Grit in the Wild

In this episode, Joy Bullard shares Part 2 of her experiences with toxic faith, spiritual abuse, and the emotional toll of ministry life in IHOP (International House of Prayer) Atlanta / Gate City. She discusses the challenges of navigating leadership dynamics, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on worship, and the importance of communication and connection in healing. Joy reflects on her decisio...

In this episode, hosts Adam and Melissa Short welcome Joy Bullard to share Part 1 of her experiences with toxic faith, spiritual abuse, and the complexities of leadership within the IHOP (International House of Prayer) Atlanta / Gate City community. Joy recounts her journey from a young intern to a staff member, the prophetic words that guided her, and the challenges she faced in a high-pressure m...

In this episode, special guest Andrew Bullard recounts his story of his involvement in International House of Prayer (IHOP) Atlanta / Gate City. His story is a window into the harmful impacts of spiritual abuse, toxic leadership, prophetic manipulation, as he and his wife Joy navigated their exit after the Mike Bickle Scandal rocked the IHOPKC organization. This is a must-listen for anybody who ha...

CONTENT WARNING: S*XUAL ASSAULT In this episode of Grit In The Wild, hosts Adam and Melissa Short delve into the complexities of toxic faith, spiritual abuse, and the process of deconstruction and reconstruction. They share their personal experiences with religious trauma, the impact of community and isolation, and the importance of support in healing. The conversation highlights the nuances of tr...

In this episode, we discuss and journey through how high-control groups can stunt our ability to break out of conformity in our thinking and beliefs. This often leads to erasure of self, where we disappear as people, and our souls languish into what feels like a forgotten place. Much of our discussion is centered around how the autonomic nervous system deals with trauma and abuse, as well as the n...

In this episode, Adam & Melissa give an update on the Dr. Michael Brown scandal, including how the fallout is impacting them and the wider body of Christ. Also, the discussion highlights how the New Apostolic Reformation tends to lead people to experience spiritual FOMO because of loaded language around prophetic words/culture. Finally, the episode covers Adam & Melissa's journey around fi...

In Episode 8, Adam & Melissa get into how spiritually esoteric beliefs and practices in the hyper-charismatic churches (such as Bethel, IHOPKC, & MorningStar) have harmed many people's lives. They open up about the impact of this on their own experience, and how so much of the teaching is actually unintelligible, pie-in-the-sky nonsense. Also, Adam & Melissa hone in on how the impact h...

In this episode, Adam & Melissa share more openly about their ongoing process of working through layers of grief 14 years into leaving church and in the deconstruction process. They seek to give all of us permission to make space for our own process and journey, no matter what it looks like or where each of us are.

In this episode, Adam & Melissa talk through the impact of the Firefly investigation report findings on the abuse at IHOPKC by Mike Bickle and others. They also process through the Shawn Bolz prophetic manipulation at Bethel, and specific ways that high control groups tend to condition us to check our brains at the door. In all this, baked into the system are illusions of hope (i.e. a Pot of G...

In this episode of Grit In the Wild Podcast, Adam & Melissa have a raw conversation about their latest thoughts on sitting with discomfort and owning emotions in the wake of charismatic church scandals @ Bethel & IHOPKC. We are the bodies behind the bus who can't not speak out any longer. How much more "grace" do you give church leaders who have a long history and pattern of covering up ab...

In this Episode #4, Adam & Melissa have an honest conversation about their own journey of peeling back the layers of deconstructing toxic faith years later after leaving Bethel and hyper-charismatic cultish environments. This episode will also hit on "honor" (silent) culture and the harm it causes, and Adam & Melissa's experience in recovering from it.

In this episode, Melissa shares some of her story of spiritual abuse and religious trauma that she experienced, and the journey of recovery. Trigger Warning: Spiritual Abuse, Religious Trauma, & CSA

In our 2nd Episode, Adam shares some of his story of experiencing spiritual abuse while serving as a missionary in Africa, as well as the fallout that happened with the missions organization in Kansas City. Trigger Warning: Spiritual Abuse & Religious Trauma

This episode sets the stage for our journey thru spiritual abuse, cultish orgs, religious trauma, toxic faith, deconstruction, etc. We will be sharing more from our stories in upcoming episodes! Trigger Warning for spiritual abuse. Hosts: Adam & Melissa Short