The Boys (and girls) Who Cry Wolf: Defining and Identifying Abuse

I have read a number of articles containing information and analysis of the Ravi Zacharias sex scandal. The details are more than troubling and my heart breaks for the victims who were obviously groomed and traumatized by a man who was profoundly deceived. It is tragic and demands the brightest light of transparency for the Church and its leaders to awaken, learn the important lessons, and appropriately change its operating procedures in order that this type of violation would become a rare exception within our community. It may be impossible to completely eradicate such perverseness due to the sinful nature of humanity, but safeguards and zero-tolerance are more than possible. Any abuse (sexual, physical, psychological, and the like) should be exposed and appropriately addressed. Period. As a husband whose wife has experienced first-hand and given public testimony to an abusive situation, this is no trivial matter in our household.

Which leads me to a point of analysis which hasn’t been addressed but I see developing on the horizon. I guess I would call it the trivialization of vocabulary.

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SEVEN (7) Non-Negotiable, Foundational Attributes of the Post-Pandemic Church

Something needs to change…

I have sporadically posted in recent days that the Church needs to rethink some strategies in this Neo-pagan era which we currently find ourselves in. To look at the cultural landscape, process the last several elections, and then synthesize the impotent influence of the church in America should make us at least pause as to how we might consider going forward. To simply wait for our “omnipotent” government to decree that we are “all clear” with regards to the pandemic and then blindly return to the business that got us here, may not be wise, smart, or more importantly biblical.

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Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and Post-Christian America

In 2005, an overlooked study by two sociologists examined the spiritual lives of American teenagers (13-19) from a wide variety of backgrounds. What they found (and please realize that this study is now indicative of adults 23-35) was that in most cases our culture adhered to a pseudo-religion researchers call Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD).

MTD has 5 basic tenets (read carefully)…

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Pastors Are Not the Only Ones Needing Courage

Be patient with me as I put another perspective on the table of civic engagement discussion. This is a longer article than my normal opining.

My journey into civic engagement (politics) began nearly 15 years ago. It is a long story about how I, as a pastor, made the final steps out of compartmentalizing my faith with regards to public policy and cultural concerns to embracing a comprehensive biblical worldview which claims Christ as Lord in ALL arenas of life. It has been both an exciting and bumpy journey.

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CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IS NOTHING NEW (The 1550 AD Magdeburg Confession)

Christians, as a whole, want to be a cooperative and peaceful people. There are of course, exceptions in any group, but I am convinced that the vast majority of Jesus followers would rather be left alone in peace rather than look for a fight. The reason is because at heart, Christians are commanded to love people and that includes our enemies. So, as a people group, Christians try to find ways to demonstrate that love to a world which is inherently selfish and power-hungry. This perspective should be of no surprise to anyone in or out of the Church.

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