This installment of the Church Refugee Sanity Guide deconstructs religious values regarding our children in “church.” It provides hopeful alternatives to meet the socialization and spiritual needs of our children and youth outside of traditional church constructs. Not attending a traditional church, Sunday school, or youth ministry program is not a liability. It is an opportunity.
In this blog I explain (for those interested) why as of July 2015, Stephanos Ministries ceased to be a 501-C-3 corporation with IRS pre-approval of donations. For decades we were a 501-C-3, so what follows is surely not a judgment or condemnation on anyone who currently maintains that status. For years I believed being a 501-C-3 was a benign and mutually beneficial exercise of Christian liberty. I do not judge those who maintain that conviction today. However, in the light of recent political and legal trends in the world, I thought an explanation for our conviction and action in terminating our status might be helpful. Most believers I have met are very naïve and ill-informed on the “legal” aspects of operating a “church” or “ministry.” This is my attempt to inform and educate.
Church Refugee Sanity Guide – Part Nine – Evangelism
In this installment of the Church Refugee Sanity Guide, I take a fresh look at the topic of evangelism and discipleship apart from traditional theology, mindsets, and methods.
Church Refugee Sanity Guide – Part Eight – Praise and Worship: The Most Sacred, Sacred Cow
When it comes to the most sacred of sacred cows in the Christian herd, praise and worship is the lead steer. In this installment of the Church Refugee Sanity Guide, I take a look at the theology, methods, and values behind much evangelical worship expression.
Revisiting Authority and Submission
When individuals decide not to attend a traditional church structure, they are often challenged by others as being “out from under authority or “not in submission” or “out from spiritual covering” or similar threats and warnings. Starting with a quick look at some church history, this lesson deconstructs some common teaching on these topics. These things should not be defined by church meetings, church activities, rank, hierarchy, and position in a system. Rather, in Christ’s kingdom authority and submission must be defined by relational trust, love, and expressed in an ethos of family. Where love abounds, all these other things happen effortlessly and without a need for emphasis.
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Copyright 2016, Dr. Stephen R. Crosby, www.stevecrosby.org. Would you like to partner with us in distributing our materials and perhaps generate some income for yourself? Please go to www.stevecrosby.com for details of our Affiliate program. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible contribution through our Paypal button to help? Thank you and God bless you.
When you and I decide to follow Christ outside of traditional church structures, one of the biggest challenges faced is navigating relationships with friends and family. The need of, and fear of losing our social relationships can very easily become our God. I hear statements like this all the time: “Well, I know what Christ is requiring of me, but if I do that, I will lose all my friends, and I won’t do that.” Even more relationally threatening is: “If we make this change our children will lose all their friendships, and I am unwilling to let that happen.” This installment of the Church Refugee Sanity Guide presents some insights and suggestions on how we can navigate these difficult situations with friends and family–how to walk in your own convictions with love and charity toward others who do not understand and perhaps strongly disagree with you.
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Church Refugee Sanity Guide
Copyright 2016, Dr. Stephen R. Crosby, www.stevecrosby.org. Would you like to partner with us in distributing our materials and perhaps generate some income for yourself? Please go to www.stevecrosby.com for details of our Affiliate program. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible contribution through our Paypal button to help? Thank you and God bless you.
Part Four of the Church Refugee Sanity Guide, presents ways to recover from the pain we will likely experience in our relationships (church, family, and friends) when we are misunderstood because we no longer participate in traditional forms and expressions of “church.” If you or someone you know has been damaged, accused, threatened or other wise spiritually abused in a religious atmosphere, I entreat you to watch this video (as well as Part Five that will be coming next in this series). I think they are the most helpful and practical things I have ever done in this regard.
Spiritual covering is a biblically illegitimate, bad idea, that just won’t go away.
In this third installment of the Church Refugee Sanity Guide, I talk about understanding and managing the pain and strain that occurs in our social and relational networks during times of transition, particularly when leaving or changing a church affiliation.
Leaving an institutional religious expression that you may have invested in for a long time can be emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and relationally overwhelming. We often do not understand what is happening in us, to us, and around us. For all the alleged “Biblical literacy” that Christians are supposed to possess, we can be very ill-informed and ill-equipped to function well as human beings. Understanding the processes of transition and change (in any arena: job, family, church, relationships, finances, etc.) will help us understand ourselves, and others. We can successfully and fruitfully navigate difficult seasons of change. This second session of the Church Refugee Sanity guide looks at what happens to us psychologically during a major transition: 1) stability/comfort, 2) discontinuity/awareness, 3) disembedding and more. Leaving institutional religious expressions.
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The Church Refugee Sanity Guide – Part Two
Copyright 2016, Dr. Stephen R. Crosby, www.stevecrosby.org. Would you like to partner with us in distributing our materials and perhaps generate some income for yourself? Please go to www.stevecrosby.com for details of our Affiliate program. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible contribution through our Paypal button to help? Thank you and God bless you.