judging it anymore. For me true freedom begins there because I don´t need to hide my "unloved or unwanted" parts anymore and I can just be my authentic human self. I appreciate your vulnerability and courage to share your personal story. Bless you and much love!❤
Thank you for being brave enough to share your experience. I’m so sorry to had to go through that in your early years. As a pastor’s wife I find it very troubling to heard those stories. I don’t agree with scaring people with religion. I’m a free thinker and I know my God (Source) is bigger than that. Love is the most powerful thing in the universe. I wish you the best ❤
Hello 👋 how are you doing today??
That was excellent Mel. Thanks so much for sharing and being so authentic and vulnerable 🙏
You are amazing 🥲. I love you and I love your channel. My journey is different but similar if that makes sense. Thank you for putting this out there❤.
Melissa , you are awesome. Thank you so much for your honesty ❤️
the real scourge is ideology ,delusion, narcissism and shallow 'isms'.
This is the best teaching I have heard on this topic. It is truly enlightening. Thank you for your courage!
Thank you Melissa. Your strength is inspiring!
Absolutely Beautiful! I can relate with so much of your story and truly appreciate that you share it here! This human experience is at the very least an grand adventure into the themes of duality and polarity and those of us who are committed to an inner awakening do well to realize that it is all messy and beautiful and perfectly imperfect for a perfectly good reason. Divinity never isn't.
I mean, I just love this sharing so much, Mel! It made me cry for what you, and so many go through, and feel awe at your courage. Your open mind and heart (and soul) has taken you on this incredible, painful, challenging journey and now you are gifting the world with your wisdom, learnings and love. Deepest blessings and gratitude!💙💚💜
Thank you for sharing Melissa ❤ this is helping many people. It's helped me understand more about me i feel i can understand and release now. Blessings to us all 🌎
Thank you Melissa for being so open and sharing your journey. Love your podcast.
Thank you so much for sharing your story! You are an amazing woman! ❤
Thank you for sharing this! I was caught up in Christianity for a very long time too, and I also experienced the hatred from family and so called friends when I left. You call it "deconstruction", but I call it "defecting" (from the cult). As a mainstream Christian, we thought of non-mainstream Christianity (Mormons, Catholics, New Agers and Jehovah's Witnesses) as being cults, but it didn't occur to us that we ourselves were ALSO in a cult. I look back at that now and I have to laugh at the ignorance.
Newer subscriber here. Thank you so much for this video. I too, have c-ptsd. Also been judged by people who say I chose this or manifested it. The one thing that had attracted me to Matt Kahn was that he would speak out about victim blaming and shaming but did it in a way that people would hear and hopefully understand. We can be our own worst judges of ourselves. We don't need others jumping on the bandwagon and beating us up some more. I really appreciate you and this video. Thank you.
Well, thank you, Mel. You always have deep insights. I am so amazed at someone who is so young in this world, and yet is truly an old soul. Much eastern teaching is also sexually suppressive and suppressive of the body. Even many of the Masters whom I love the most are that way. I have learned a great deal from listening to you. Thank you.
Wow, this was great; finding myself and surrendering in a deep way. You're teaching helps so much. I came from such a similar situation as you.
Hello 👋 how are you doing today?
69 years old me detoxing from 20years on 4mg ativan(a benzodizepine) so glad you did't go down that road!!!!!!! BIG LOVE and BLESSINGS always in all ways! We gt this❤❤❤❤❤❤
Hello 👋 how are you doing today?
@@Scott_Alex11 better. Don't have much support here But I'm doing it. Got down to two many times. Last month only took 1 5days in a row for the first, then I got a bad case of poison ivy after a few weeks sleep dep I wasn't healing. Back down again and I actually slept last night; when sleep becomes consistent this will much easier. I just started leaving comments. This is the first time anyone commented on mine. Thanks for asking.
May God give us all the honesty and genuiness as you express in this video!
We all would be rich!
Thanks!
You are so adorable to God!
Shalom to you for eternity!
