Why is the book being redone?
I have told my former editor Robert "OldCoder" Kiraly (of Final Minetest, minetest.org, chillcorner.org, etc) that I no longer wish to be contacted. Do not provide him with information to contact me or anyone else.
If he says he represents me, be aware he does not.
People familiar with his previous work will say "I told you so," and well, my bad for not considering spiritual elements and his stated root causes (views of what people are) and solutions rather than just strictly the facts regarding what he's said on minetest.org and Haggis Hell. I did my best to see situations from his point of view (despite disagreeing with his stated causes and solutions) and he was helpful and encouraging at the time of helping as editor. At the same time I thought if I listened enough and loved enough, maybe that would break through barriers he created in himself against God.
I knew Robert from minetest.org and I also tried to be a peacemaker between a Minetest videos author (from minetest.net) and Robert (from minetest.org), but the minetest.net person just thought I was intruding on Robert's behalf (after he interrupted by starting a group e-mail thread before I could finish getting their side of the story) and sharing e-mails and/or e-mail addresses with Robert which I did not. I did all this in good faith and with genuine concern and hope.
After years of assisting each other he started to apply dehumanizing rhetoric toward me after I pointed out his dehumanizing rhetoric wasn't in good faith and disagreed with his political takes. He did so again after I described his own behavior back to him regarding that and regarding violating my personal boundaries regarding frequently sharing corporate news (one-sided and/or hastily generalized) stories with me. It became clear these behaviors weren't due to his immutable traits as he claimed, but selective, and I pointed out to him how he demonstrated that as well. He continued the behavior in a group e-mail, so I confronted him in the group setting as well, and said I didn't want him to contact me anymore. He proceeded to create another group e-mail using e-mail addresses that I didn't provide, in order to attempt to contact my loved ones and former school.
What is the Overcomers book?
What caused me to start the Overcomers book (in website form) was to warn people off specific people in my life, Ray and later "Chameleon" of First Baptist Church of Perkasie and Baptist Bible College (later called Clark's Summit University, defunct in 2025), who abused authority and in other cases trust in Churches and other Christian groups. There wasn't a clear-cut rise and fall. People like me who were close to the situation knew better. I couldn't stay silent as they continued using their past as credentials to unwitting people, some of whom became victims in some sense, and some some of whom were given an incorrect impression or explanation of God and the Bible. So my goal wasn't to vent as a form of therapy—I've already improved my own life. My goal was to prevent apparent and potential ongoing harm.
Song of Solomon 2:15 (NCV) seems to be the right metaphor, at least for the intimate side of the situations (Though some of them were even more harmful than the minimal interpretation due to power imbalance):
Catch the foxes for us—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards
while they are in blossom.
Why does this apply? Because a vineyard in Song of Solomon is the intimate life of an individual. So little foxes that ruin them could be people I've discussed, in some cases. Yet, I have found peace with God despite feeling like my life was ruined, and I want you to be able to find that as well. This requires not letting such people be representative of God in your life. Much of the confusion can be dispelled by realizing these weren't cases of "how could a Christian do that" but cases of outright frauds, at least for the direct perpetrators, which is clear for us who were close to the situations. The enablers were perhaps naive, but accountability is necessary nonetheless due to putting the preservation of image (of the self or institution) over the safety of individuals.
The book became a message for a broader audience by discussing the issue of "just love on them" (in certain cases disregarding 1 Timothy 3:6 in favor of picking a self-promoting person who quickly adapts, such as to an unhealthy but common "pecking order" dynamic through subtle yet forceful and continuous persuasion) vs confronting and choosing leaders and connections wisely. I couldn't speak in a trustworthy way on Ray or Chameleon without giving a balanced view of them, making my own failures clear, or mentioning family and church issues that seemed to play a role in their rise and fall. I couldn't do that with without mentioning other people in our lives by two or fewer degrees of separation who abused their positions such as family members, Dennis Dembrosky, John Longaker, and ironically Eric Romig.
Though openly discussing matters of public concern openly can begin to help people process the harms, even that isn't enough. Reflecting on positive aspects of my childhood and life including supportive people helps it be more readable and helps people process heavy topics in general. Discussing root causes and potential solutions is also important. "Just forgive" is not the solution—Forgiveness can be part of healing and addressing crimes, but not "just" that. Reporting crimes and preventing enablement are not to be neglected. Examples of enablement include how Faith Baptist Church of Sellersville and Faith Christian Academy of Quakertown (Sellersville at the time of Eric) leaders didn't tell police until given no choice and in some cases further harm was already done. Certain leaders wanted to handle problems "internally," but this is not responsible in matters of public concern.
In a general sense, predators can't be trusted to just "get better" (See also JG Survivor Resources). A common red flag is vague apologies seeking sympathy for themselves, not being willing to admit to specifics of harm they did such as in the cases of all the people named above. The dire results of enabling them were that the behavior was repeated, such as in the case of Eric in the link above, allegedly Longaker, and Dembrosky. Or even in the non-criminal acts of impropriety that were nonetheless difficult or sometimes life-altering for people heavily involved with Ray and Chameleon such as myself and several other people.
Ironically, choosing connections wisely also applies to me in terms of choosing an editor. At the time I didn't really have anyone whom I knew or who knew me who could advise me in a way I could trust over my own understanding (but then, there's also Proverbs 3:5-6 and I seem to have not acknowledged my limits). My current church has been helpful and encouraging.
The last iteration of the book was helpful to people who were survivors at some level, but others found it offensive. Humor can help people stay engaged, and I think there is a place for mocking evil. However, having an editor who wasn't a Christian may have placed too much emphasis on that, and distracted from an important goal: To help people separate their view of Christians (or phonies) who failed them from their view of God.
Discussing matters of public concern publicly was intended to prevent further harm. Doing so and even naming names even occurred several times in the Bible (B.C. and A.D.). Hopefully if I rewrite this I will say "what people need to hear in such a way that they want to hear it," as my speech professor tried to teach me. However, it is counterproductive and part of cover-up culture to focus on projecting a good exterior, failing to pursue due process which protects people from harm.
Check back for a rewrite by way of a different editor or in my own words. I keep adding to this page so that people who shared this book site with others or who are looking to finish reading it will at least have the essential information to protect themselves and others.
For more information, see:
-Jake Gustafson