Videos and Podcasts

Real People, Real Stories

Jeff became involved in Oneness Pentecostalism, looking for mercy and love, but all he found was a performance-based message. Deeply discouraged and spiritually exhausted, Jeff eventually gave up and walked away from faith. When it looked like all hope was lost, God reached down and miraculously saved Jeff in his lowest season. In this conversation, Jeff shares how he broke free from the false teachings of Oneness Pentecostalism, discovered the biblical gospel of grace, and at long last, found the mercy and love of God that he had always been searching for.

Tammy joined the United Pentecostal Church in her early thirties. She desired to serve the Lord and was told that the way to do this was to serve the church, so she jumped in and began working. As the years went by, her workload and stress increased to an exhausting degree and others’ opinions of her seemed synonymous with God’s opinions. In this conversation, Tammy shares how God reached her in her brokenness, led her out of the unhealthy church dynamic, and ultimately, out of Oneness Pentecostalism entirely. She is now resting in His grace as she continues to learn of His true nature—a good Father, full of mercy and compassion.

Rodney was born into the Old Order Stauffer Mennonite Church—members view themselves as the one true church, believe you cannot know if you are saved, and enforce a long list of extra-biblical rules, forbidding every thing from zippers to men’s beards to electricity. Those who leave this group are handed over to the devil. Following this experience, Rodney continued to attend other types of Mennonite churches until he and his wife concluded they would need to fully leave in order to be spiritually fed and grow in their faith. He shares how, during this process, he came to understand the gospel of grace and learned to trust in Christ for his salvation—not himself, his church, or his works.

From a child, Alicia loved her Oneness Pentecostal church and school, and even more so, she loved Jesus. Inside, however, she was trapped in spiritual terror. Alicia had a secret that not many people knew—she couldn’t speak in tongues. And in Oneness Pentecostalism? That meant she wasn’t saved. After desperately seeking tongues for many years, Alicia felt that God must have rejected her. After 40 years of living in fear, God used free, faith-based resources online to open Alicia’s eyes to the biblical gospel of grace. The fear has been replaced with the joy of salvation. Now Alicia is excited to share with you the truth that set her free!

Amie was a devoted Oneness Pentecostal as a young person, and her desire avoid “compromise” resulted in her becoming trapped in an Oklahoma cult-church and being locked up every night. Extreme fasting caused her to begin starving to death, to the point of secretly eating toothpaste. Although outside intervention was able to break Amie physically free, it took decades for her to break spiritually free from the cultish teachings of Oneness Pentecostalism. In this conversation, Amie shares how she at long last came to understand the biblical gospel and salvation by grace. Freedom in Christ has been better than anything the world or hyper fundamentalism ever had to offer.

In this conversation, Daniel shares how raising children prompted him and his wife to more carefully evaluate UPCI teachings. In the end, they found that the doctrines that set them apart from mainstream Christianity were lacking biblical basis, and realized Christians of other denominations were not lost apart from God (as they had been led to believe). Daniel explains how hyper fundamentalism within the UPCI impacted him, distorting his view of God, the gospel, himself, other Christians, and more. Stepping away from the UPCI was a difficult decision, but walking in the freedom of the biblical gospel has made that step of faith worth the cost.

In this conversation, Whitney shares how the hyper fundamentalism of Church of the First Born impacted her, distorting her view of God, the gospel, herself, other Christians, and more. Her story of breaking away and pursuing Christ is inspiring. Leaving a cultish group came at a great cost, but the restoration and healing Whitney has experienced while rebuilding faith has made it all worth it.

Impact of Hyper Fundamentalism

In this video, five believers share why it’s so important for the Body of Christ to work together to fund, create, and provide faith-based resources for those who are leaving hyper fundamentalism.

“I know my church’s teachings are false, even cult like, but now I’m overwhelmed—where do I go from here?” This video is a compilation of thoughts, advice, and encouragement from believers who have gone through this process.

“If they don’t like their church, why can’t they just find another one?” is a question we hear often in regards to believers struggling to leave hyper fundamentalism.

In this video, five believers share their personal experiences of how hyper fundamentalism impacted their view of salvation and the gospel. We’re so grateful for their transparency and hope you will be encouraged by the change in their stories!

Bad theology hurts people, and one of the many ways it does this is by needlessly dividing the Body of Christ. Hyper-fundamentalist church members are often led to believe that they are superior to all other Christians, or even that they are the one true church—all the rest of Christendom is viewed as lost apart from God.

