There many misperceptions regarding what a Christian life looks like. This is primarily because most Christians are too busy hiding their flaws instead of letting Christ be glorified through the flaws.
Many do this because they are afraid of being judged by religious folks at church. This has led to an absolute exodus of hurting people leaving the church. You may be wondering what it means to be "church hurt." To be honest, it can mean many different things, but it typically refers to wounds and rejections from Christians and people of the church.
Ultimately, though, the majority of church hurt has nothing to do with the church itself, but is more deeply rooted in the experiences of life that have wounded our soul. These wounds directly affect how we view God and the people of the church. We have an expectation that the church will be a place to help us and heal us, and rightly so!
However, we typically do not realize that the soul wounds we have experienced are influencing our ability to receive the love of God and directly affects our ability to interact with those around us in a healthy manner. That inability to receive, correlated with our interactions with those in the church, irritates our soul wounds just like digging a finger into an open cut.
Even when we are accepted, we feel rejected. The Beautiful Bride is written based upon the testimony of healing from the many wounds Trav experienced throughout his life. He shares from an intimate perspective many of the things he has experienced throughout childhood and adulthood, from domestic abuse to mistreatment from the church to a broken marriage, among many other experiences, all for the sake of opening up inside of you the opportunity to heal as well.
There are so many with a passionate heart for God, but are tired of being harmed by the church and just like Trav, have walked away from the church. The Beautiful Bride is a prophetic call for all the prodigals to come home!
