I was recently involved in preparing a child protection policy for our church. We were given a template by our insurer which was really great as it prompted us to put a policy in place early. Even though our children’s ministries are still small, we’re now prepared to offer a […]
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer She comes to her pastor trembling, testing his reaction to her tip-of-the-iceberg disclosure of the cruelty that persists behind the closed […]
His smile, the instrument of vice; The evil lurks beneath the nice. And truth, a shade to hide the light Dare never interfere with right. See wounded souls, they shrink in fear; He holds the sword of justice here. And woe to those poor sheep he leads, In pastures green, […]
We all know intuitively that there is a line between giving your child a smack and physically abusing him. While we may draw our lines in slightly different places, all decent people understand that there is a line and crossing it is evil. Church discipline is similar, but when it […]
Ministry means working with people. And people are sinners. So those who are ministering to others will at times find themselves knee deep in messy situations. Unfortunately, these situations often involve criminal behaviour which has never been reported to the civil authorities. Probably the most common instances are child abuse […]
The rise of sex scandals in modern life is amazing and sad. While nothing shocks me anymore, I continue to be disappointed by the number of leaders—Christian and non-Christian—who lack integrity at high levels. It does seem that absolute power corrupts, and that corruption usually takes the form of sexual […]
I have, over my lifetime, had the opportunity to interact with hundreds of churches around the world. I’ve seen some wonderful, healthy churches. I’ve also seen some dangerous churches. Here are some marks of a dangerous church. Mark 1: The leadership structure has a lot of similarities to a totalitarian […]
When a dictator rules, one of three things will happen to the courageous: The courageous will stand up to the dictator and be mowed down. The courageous will stand up to the dictator and escape/survive and will be hated and feared by the dictator. The courageous will do nothing and […]
By Dr. Jim Berg The purpose of confronting men in the church who are not fulfilling their obligations to their families is to restore those men to usefulness and to reconcile them to God and to their wives and families. Pastors today are concerned about the sad spiritual state of […]
