The words we may speak account for only ~7% of what constitutes human communication. No wonder our churches and our culture are so conflict-prone. We don’t know how to talk to each other, including and especially “Christians.”
Tag Archives: recovery from spiritual abuse
The Amen: 'Monday Morning Musings - February 21, 2022'
There is more behind “amen” than intellectual consent or emotional enthusiasm for an abstract concept.
Why I Am No Longer a Pastor: 'Discovering Ministry Outside of Church'
Why I am no Longer a Pastor
It is almost twenty years since I quit being a pastor. It wasn’t always easy, but I do not regret the decision for a minute. I have been, and currently am, enjoying the best, most fruitful days of my Christian life. Someone recently asked me why I quit being a pastor. This blog will give you seven reasons why.
Spiritual Abuse: Culture of Honor: 'Monday Morning Musing - January 31, 2022'
In some churches leadership talks about “creating a culture of honor.” How honor is defined, and how it is expressed, makes all the difference between an authority-intoxicated cult and something truly wonderful and beneficial to all.
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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. 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 blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.
Honor Titles: 'Monday Morning Musing - January 17, 2021'
The mandatory use of honorific titles of position, hierarchy, rank and authority, do not create honorable hearts nor honorable cultures. Honor that is demanded or forced from a position of superiority, may work in the military, but that is not the motif for the new covenant family of God.
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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. 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 blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.
Spiritual Abuse – Spiritual Predators: 'Monday Morning Musing - January 10, 2022'
So-called “spiritual sonship” can be nothing other than a predatory practice where human lives, gifts and talents become the fuel for a carnal leader’s ambition. Like throwing coal in a furnace, you will be consumed by another person’s “drive for success,” “need to be needed,” persona or charisma. They successfully recruit you by appealing to your ego and promising you special spiritual status as one of their “sons or daughters.”
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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. 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 blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.
Escape and Assurance: 'Monday Morning Musings - September 20, 2021'
In many common presentations of the Gospel in modern evangelicalism, the themes of escape and assurance have had a dominant presence. If we are pursuing Christian community with those two values as primary motivators, we will assure ourselves of unnecessary relationship difficulties. A local community is not something we should hope to escape at the first whiff of an unpleasant experience. A local community is the laboratory of relational life where the ethics of what we say we believe gets tested. I am not saying there are never good reasons to leave a group. There are. But “I am not enjoying myself” or “it is too hard,” or “it hurts,” are not among the legitimate reasons.
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Copyright 2021. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. 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 blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.
Photo by Rayson Tan on Unsplash
Knit Together in Love: 'Monday Morning Musings - August 23, 2021'
Ask an average Evangelical or Charismatic about how to grow in grace and the knowledge of God and you will get answers like: study the Bible, listen to anointed preaching and teaching, get a “download” from the “Holy Ghost,” pray regularly. Few, if any would say “by being knit together in love.” Yet that is exactly what Paul itemizes as critical for unfolding the deep things of God.
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Copyright 2021. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. 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 blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.
Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash
Relationship and Community: 'Monday Morning Musings August 16, 2021'
Many folks are yearning and looking for authentic community together in Christ. It is a great goal, but if we hold some “isms” emotionally or intellectually in our heart, we are headed for disappointment. The “isms” that need to go if we would experience a vibrant (not perfect) Christian community are: Romanticism, perfectionism, idealism, and individualism.
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Copyright 2021. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. 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 blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.
Photo by Gene Gallin on Unsplash
Who’s Your Daddy? Your God-Image Matters: 'Monday Morning Musings July 5, 2021'
Our image of God as Father is so important. It will shape how we relate to God, and how we relate to others. If our God-image is skewed, distorted, bi-polar, dual-faced, etc., we will be confused personally as well as in our message and mission to the world.
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Copyright 2021. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. 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 blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.
Photo by lauren lulu taylor on Unsplash