The Unlovely Truth
Exploring the intersection of faith and true crime.
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Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
Is your church a safe place? That sounds like such a rude question, doesn't it? But I only ask because I love the church so much! Study after study shows church attendance declining, but I want to see our churches regain the central role they once held in our communities, where people saw them as safe and trustworthy havens for everyone.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 44. We are going to flip the script today. Self publishing expert, founder of Beatitudes Publishing LLC and Andre Lende is going to ask me some questions about my newly released book, “Reclaiming Sanctuary: Enhancing Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Safety in Our Churches”.
Feeling unsure about taking the first step? That's perfectly okay. This training is crafted to be effective at any stage of your journey. Immediate positive changes are within your grasp, and, most importantly, you'll have the flexibility to customize solutions to your church's unique needs. I'll be your guide throughout, supporting you in this crucial endeavor. Together, we can reclaim sanctuary not just within our buildings but also in our communities.
1 Samuel 17:32-37 TLB
“Don’t worry about a thing,” David told him. “I’ll take care of this Philistine!” “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “How can a kid like you fight with a man like him? You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!”
But David persisted. “When I am taking care of my father’s sheep,” he said, “and a lion or a bear comes and grabs a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If it turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this heathen Philistine too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who saved me from the claws and teeth of the lion and the bear
will save me from this Philistine!”
Saul finally consented, “All right, go ahead,” he said, “and may the Lord be with you!”
A true sanctuary isn’t just a building. It’s the community that inhabits the building. There were threats to the flocks that David tended, and there are threats to our flocks today. David says that when a predator comes after a lamb from his flock, he goes after it! He sees what needs to be done and he does it.
Part of making our churches true sanctuaries is to recognize that each one of us needs to have David’s attitude. He doesn’t look at how intimidating Goliath is, any more than he worried about bears or lions. Each in its own way was a threat and David was willing to be responsible to take care of threats.
I hope that each one of us will take a look around at our churches and see where there may be physical, emotional, or spiritual threats. If you need a bit of help doing that, I hope you’ll grab my book. There's a link in the show notes for where to grab your copy. And stay tuned to be one of the first to find out when the video training that dives even deeper becomes available.
Let me know what you think! Send me an email a lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have those hard, but impactful conversations!
Visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Link to buy Reclaiming Sanctuary: Enhancing Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Safety in Our Churches
Connect with Andrea Lende
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Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Behind the facade of a religious community, lies a story of manipulation, mind control, and tragedy. Let’s investigate the secrets, the power, and the psychological grip of the Word of Life Church – a story of religious devotion taken to the extreme.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 43. Our book this week is Broken Faith: Inside One of America’s Most Dangerous Cults by Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr. Our guest this week is Lori Prather, our chaplain here at The Unlovely Truth. Get ready for an eye-opening journey into the heart of the Word of Life Church– a story that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and make your question your own susceptibility to be manipulated.
This is one of the most disturbing instances of what I considered spiritual abuse and physical abuse in a church setting that I’ve ever come across. A church movement that started in 1979 and still exists today has many critics and many who would defend it with their lives. Though written as an expose, I believe this book also serves as a cautionary tale of sorts. It may be hard for some of us to accept that people can proclaim to be godly, then turn around and be horribly abusive. But it does happen. That’s why Jesus says this in Matthew 7:15 - Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. We will look at what else He says about how to recognize these false prophets.
Matthew 7:15-20 NLT
Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.
So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.
Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
This passage of scripture is so straightforward and so practical and it calls us all to practice what security experts often call situational awareness. Jesus is instructing his disciples on how to know who in ministry is authentic, and who is not. He knew we would deal with situations like this and He told us exactly what to do! We have to embrace this as part of our calling. If we look closely at this passage, we can see that Jesus gave us a simple three step process.
First we have to be willing to accept the fact that there will be false prophets trying to exert influence in our churches and ministries. Jesus doesn’t say we might encounter them, He states that they will come. We are instructed to be on the lookout.
Second, we must look objectively at a person’s actions. Trees produce fruit, and people produce actions. If someone produces bad actions, they are not a harmless sheep but are really a vicious wolf.
