Joe, a leader at First church, was charged with finding a company to repave the church parking lot. His college buddy had recently started a paving company and Joe secretly wanted to help his friend build up his business. Though Joe knew about previous less-than-honest dealings that his friend was involved in, he presented the company in a positive light,
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The other day as I was driving I saw a billboard advertisement for a new church. The sign simply stated the name of the church and the words, “Not your mama’s church.” At first I chuckled but then as I began thinking about the implications an unsettled feeling came over me. I had to wonder, what was wrong with my
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In recent years I’ve heard a lot of talk about the idea of “best practices.” It’s a bit of a buzz word in the business world and recently it’s made landfall in the church. The term, “best practices” conveys the idea that there are a set of recognized procedures and techniques that are generally accepted as the most prudent and
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1 Corinthians 12:26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. I woke up this morning to the news of another alleged megachurch leadership scandal. It happens so regularly anymore we have become accustomed to the nauseating pattern. Accusations are made and corresponding dismissals issued. Public relations maneuvers and
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Sitting in the airport terminal I couldn’t help but overhear the cell phone conversation of the man sitting directly behind me. Apparently returning from a business trip this jerk was clearly proud of his accomplishments. He was loud and caustic as he spoke about the stupidity of his boss who, I’m sure, had no idea how he was being taken
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As I’ve studied abuse patterns I’ve noted common patterns among abusers as they respond to allegations of abuse. These patterns have been observed and written about extensively. This abuse response pattern is evidenced in all types of abuse such as; emotional, spousal, spiritual, physical, sexual, and organizational abuse. A great way to remember and identify these patterns is an an
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Okay so I couldn’t come up with 95 theses on the subject but I got as far as 9.5, which is really just a cute way to say there’s an even ten. In reality, none of these theses are half truths. What you will read here is my response after having dealt with significant dysfunction in more than one church
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