Husbands (and wives), Deprive and Dominate or Supply and Share

Biblical texts are often used as proofs for our own particular set of Christian values. Among those are texts which appear to subject women to men and wives to their husbands. But do these texts mean what many have ascribed to them? Clarity for these texts are found in careful consideration of each passage in…

Preeminent Leaders and Super-Gurus – Welcoming Differences, Avoiding Division – part 7

Exploring the possibility of real unity under one roof despite differences of opinion Fostering Wolves When we elevate individuals in the church by kowtowing to them and their opinions, they can easily begin to think that they are superior to the group. And, very quickly they can seem distant and untouchable in the minds of…

The Super-Guru Culture

The Making of a Super-Guru Some gifted men and women of God are unfortunately elevated to super-guru-status in the Body of Christ. Be they world renowned or local favorites, some individuals are treated as though they were a cut above everyone else. Sometimes it’s in part their doing, fueled by how they carry themselves, but…

Organic Church, Preachers, Teachers and Big Meetings

Organic Church proponents, of whom I am one, are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water when it comes to our view on preaching, teaching and big meetings. The typical style of a modern church meeting in the west, where teachers and preachers speak to large audiences sitting in rows, is…

Hierarchical Leadership – The Main Hindrance in the Body of Christ Part 3

Part 3 (Go here for part 1, part 2, part 4, part 5, part 6) We have patterns in our Christianity that follow the exact philosophies of this world. One of these is in the area of leadership. We are aware that we should not lord it over one another, but our structures have hierarchy and…

Shepherds of the Flock

In one sense all elders are pastors, but not in every sense. The terms elder, bishop, overseer and shepherd are synonomous terms, and are synonomous with the term pastor. However, this is not always exactly true.  Context dictates a terms meaning. Many in the church, because of their character, knowledge in the faith, life experience and ability to…

Servant Leadership – a Misnomer

“Servant leadership” is a misappropriation of Jesus’ words, where instead of being servants, we choose to be leaders with servant-like attitudes.  On the outset it seems right, but all the while we maintain the status quo of worldly hierarchical leadership that Jesus didn’t want among His people.  It never fulfills Jesus’ intention of simply having…