Third, Once we identify these bad actions, we have to deal with them. No - we aren’t going to throw anyone in the fire, don’t do that. But we may need to have that person step down from a leadership position or even remove them from our midst.
I know that sounds harsh, but I didn’t come up with this, God did. The integrity of our churches and our ministries is too important to handle wolves in sheep’s clothing any differently. Closing our eyes and hoping for the best is not a safety strategy!
Let me know what you think! Send me an email at lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have those hard, but impactful conversations!
Please visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Link to buy Broken Faith: Inside One of America’s Most Dangerous Cults
Learn more about the Word of Life Fellowship
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Interested in personal safety? Grab a copy of my books How to Kick Fear to the Curb: Private Investigator Approved Personal Safety Tips with Biblical Evidence to "Fear Not" and In God We Trust: Everyone Else Gets a Background Check
Tuesday Nov 07, 2023
Tuesday Nov 07, 2023
More than 600,000 people go missing in the U.S. every single year according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). Even if 90% of them are found alive or their remains are recovered, that would leave around 6,000 who become a part of the long-term missing. So that number grows every single year.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for more true crime stories, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 42. This week we’re going to talk about the growing problem of long-term missing people in the United States, highlight some cases, and I’ll give you ways that you can protect yourself and your loved ones.
Every missing person case is a tragedy and collectively the issue has been called the nation's silent mass disaster. When we think of missing persons, the initial image that comes to mind might be a recent disappearance—a frantic search, news coverage, and community efforts to find the individual. But what about those cases where the passage of time hasn't brought closure? Where loved ones continue to grapple with uncertainty, not knowing the fate or whereabouts of their family or friends for months, years, or even decades?
As time passes, the public and media attention tends to diminish, reducing the resources and support available for continued search efforts. Families often experience prolonged emotional distress, with the uncertainty of not knowing whether their loved ones are alive or what might have happened to them.
We can’t forget that these long-term cases affect the families and communities involved.
The impact on families is profound. The ongoing emotional distress and ambiguity can disrupt their lives in so many ways—financially, emotionally, and psychologically. Many families are left in a perpetual state of limbo, unable to move forward, and yet not having closure. You have to re-evaluate so many life events. Do you have a vacation or wedding planned - do you postpone them?
The toll on mental health, relationships, and everyday functioning is immeasurable.
These cases also affect communities, as unresolved cases erode trust in the justice and law enforcement systems, leaving communities feeling vulnerable and often overlooked.
Let’s take a look at four long-term missing persons cases and see if we can help find some answers for the families of Jason Washington from Columbia, Missouri, Warren County Jane Doe from Bowling Green, Kentucky, Lulaida Morales Sejalbo from Santa Clara, California, and Michelle Parker from Orlando, Florida.
The Bible passage I chose for this episode is one I’m sure many of you are familiar with.
Philippians 4:6–7 (NIV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
To put Paul’s words into context, we have to remember that when he wrote this, he was living under house arrest. He understood what it was like to face an uncertain future. Hope seemed like a very far off thing.
It’s hard to imagine not being anxious about anything when our worlds have been turned upside down. But Paul isn’t asking us to do something superhuman - he’s simply encouraging us to replace the anxiety and fear we naturally feel in horrible situations with prayer. That’s how we can have a peace from God that we can’t even understand, and we don’t have to. As the old hymn says, we just trust and obey. That’s how we can have a peace that will allow us to hold onto hope.
The families of the missing persons we talked about today need that so very desperately. I don’t know the families, but because of their situations I know they desperately need our prayers, and our help if we are in a position to give some. We certainly can all share this episode and someone who has answers to help solve these cases might come forward.
Visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Bring Jason Washington Home Facebook page
You can submit an anonymous tip here
Learn more about Warren County Jane Doe
Check out the great work being done at NamUs
Find out how you can help with long term missing kids cases
If you have any information about the disappearance of Lulaida Morales Sejalbo, please call the Santa Clara Police Department at 408-615-4700
Check out her information at missingkids.org
Anyone with information about the disappearance of Michelle Parker is urged to come forward and contact Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477).
Learn more at the Michelle Parker Missing Person Facebook page
Show your support!
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Let me know how The Unlovely Truth has made a difference in your life.
Learn more about safety on trust by reading my books How to Kick Fear to the Curb and In God We Trust: Everyone Else Gets a Background Check. And be on the lookout for my training guide, “Reclaiming Sanctuary: Enhancing Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Safety in Our Churches” being released this month!
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
Stalking is a tactic that abusers often use to control their victims. Being stalked can be terrifying, but there are steps you can take to protect yourself. Let’s hear about some actual cases so we can learn our own tactics - tactics to keep ourselves safe from these creeps.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 41. Our book this week is “Think Like a Stalker and Stop Them” by my friend and fellow private investigator Michael Kenny. He wrote this book to share what he’s learned from years of working with celebrity and non-celebrity stalking victims. He’s going to give us the tools and direction to help ourselves or someone else end the nightmare.
Like the song says, breaking up is hard to do. Have you ever had a soon-to-be-ex that just can’t accept that you want nothing more to do with them? That happened to a woman I’ll call Everly.
She had just moved to a new town and was lonely. She decided to use a dating app to find some dates. Soon she met a man who seemed to be every girl’s dream. He was polite, generous, treated her like a queen, and even had a great car. When Everly made the relationship Instagram official, an ex-boyfriend who had been the love of her life reached out. Are you thinking he’s the stalker? Nope! They reconnected, and it was Mr. Car who lost it.
Lamentations 3:52-57
Those who were my enemies for no reason at all hunted me down as if I were a bird. They tried to end my life by throwing me into a deep pit. They threw stones down at me. The water rose and covered my head. I thought I was going to die. Lord, I called out to you. I called out from the bottom of the pit. I prayed, “Please don’t close your ears to my cry for help.” And you heard my appeal. You came near when I called out to you. You said, “Do not be afraid.”
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah is thought to be the author of Lamentations, and he was writing about the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon and sharing his deep despair over the evil in the world that comes when people reject God. Lamenting in the biblical sense is more than just expressing sorrow. It’s also a way to process sorrow and confusion. But this chapter of Lamentation is also full of hope!
Even when we are being pursued and hunted down, when we call out to God, He will remind us that we don’t need to be afraid. And that’s something I hope this episode has also done. If you are being stalked, please know that there is hope. There are people like Mike Kenney who are providing resources to give you comfort and practical assistance.
I’ve put links in the show notes to Mike’s book, how you can contact Mike, and other resources for victims of stalking. I hope that not only will you check them out, you’ll share them. It’s a tough topic, but one we need to talk more about. Hard conversations lead to healthy outcomes.
Let me know what you think! Send me an email a lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have those hard, but impactful conversations!
Visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Get Mike’s book (and support The Unlovely Truth by using this affiliate link)
Connect with Mike on X
Share the episode
Other episodes on Domestic Violence and Stalking: Domestic Violence Statistics Don’t Lie: Meet the Man Trying to Change Them, Domestic Violence: There is Help Available, Whisper of Fear: The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Stalks the Stalkers
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
Let me know how The Unlovely Truth has made a difference in your life!
Need Help? Call 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) to reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline
Victimsofcrime.org has a Stalking Resource Center. You can call them at 855-4-VICTIM (855-484-2846)
Want to be safer? Grab a copy of my books, How To Kick Fear to the Curb and In God We Trust, Everyone Else Gets a Background Check
And be on the lookout next month for my guide to safer churches, "Reclaiming Sanctuary: Enhancing Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Safety in Our Churches".
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Domestic violence is a complicated topic. Even though I worked for a time in a domestic violence court, I’d never seen a case like this before. A case where a child was made to kill - by her mother.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 40. Our book this week is “My Mother’s Soldier” by Mary Elizabeth Bailey. Our guest is Chris Moles, who edited and contributed to “Caring for Families Caught in Domestic Abuse” written by a team of biblical counselors. Chris is a pastor, a certified biblical counselor, an author, and a podcaster. He’s going to help us unpack some areas where the church needs to grow when it comes to responding and ministering to families that have experienced domestic abuse.