You are so alive now!!! I’m so glad to hear your full story. Life is so beautiful! Thank you so much for being here and sharing
WOW, thank you so much for sharing. I relate to so much of your story. I don't recall a lot of my childhood, it's really not surprising coming from that much trauma growing up. The panic attacks you're talking about I can relate 100%. I just want to say thank you thank you for your courage thank you for sharing this with the world God bless you. You helped me immensely just by being you and opening up honestly. I'm so glad and proud of you for coming to this realization at your age I'm 63 years old. So much I want to say so much I want to talk about I'm just not there yet. My son passed away 3 years ago today. Anyway I'm saying more than I wanted the bottom line is thank you thank you thank you for your honesty and sharing your experience with the world.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us and where you find yourself now. It is a story of hope and encouragement. I know this will help many people along their own paths. Namaste!
This is the most amazing podcast. Thank you so much. I completely relate and thank you so very very much for your honesty!! Divine truth. Thank you.
When you were saying how you always judged yourself, I thought, you were guarding against being harshly judged by others. It strikes me as self- preservation, which despite those difficult expectations, you were loving yourself by protecting yourself. Just sharing a thought that popped into my mind. Back to video…. I can’t imagine how it is for you and others who have so much ‘religion’ to undo, but I do hear the journey of agony, to the point of so many feeling suicidal. I wasn’t raised in much religion, it was just a social expectation. I was able to pursue spirituality, because it was reality for me, but no one to talk to about it. That doesn’t compare to your deconstruction. I have always been grateful to not have that to deconstruct, to use your word. I wonder if you were deconstructing being a sensitive, which would be impossible. I heard my entire life, small child, teenager, young adult, assault victim… I was too sensitive! It was meant as an insult. Well I’d rather be a Sensitive and be true to my nature, which also is not easy and isolating. Again, none of these experiences compare to yours, but it helps me understand the cellular depth of it’s impact. I am so sorry your earlier life was so unfair and dehumanizing. Churches with leaders, just baffles me. Why not use our Devine hot line to Source? Devine sense of self! Much love to you and your journey❣️
You are a hero and a star seed in this time of spiritual awakening 🙏🏻 keep up the work and May your healing elevate yourself and all those coming to your channel 🧘♂️
LOVE your honesty! I went through almost the exact same thing! Mine started at 13 when I was saved in a very strict church and I lived under guilt and shame for many many years trying to cope with life under all the rules I was trying to keep to please God, finally broke away!
You are telling a story so close to mine Omg. Thank you. Starting around 30:00 in the bells started ringing. Wow!!!
Thanks for sharing. It really helps other people to hear some common experience.
Enjoyed hearing that and I identify with your experience a lot because of my own childhood. I'm in for non duality now too, although it took a minute. Thanks for what you do, really helpful in my own journey.❤
Hello 👋 how are you doing today?
I was also brought up for part of my childhood in an evangelical cult like you describe.
I get what you say about allowing yourself to finally feel and express your feelings. It’s scary and overwhelming and takes getting used to. Watching a “worldly” movie, listening to music I like, wearing what I want, dancing for fun, being intimate with a partner & doing it all without ingrained guilt, I find, isn’t achieved in one day. But well worth the journey.
Thank you wo much for sharing this. Everything you said resonated so deeply in my heart I feel like you named things I have felt for a long time but didn't have the vocabulary to express. I admire the human being you are, your journey and courage. It makes me so happy to see living your truth and fulfilling your purpose. We are so blessed to have you and I am so thankful for your life and your channel ❤
Dearest Mel. Thank you dear luved one. My story is sooo like yours, and this beeeeeautiful freedom we are getting to remember is pure pure bliss. Sooooooooooooooooooo much love to you.
Duality for me is knowing I AM God, and a Child of God, at the same time. Namasta
You’re the real deal, Melissa. This was great. Happy to learn from and witness your journey. You let your life be the message, and you communicate your struggles/triumphs beautifully!
Very similar and similarities being raised in the LDS aka Mormonism religion. In the Temple's they teach the same "under the umbrella" ideology. We wear special underwear to keep our clothing modest and to remind us of our covenants we made in the Temple. Plus so much more! It's all about fear, money and control. I'm now enlightened and life is so much richer and happier!!
Thank you for sharing your story. ❤
Thankyou Melissa for your courage and honesty in speaking about your personal life and issues 👏👏 After so much trauma, look at where you have arrived in this human existance. Your podcast is helping so many people... you are on the right path 🙏❤
I was also raised under the philosophy of Bill Gothard. My deconstruction led me through the Hebrew Roots Movement (another cult) and in 2018 away from organized Abrahamic Religion.
Being " I AM " is the path to unconditional love. Thanks for sharing your journey.