Free Gospel Bible Institute (FGBI)

What happens when “the man of God” believes he deserves unquestioned loyalty and total submission? In this interview, Rebecca (Becky) Pruett pulls back the curtain to give us a glimpse behind the scenes at Free Gospel Bible Institute in Export, PA. Becky not only studied under Thomas Peretic for 3 years, she became his right-hand assistant, working for him from 2007 to 2016. In her first public interview, she shares eyewitness testimony—corroborated by photos, emails, and teaching excerpts—of the abuse and exploitation happening behind the façade of FGBI.

In this interview, Jamey Norman (former FGBI faculty) cross-examines Thomas Peretic’s spiritualized death threats and conflating himself with Christ—this Bible School President’s “Lessons in Loyalty” are not just erred—they are antibiblical. The extent to which Thomas Peretic’s teachings on leadership have harmed God’s people will never be known. What we do know is that they continue to wreak havoc in churches across America, as ministers trained under Thomas Peretic perpetuate his heavy-handed authoritarianism.

In his first public interview, Anthony Moody (former FGBI faculty and alumnus) shares how the board responsible for overseeing Free Gospel Bible Institute has been made aware of serious leadership issues and yet, year after year, chosen not to act. Although teaching young adults was one of the most fulfilling jobs he’s ever had, he was forced to walk away when he saw his family financially suffering. While he was willing to sacrifice greatly for ministry, it was understandably confusing when he was also expected to do tradesman work on the rental properties and vacation cabin of the Bible School President (at no additional pay).

Called to Freedom – Luncheon

In this short talk, Berean Holiness’ Executive Director, Natalie Edmonson, explains what Berean Holiness is, the need we exist to serve, and how, by God’s grace, believers are being led out of hyper fundamentalism and into the biblical gospel.

Many of us who grew up in hyper fundamentalism attended 150–250 church services a year, and yet, the gospel still was unclear—or worse, distorted—because of the harsh, fear-filled nature of hyper-fundamentalist preaching. As we rebuild our faith, it’s critical that we return to the foundation and make sure that we understand the gospel as it’s taught in Scripture.

In this session, Nathan, Natalie, and Ethan discuss the challenges of disentangling doctrine after hyper fundamentalism and practical ways to support someone working through this process.

Jason and Vanessa were raised in Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostalism. They attended faithfully and followed the church’s many rules… but no amount of rule-keeping could bring what they needed most: transforming relationship with Christ.

If you grew up in hyper fundamentalism, chances are, you’re also well acquainted with authoritarianism. Understandably, it’s challenging to trust any church leadership after such a disheartening experience. Even after moving to a healthy church with accountability, there is a temptation to avoid church leaders and be as distant as possible. Yet, Scripture is clear that God gave us leaders for our good.

One of the most appealing aspects of hyper fundamentalism is the tight-knit community it brings; and one of the most difficult aspects of leaving hyper fundamentalism is losing that community. In this session, Ethan briefly discusses how to support those who are facing this challenge, and Natalie shares her experience of personally rebuilding faith community.

Jacob was raised in the Conservative Holiness Movement (CHM), specifically in the New York Pilgrim Church. He was zealous about serving God from a young age and attended one of the Holiness Bible Colleges. But instead of clarity, Jacob’s time at Bible college brought confusion that grew into a crisis. He left before graduation, believed he failed God, knew he couldn’t go back to a CHM church, but didn’t know where to go.

Nathan provides an update on the vision of Berean Holiness: To develop new Bible Studies that equip believers to rebuild faith, host community groups (via Zoom) on a regular basis, offer support calls to more people leaving hyper fundamentalism in crisis, publish articles on Holiness standards, povide faster one-on-one support to the hundreds of people who reach out, and so much more!

Called to Freedom – Conference

Jeremiah, host of the Cultish show, spoke on the topic of leaving cults and cultish groups and joining the church. Subjects discussed include the cost of leaving a cultish group, the stages of grief, upward and downward spirals, and finding hope after loss. 

Tracy Bowen was raised and married within the Conservative Holiness Movement. She knows what it’s like to experience soul-crushing abuse, to the point of believing that God could never love her. She knows what it’s like to feel such discouragement that she didn’t see the point in going back to church, and only did so for her children’s sake. But Tracy also knows what it’s like to be “loved back to Jesus.”

We were honored to have Naomi Wright and Aurelio Lessey join us as guest panelists in our discussion regarding recognizing and recovering from spiritual abuse. We pray their insight and wisdom on this sensitive topic will strengthen you on your journey of healing.

Conference attendees submitted questions for hosts of the Cultish show, Jeremiah and Andrew, to answer live: topics ranged from Holiness standards to recovering from spiritual abuse. Jennifer Brewer was the moderator for this discussion.