Childhood wounds plague us all, but it’s hard to imagine any worse than those of Mary Elizabeth Bailey. When she was just 11 years old she committed a murder. That’s incredibly shocking for most if not all of us. What’s even more shocking and perverse is why she did it. Mary killed her abusive step father, not because she thought it was the only way to stop the abuse. She killed him because her mother told her to.
Proverbs 3:27-28 NLT
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it
when it’s in your power to help them.
If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say,
“Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.”
It’s in our power to help people stay safer more often than we think. Mary’s mother could’ve kept her children safer if she’d made less selfish choices. You’ll have to trust me that I didn’t go into as many details as the book did. Mary’s grandmother could’ve called the authorities. Maybe she feared losing the kids to foster care but that’s what happened in the end anyway. Brother Jim and Mrs. Kay probably did more for Mary than anyone.
We don’t know if the schools that Mary attended did much. To be fair, her family moved a lot which is quite common among families where abuse is happening. If the abuser doesn’t let you get close to anyone, it’s less likely you’ll get help. It doesn’t seem as though neighbors did much, or at least if attempts were made they weren’t successful.
But we are all supposed to do good things for people whenever we can. We aren’t supposed to put it off! Keeping a battered wife and an abused child safe is certainly good. If you suspect that someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, there are several different ways you can help. If you fear for that person’s immediate safety, call 9-1-1. Today’s verse says not to say you’ll help tomorrow. For some victims of domestic violence, tomorrow will be too late.
You can also tell the person you are concerned about them and want them to know that you are a safe person to talk to when they are ready. Make sure you let them know that a hotline exists that they can call for confidential help from trained advocates. I’ve put that number in the show notes for you so be sure you store that number somewhere you can access it.
Anyone experiencing domestic violence needs to be reminded that they don’t deserve what is happening to them and that they are not to blame. They need to be believed. They need to know that God’s plan for loving relationships, especially marriages, is that each partner puts the other’s needs above their own. Children are to be seen as a blessing and not a burden.
We need to tell them how much God loves them, but we can’t stop at mere words. We have to show that love by doing whatever good is in our power to do for them. I challenge all of us to find someone in our circle who needs us to see them, believe them, and offer practical help to them.
Let me know what you think! Send me an email a lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have those hard, but impactful conversations!
Visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Get Chris’s newest book (and support The Unlovely Truth by using this affiliate link)
For church leaders - grab a copy of The Heart of Domestic Abuse: Gospel Solutions for Men Who Use Control and Violence in the Home (affiliate link)
Visit Chris’s website
Check out www.menofpeace.org
Share the episode
Other episodes on Domestic Violence: Domestic Violence Statistics Don’t Lie: Meet the Man Trying to Change Them, Domestic Violence: There is Help Available
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Let me know how The Unlovely Truth has made a difference in your life!
Need Help? Call 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) to reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
As William Shakespeare wrote in The Merchant of Venice, “Even the Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. Pastor Baker lived a double life. His wife Kari didn’t see it until it was much too late.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 39. Our book this week is “Deadly Little Secrets: The Minister, His Mistress, and a Heartless Texas Murder” by Kathryn Casey and our guest is Kristy Hensley. Kristy is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Seed of Hope Counseling and a Co-Founder of Indigo Hills, a 501c3 Non-Profit retreat center that helps ministry leaders find rest and recuperation.
Linda Dulin got the worst phone call any parent could get in April of 2006. A police dispatcher said there had been an accident at her daughter Kari’s home. She asked if it was one of her granddaughters, but was told it was her daughter. She called Kari’s husband Matt and asked him what was going on. He told her that Kari was dead. He said she’d committed suicide.
1 Timothy 3:1-3 NIV
Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness,not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
It's okay to hold leaders accountable. If somone had held Matt Baker accountable, Kari might still be alive.
