Toxic church? Healing promise: Real belonging
Long ago and still today, God promises his traumatized, grieving, scattered people: I will be a sanctuary to you. I will protect you. I will gather you back.
Counting the cost, going with God
Counting the cost, going with God, may not look as we have thought. It may mean saying yes to the Lord Jesus and following him where our church culture forbids.
Bucking the system: Shunning, submission, Jesus
Jesus grew up in a religious system God had instigated, and people had hijacked to use for their own ends. Jesus’ life shows us when and how to buck the system.
To the exiles scattered by toxic church
Maybe the church has become bewildering to you. Leaders you trusted and people you respected are acting in ways that do not reflect who Jesus is, nor what they profess to believe. They have turned on anyone among them who appears to threaten the status quo. What is going on?
Shunning in the church
When a group shuns, it rejects someone who has belonged. Find out why shunning in the church hurts so much – and why you can overcome.
My cup overflows: Resting in God’s favor
I praise you, Lord my Shepherd. You have overcome for me all the shame that ever has or ever will attach to me. You are teaching me to overcome it too. By your grace, I drink deeply of your favor, and it restores my rest.
I will change your name
I will change your name! From wounded, outcast, lonely, afraid. To Confidence, Joyfulness, Overcomer, Faithfulness, Friend and Seeker of God.
Cliques in the church
Cliques are by nature, exclusive. Where they occur in the church, they fragment the church. They prevent the people of God from becoming one.
Behind the façade in the SBC
I was Southern Baptist until church leaders pummeled and guilted me to choose loyalty to the SBC above all else. Then I began to see behind the façade.
A future filled with hope
It's the best-loved verse in Jeremiah, and God says it to exiles. He announces to people who feel they have no future at all: "I know what I have planned for you. I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope."