This might be the best ‘pastoral job listing’ ever!
Are you a pastor without a church, you know, a spiritual shepherd without a flock? Well, you’re in luck, because a six-member congregation in Coal Township, Pennsylvania is looking for a new bible thumper, a real biblical hard ass, who will lead their congregation. But before you apply, please make sure you read all of [...]
Kidnapped For Christ: A Documentary
I don’t even know what to say right now (or how to say it in the right way), so I’ll just post the information. According to the documentary’s online about page… Kidnapped for Christ is a feature-length documentary film, which follows the stories of several American teenagers who were sent to an Evangelical Christian reform [...]
Some thoughts on Bobbed Hair, Bossy Wives, and Women Preachers
Stephen Lamb :: I admit it: I’m tired. Tired of the perennial discussions about the things women aren’t allowed to do, or what a “real man” or “real woman” looks like, discussions that often invoke the descriptor “Biblical” as a way of trying to sanctify the speaker’s opinion. Listening to claims from John Piper’s Desiring [...]
Why the Church needs to shut up and listen… (a guest post)
We’re having conversations all over the place about spiritual abuse, church discipline, and Biblical approaches to the practice. And these are very important conversations to have.
But I’m also seeing a lot of people, in favor of being “Scriptural,” and “Biblical,” defending some pretty gross and terrible actions, all in the name of Christ.
It’s confirmed for me what I’ve already suspected, and what friends of mine realized long ago: Church, we suck at being a safe space for the hurting.
Spiritual Abuse Must Stop (a blog post)
Every single time I check my email there’s one more, one more person raising their “digital” hand and saying “That’s my story, too. I was spiritually abused.” They’re responding to this story. Part 1. Part 2. Most don’t stop there. These people–men, women, some pastors, some laypeople–go on to describe in detail their stories, the [...]
GUEST POST: On Faith, Perfection, and Control (why Andrew’s story matters to me)
Over the last couple of days, I have followed – with something more than dispassionate interest – the conversations happening on this blog and around the blogosphere about the way Mars Hill handles church discipline and the ways that people find many of their actions indistinguishable from a cult. I’ve read story after story after [...]
Mark Driscoll’s ‘Gospel Shame’: The Truth About Discipline, Excommunication, and Cult-like Control at Mars Hill
This post is the continuation of Part One: Mark Driscoll’s Church Discipline Contract. After receiving a “church discipline contract” from Pastor X, Andrew offered no response for a week. This was intentional. One of Andrew’s friends was getting married and since he wanted to make sure he could attend the wedding, keeping his response under [...]
Mark Driscoll’s Church Discipline Contract: Looking For True Repentance at Mars Hill Church? Sign on the Dotted Line
Shortly after graduating from high school (he was homeschooled), Andrew wanted a change in scenery. The then Tennessee resident says he needed a change in scenery. He needed to get away. He needed to grow up. He needed to figure out what he was going to do with the rest of his life.
So when he turned 20, Andrew moved away from his quaint life in America’s Bible belt, and he moved to Seattle, and yes, in hopes of finding himself.
The Sword of the Lord – Jerry Falwell and John R. Rice
by Stephen Lamb In January of 2007, Kevin Roose walked on to the campus of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, ready to join 25,000 other students for the start of the spring semester. But there was one thing that set Kevin apart from his classmates, something his new friends wouldn’t know about until after he left [...]
What Christian Fundamentalism Leaves Behind: An Angry Blog Post
One of the questions that I get quite often is this: Are you angry? The answer to that question changes. Today the answer is no, I’m not angry. Two days ago the answer would have been eh, maybe a little. And I have days–sometimes just moments–when the answer is yes. Or YES. Anger is such [...]
A GUEST POST: Is Your Faith Narcissistic?
(This post is a guest post by Stephen Lamb. This is a part of Stephen’s Why I Stopped Going To Church series. You can read part one here, part two here, part two point five here, and part three here.) Before I move on to the next part, I wanted to expand upon a point [...]