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Just as J. Edgar Hoover was starting his controversial career with the FBI, several wealthy Osage Indians were found murdered under suspicious circumstances. Vast oil reserves had been found beneath their land, and outsiders quickly tried to take advantage of the Osage’s newfound prosperity. Their most common scheme involved marriage and murder.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode #. Our book this week is “Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann and our guest is Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. Sarah is an author, speaker, member of the Choctaw Nation and is a Choctaw storyteller. She writes historical fiction that features truly authentic American Indian characters. And for my writer friends, she also offers a digital course all about creating those authentic characters in your writing.
So if you’re a Leonardo DiCaprio or Martin Scorsese fan, you are probably as excited for the movie based on this book to come out as I am! I love history and true crime, so this one really hit it out of the park for me. At one time, members of the Osage nation were among the wealthiest groups of people per capita on the planet Because of the Oklahoma oil boom, life was good. Until the murders started. Believing the Osage would not be able to manage their new wealth, lobbied by whites who wanted a piece of the action, Congress passed a law in 1921 which required that courts appoint guardians for each Osage of half-blood or more in ancestry, who would manage their royalties and financial affairs That was a recipe for abuse.
If this story made you mad, you’ll want to listen to this one .
Please visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Get your copy of Killers of the Flower Moon (this is an affiliate link so I may make a small commission to support the work of THe Unlovely Truth)
Connect with Sarah and check out more great resources here.
Be sure to visit https://www.choctawspirit.com/
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Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Would you be shocked if I told you that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been slapped, shoved, pushed, or worse by an intimate partner? Or that in the U.S., over 50% of all homicides are domestic violence related? That’s why when a woman is murdered, police naturally look at her husband or boyfriend. But when a man is killed, do they always look at the woman in his life?
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 37. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so we are going to be investigating cases where people who were supposed to love someone did just the opposite.
We’ve all heard stories of women who, after years of abuse, killed the husband or boyfriend who has terrorized them. What we don’t often hear are stories of men who fight back after years of abuse from their wives or girlfriends. We’re going to hear two of those stories today, and see if these men are treated the same as their female counterparts.
According to the ACLU, the average prison sentence of men who kill their female partners is 2 to 6 years. Women who kill their partners are sentenced on average to 15 years. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline website, more than 12 million women and men over the course of a single year are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States. That’s an average of 24 people per minute. Two-thirds of female stalking victims were stalked by current or former intimate partners. And the fallout spreads to others like ripples in a pond.
Proverbs 20:10 GOD’S WORD Translation
A double standard of weights and measures—both are disgusting to the Lord.
I believe that God hates corruption and favoritism. We all have opportunities to speak out against unfairness when we see it. The Bible verse I chose for this episode is from Proverbs chapter 20 and it's verse 10. I'm going to read from the God's word translation.
A double standard of weights and measures. Both are disgusting to the Lord.
I love that plain, very visceral language of this translation. Because I believe that it shows us so clearly. How much God hates corruption and favoritism.
Not all of these victims were treated. In accordance to the facts of the situation. People had agendas. There are inherent biases in how men and women are treated in these situations. And you've taken the first step. Toward helping. You've listened to this and you've educated yourself on what some of the problems are. And I think we all in our lives have opportunities to speak out against unfairness. When we see it. And I hope that you will be looking for opportunities. To stand up. And help a victim of domestic violence. Not all of them are going to admit that this is an issue they're struggling with. But if you suspect something. Just make sure that that person knows that you are a safe person to talk to. You don't need to fix their problem. You just need to listen. And then you can tell them. I'm not sure what the answer is, but I will help you find it.
Let me know what you think! Send me an email a lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have those hard, but impactful conversations!
Please visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Show your support!
Share the episode
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
Let me know how The Unlovely Truth has made a difference in your life.
How to watch And So I Stayed
National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
Get your copy of my books: How to Kick Fear to the Curb and In God We Trust - Everyone Else Gets a Background Check.