Jereme and Jennifer Brewer, hosts of Amateur Faith Night podcast, and Nathan Mayo and Natalie Edmonson, cofounders of Berean Holiness, come together to discuss walking in freedom in Christ. We discussed what sin is, whether or not Holiness standards are freely chosen, how we can exercise freedom in a God-honoring way, and much more!

Jennifer Brallier was raised within the Independent Holiness Pentecostal Movement and did her best to measure up as a “good Holiness girl”. She testifies now that God opened her eyes to see that she was full of pride and self-righteousness. As Jennifer began to study the Bible for herself, the Lord transformed her life.

Speaking at ‘Step Out of the Boat’

“Distort the gospel? How could Holiness standards do that?” As Natalie explains in this talk at the Step Out of the Boat Conference, hyper fundamentalism goes far beyond freely choosing to wear skirts or give up wedding rings. It’s a fear-driven distortion of Christianity that entails extra-biblical requirements, authoritarianism, tribalism, and elitism. 

Megan grew up in mainstream Christianity, but believing that stricter living could earn her favor with God, joined Oneness Pentecostalism as a young adult. More and more red flags began to surface as time went by. In her talk at the Step Out of the Boat Conference, Megan shares her testimony of how, by God’s grace, her eyes were opened to the errors of her new belief system and she came to understand the biblical gospel.

The Not Ashamed Podcast

What does the Bible teach us about holiness? What is it? How do we obtain it? In this first episode of Berean Holiness’ podcast, Natalie speaks with special guest Josh Ratliff, as well as panelists Bethany and Andrew.

What does excellent Christian unity look like practically? Can we collaborate across denominational lines without compromising our convictions? In this episode, Nathan and Natalie chat with special guest Luke Beets, a Holiness Pentecostal minister and college campus evangelist.

In this episode with special guest Tracy Bowen, we look deeper into how the gospel is skewed by those who are zealous to enforce strict standards.

Have you ever started to share your story or your beliefs only to be cut-off with the accusation of “You’re just bitter?” Have you ever wondered if maybe you are bitter, but you’re not sure how to know, much less how to heal from it? Join us for a discussion with special guest Amber Jones, founder and president of GraceStory Ministries.

“Where do we draw the lines?” is a question that deserves to be grappled with, and that’s exactly what we do in this episode. Our guest is Nathan Mayo, cofounder of Berean Holiness and Network Director of True Charity. Also on the panel are Bethany, Andrew, and Natalie.

Have you found yourself struggling with church attendance, whether it’s super frequent or rarely at all? Do you feel apart from God in seasons without a home church? Does attending a service trigger anxiety and/or panic? In this episode, we dive into the role of faith community and its overlap with church attendance.

Our guest is Naomi Wright, founder and executive director of beEmboldened. Also on the panel are Andrew and Natalie.

Have you ever found yourself conforming to a group rather than following the leading of the Spirit? Have you ever struggled with prioritizing pleasing people over pleasing God? How does one practice spiritual disciplines in a healthy way? In this month’s episode, we’ll be discussing all these questions and more, as we dive into our discussion regarding what it looks like to have a personal relationship with Christ.

Our special guests for this month’s panel discussion are Jennifer Brallier and Liz Johnson, joined by Bethany and Natalie.

Our special guest for this month’s panel discussion is Jennifer Brewer, joined by Andrew, Bethany, and Natalie. Together, they discuss their highlights and takeaways from Called to Freedom, read survey responses, and discuss the “‘Freedom’ is a New Name for Bondage” post that circulated during the event and was unfortunately weaponized (by some who shared it) against CTF attendees.

We discuss the red flags of an unhealthy church with our special guest Dulce Johnson (@honestmessylife). Dulce, along with her husband and children, left a G12 church that taught a prosperity gospel, Word of Faith, the “little gods” doctrine, and more. Joining her in this discussion are Andrew, Natalie, and Cole.

Have you heard claims of Oneness Pentecostalism’s rapid growth and other denominations shifting towards it? This month, we dissect a UPCI General Conference 2023 sermon making such claims. We verify the sources, revealing they discuss Trinitarian, not Oneness, growth. Join us as we compare Pentecostal statistics, delve into UPCI’s numbers, explore theological differences, and listen to Josh’s insights on their origin and division. Ready for a deep dive into Pentecostalism? Tune in!

On our final podcast episode of Not Ashamed Season #1, we dive into the topic of untangling group identity and learning to place our identity in Christ first and foremost. Our guest is Jonah McElhaney; also on the panel this month are Bethany, Andrew, and Natalie. Thank you for joining us as we rebuild theology in light of God’s grace, love, and the true meaning of holiness!

Guest Appearances

Natalie answers a variety of questions about hyper fundamentalism with Joe of My Journey Back – To God?

Nathan joins Cole Perkins of Practical Faith to discuss some of the dangers found in hyper-fundamentalist movements, as well as some practical thoughts on how to leave when it’s time to go. 

Natalie returns to Hillbilly Broadcast for a fun and unscripted conversation on topics such as “What do you think of tongues?” to “Why haven’t you blocked {a certain CHM Facebook commentator}?”

Natalie joins Jeremiah Roberts and Andrew Soncrant of the Cultish Podcast, along with Jennifer Brewer of Amateur Faith Night, to discuss the topic of disentangling one’s faith from fundamentalism.

Natalie joins Naomi Wright of BeEmboldened to discuss the danger of adding teachings to the Bible and the resulting consequences.

On The Crumpled Papers Podcast, Natalie and Austin Noll discuss the damaging effects of growing up within a mixture of purity culture and a toxic church culture defined by its members’ stringent adherence to its extra-biblical standards and practices.

Natalie joins Matt Bellefeuille of Truth Snack and chats about the process of leaving hyper fundamentalism without losing one’s faith.

Natalie joins the GraceStory Podcast to share her background and the story of Berean Holiness.

Natalie discusses the topic of spiritual abuse with Ari Noiboonsook on the Jay N Ari podcast. Ari has a background in the UPC church.

Natalie shares her story of leaving Holiness Pentecostalism with Deanna Jo on the Responsible Faith channel. Deanna Jo has a background in the UPC church, especially in Canada.

Natalie talks Holiness history and theology with the Jones brothers (Let’s Find The Root) who have a background in Apostolic/Holiness Pentecostal circles in the United Kingdom.

Natalie swaps stories with the folks of the Hillbilly Broadcast, comparing the differences/similarities between the Conservative Holiness and Pentecostal Holiness movements.

Natalie discusses holiness vs legalism with Pastor Aaron, Pastor Ken, and Rev. Doug of the Deliberating Pastor Podcast.

Natalie livestreams with Will and Brian of The Church Split and chats about publicly responding to Holiness pastors. (This is an archived clip from the original episode, which no longer exists on the host’s channel.)

Replacing Rules with Discipleship

Nathan and Natalie discuss how adding rules to scripture stands in steep contrast to the biblical pattern of discipleship.

Nathan and Natalie look deeper into 6 goals of discipleship and the process it takes to reach them.

Is wearing jewelry a sin? Some Christians think so. Nathan and Natalie closely examine the case against jewelry as laid out by the “Holiness Handbook.”

Interviews with a Former Oneness Apostolic (UPCI)

Josh and Natalie discuss: how and why he came to leave the Holiness Pentecostalism, initial red flags, uncertainty, findings, finding a healthy church, and more.

Josh and Natalie discuss: What causes a person to walk away from doctrines they’ve been taught their entire life?

Josh and Natalie discuss: What are safe ways to research and validate our beliefs?

Understanding Holiness

What is “holiness” biblically and theologically? What does it mean to have holiness or be set apart?

Why do we pursue holiness? Is it so we’ll be good enough for God to accept us?

How should we preach and teach holiness? What does holiness look like?

How do we determine to pursue authentic holiness with all of our hearts?

History of the Holiness Movement

“Letting down the standard “was a concern for Christians who followed the original Holiness standards too!

Explore the origin, early teachings, and doctrinal development of the Holiness and Pentecostal movements.

What was the original Holiness movement about and how did it begin?

We take a step back into the 1800s at the Breckenridge Circuit Campmeeting, as documented by Peter Cartwright.

An exploration into the origins of Pentecostal ‘shouting’ from Cartwright’s autobiography.

Cartwright tells how uncontrollable “jerking” would seize both sinners and saints in his congregations.

In this 1707 story, multiple sources report that little children in France spoke and prophesied in tongues.

Q&A with Nathan & Natalie

Q: “How do you respond to critics? What role does love and grace play in your answers online and also in person to person “real world” interaction?”

Nathan and Natalie answer the questions, “Are you KJV only? Why or why not?”

This video focuses on the question, “How do we obey the Old Testament?” And specifically addresses, “Do the rules about keeping the Sabbath holy apply to Sunday?”

Nathan and Natalie discuss why so many small, rule-focused groups can conflict with each other so much, yet all be so alike.