I’ve only heard the claim once from a pulpit but perhaps that was already one time too many. I’ve since come across other people who have heard the claim. A preacher talking about the Lost Sheep in Luke 15 claimed that after finding the sheep, the shepherd would then break one of its legs. The… Continue reading The sheep with a broken leg? The danger of embellishing Scripture
Tag: church abuse
Safer Churches e-book
Here in one place are the studies and discussion questions helping us to think through what it means to plant safer churches Planting Safer Churches I would encourage Church leadership teams to work through these over a series of sessions. I am also currently preparing a series of YouTube videos to accompany the discussions
Keep a particular look out for narcissistic bullies
When thinking about dangerous leaders, the potential false shepherds and even wolves that might sneak in, being alert to the dangers of narcissism may be helpful. Narcissists are people with an unhealthy inward focus on themselves. They believe that the world should or does revolve around them, their needs and their priorities. These are the… Continue reading Keep a particular look out for narcissistic bullies
Watch out for wolves
This is the bit we don’t really like to talk about because we don’t like to be personal. But your church will face attacks from wolves. Paul makes it clear that not only might happen but that it will happen. “after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own… Continue reading Watch out for wolves
John Mark and the question of restoring fallen and abusive leaders
Here is this week’s podcast Audio Video
In the end it’s not reviews and reports that will protect you
I was reflecting with someone the other day about the horror of recent scandals within the church and the ongoing challenge for the many of us who are concerned about how such scandals have been made possible and may reflect other deeper cultural challenges. My friend expressed concern that we may be seeing the growth… Continue reading In the end it’s not reviews and reports that will protect you
When someone is falsely accused
This is the third and final part of my mini-series on false accusation. In my first article, I said that often the person who is falsely accused is not in a position to do much and so will be dependent upon the help of others. I believe that this is where others in the leadership… Continue reading When someone is falsely accused
What can I do when falsely accused?
Sadly, we’ve seen some high profile examples of sin, bullying and abuse or of church leaders failing to handle such situations well. I’ve written occasionally about these things because I’m concerned to see healthy churches and healthy leadership. However, not every accusation will be true. Sometimes this is because there has been a genuine misunderstanding… Continue reading What can I do when falsely accused?
Food from around the world wide web
First of all, a couple of articles related to mental and emotional health. We’ve got a guest article on Grace In The Depths where Jon tells his story of experiencing periods of acute hyper- mania The Great White Shark. Secondly, This article about ministry burnout in Premier Christianity includes an interview with my friend Pete… Continue reading Food from around the world wide web
On Tank battles – you don’t have to fight on the enemy’s terms
When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, this video clip of Boris Johnson arguing with Tobias Elwood about defence spending was circulated. For the record, I think Elwood has a point re defence spending in general. I’m also not convinced that Boris engages that point fairly or fully. However, the reason that the clip did… Continue reading On Tank battles – you don’t have to fight on the enemy’s terms
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