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Let’s explore the inside of the FBI from a female perspective. Jana Monore, the first female to earn a spot in the prestigious Behavioral Science Unit, is our guest today. She’s written an amazing book filled with stories about talking to serial killers, working undercover, and not letting her male colleagues see her fear of spiders! She’s so down to earth and I can’t wait for you to hear from her. But first, I’m going to tell you a little bit about her book.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 36. Our book this week is “Hearts of Darkness: Serial Killers, the Behavioral Science Unit, and My Life as a Woman in the FBI” and our guest is its author, Jana Monroe. Being a female in a very male dominated profession can be tough. But not as tough as Jana herself. She began her career in law enforcement at what was called a Youth Training Facility. It was filled with young offenders whose crimes would have landed them in prison if they had been old enough to send them there.
Jana spent years rising through the ranks until she was sitting next to serial killers asking them to tell her why they were in prison. Mostly they poured out lies and self-justifications. She said that they had Hearts of Darkness.
Our Bible passage this week is 1 Peter 5:6-9, The Living Bible
If you will humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, in his good time he will lift you up. Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you. Be careful—watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart. Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord; and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too.
This passage has what I think is some of the most practical wisdom for daily life that you’ll find anywhere in the Bible, and it dovetails so perfectly with what Jana shared with us today.
I hope you'll visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast. Together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Pre-order “Hearts of Darkness: Serial Killers, the Behavioral Science Unit, and My Life as a Woman in the FBI” today! (and support the Unlovely Truth when you use this affiliate link)
Watch Jana talk about working with Jodie Foster on "The Silence of the Lambs"
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Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Do you think you could turn your own father in to the police? What if I told you that you found out that he had abused children? Could you then? Would it make a difference if one of those children was your own sister, and others were children at the church where your father was the preacher? That’s the dilemma today’s guest faced And it changed the course of his life.
Welcome to another episode of The Unlovely Truth. I’m your host, private investigator Lori Morrison. Join me for another captivating true crime story, where physical, spiritual, and emotional safety takeaways are waiting for us. If you are listening, I believe you have a unique calling—to become a different kind of PI, not a typical private investigator, but a person of impact!
This is Season 4, Episode 5. Our book this week is The Devil Inside and our guest is author and pastor Jimmy Hinton.
Everyone wants a father they can look up to. A father who shows them love and teaches them right from wrong. Jimmy Hinton had a dad like that. He also had a dad who molested dozens of children. It’s hard to imagine one man had these two sides to him.Jimmy consults with churches who are dealing with leaders who have done things similar to what his father did. Many say, “But you don’t know how much good this man has done for the church”. I love the way Jimmy responds by saying “And you don’t know how much evil he’s done either”.
If you’re a leader in your church I urge you to get this book. There's a link below so you can find it easily. I want to read a quote directly from the book that I think is a call to action we can no longer ignore.
“Our kids can’t afford for us to sit idly by, hoping someone else will step up to the plate to protect them. Idleness hasn’t worked for generations, and it’s not working now. So now is the time for Christians to act. The church’s record on abuse should embarrass us. When secular researchers rightly name the church as the most dangerous place for children, it ought to spark a fight inside every one of us."
Most of us are probably familiar with the first verse of Psalm 89 from the old hymn “I Will Sing of the Mercies of the Lord”. I have put a link below to a video of a bunch of cute kids singing it so you can remember who we are trying to protect with this episode. I want to focus on verse 14, and it seems only right to read it from the International Children’s Bible translation:
Your kingdom is built on what is right and fair. Love and truth are in all you do.
How can we, as the church, tell others about the wonders of God’s kingdom if we don’t do what is right and fair? It’s not right to cover for people who abuse children, or anyone else. Yet we’ve seen it happen again and again in Catholic and Southern Baptist churches, and it’s happening elsewhere and just not getting as much media attention. It’s not fair to our flock to let them think they are safe when we aren’t doing all we can to make that so.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! I know that some of you listening are in churches that are getting it right - and I want to hear what you’re doing. Unfortunately some churches are not placing as much importance on the safety of our children as we should. I want to hear from you too. Send me an email a lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have those hard, but impactful conversations!
Please visit my website to access more episodes, read my blog posts, or check out ways you can financially support the podcast so that together we can impact more people, more families, and more communities. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting and investigative services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.
Link to buy The Devil Inside by Jimmy Hinton (and support The Unlovley Truth by using this affiliate link)
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