Key Signs of an Abusive Pastor #1: A Long Track Record of Broken Relationships
I’ve been making my way through a new blog series on spiritual abuse in the church which I am calling “Bully Pulpit”. In the prior installment, I offered a definition of spiritual abuse:
Spiritual abuse, then, is when a spiritual leader—such as a pastor, elder, or head of a Christian organization—wields his position of spiritual authority in such a way that he manipulates, domineers, bullies, and intimidates those under him, as a means of accomplishing what he takes to be biblical and/or spiritual goals.
But just having a definition doesn’t answer all our questions. After all, there’s a level of subjectivity in applying this definition. Some may think … Continue reading...
Bully Pulpit: A New Series on the Rising Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church
Scut Farkus.
When it comes to movie bullies, perhaps he is one of the most famous. In the classic film A Christmas Story (1983), the red-headed Scut—wearing a coonskin cap and flanked by his shorter partner in crime, Grover Dill—would often torment young Ralphie and his brother on the way home from school.
The reason this movie (and this scene in particular) resonated with audiences is because people can relate. Most everyone grew up knowing a bully in their school; someone who would intimidate, threaten, and domineer the other kids.
Indeed, bullies are part of the human experience. So prevalent, in fact, that one could easily make a list of … Continue reading...
An Exciting New Book on Mentoring
The answer is almost always the same. Whenever I ask young believers—Christians who are godly and mature beyond their years—how they grew so rapidly in the faith, I know what they are going to say. An older, wiser believer invested in them.
In short, they were mentored.
As I look back on my own life, I can see this was true for me. Key spurts of Christian growth often coincided with older, wiser Christians in my life who invested in my life—a soccer coach, an upperclassman in college, a young pastor. The friendships with these men played a big role in who I am today.
Such a pattern should … Continue reading...
Interested in Getting a Biblical Counseling Degree without Moving? You Can Do it @RTSCharlotte
A number of years ago, RTS Charlotte launched a two-year Master of Arts in Christian Counseling degree (MACC) and it has been wonderful to see how it has grown. We believe that solid, Christ-centered, biblical counseling is critical to the health of the church.
Two years ago we also announced that we are now offering the MACC degree in an exciting new Summer/Winter format. This means that students can now get the MACC degree over the course of four years without having to relocate.
We are rolling out this new structure because we know there are many people who want to benefit from the MACC program, but are not able … Continue reading...
How Dangerous is Money? A Great New Resource for Avoiding the Pitfalls
Ok, so we all know the main Bible verse about money: “The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil” (1 Tim 6:10). In fact, we know it so well that we rarely let it sink in.
If we ponder it for just a brief moment, we would realize that money, though it can be a blessing, can also be one of the most dangerous things in the world. If a person is not careful, it can shipwreck your life.
For this reason, I am very thankful for Jim Newheiser’s recent volume, Money: Seeking God’s Wisdom (P&R, 2019). Jim is director of the biblical counseling program here … Continue reading...