Reformed Anthropology

Resource Library

A Beginner’s Guide To Addressing Spiritual Abuse In The Church

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By spiritual abuse I mean: the malevolent, ungracious use of the authority or processes of the church to lord it over the laity or other officers in the church for personal gain, emotional or psychological manipulation, or for the exercise of ungodly or undue control over others, which infringes upon Christian liberty and that violates the second table of the moral law of God.

On Disciplining Abusers And Protecting The Sheep

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The church is to care for orphans and widows (James 1:27). An abuser has essentially orphaned his children and abandoned his wife. He has turned his vocation as a caregiver and protector on its head and corrupted it. Where the husband is meant to be a source of strength and safety, he has become weak and a source of fear and violence. If so, the church must step up and step in. Wives and children of abusers must be able to see in the church a refuge, a place of safety and help. Abused church members are the most vulnerable of all of Christ’s lambs and to them we owe a duty of special care and protection.

Defending Fallen Leaders

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Joe and Jimmy discuss another article Julie Roys alleging misconduct by the leadership of Grace Community Church, led by John MacArthur. What are we to do with such publications? When do we stop defending leaders in the midst of accusations like these? As people removed from the situation are we responsible to respond? Warning: this […]

I’m Struggling with Same-Sex Attraction. What Do I Do?

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We can be transparent because Christ does not cast us out when we talk about our sins.

My Spouse is Twisting Scripture to Justify Abusing Me. What Should I Do?

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We should deal with wolves in the church differently than someone who is struggling with sin. An abuser that preys on people must be confronted. The authorities need to be involved, there needs to be church discipline, and these women need to be cared for and brought into safety.

How Should Churches Biblically Address Divorce?

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I think that applies in terms of cases of physical abuse, sexual abuse, those sorts of things, where if the home is not safe for someone to be in, then that is a form of abandonment. And even if people have different convictions about that, you’re exactly right. People can use even Bible verses to cover over awful sin. So there can be abusive situations where somebody will say, “Well, the Bible says that you can’t leave.” Which means you have to live through all of the sinful and unjust things that I’m doing to you. And that’s not what the Bible teaches.

Why You Still Need the Church Even if You Have Been Hurt By It

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As a pastor, I’ve had countless conversations with people hurt by religious authority. One would hope that words like coercive, corrupt, and manipulative would never be used to describe church leadership, but sadly that’s not the case. If you’re one of the wounded and you have turned your back on Christianity due to the experience, I want to plead with you to reconsider your response for three reasons:

Understanding the Social Construct of Blackness

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As a non “white” or non “black” Christian looking in as the church attempts to makes sense of whiteness, I have many concerns. When Christian’s resort to using terms like whiteness or blackness to explain the myriad of sinfulness expressions of partiality and with the current conversation more focused on the social construct of whiteness, very little attention is given to the social construct of blackness.

Male and Female Differences: Part 1 – Debunking the “Men are Visual” Lie

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Christians tend to focus only on what Christ did to the soul when he died on the cross, propitiating for our sin and our sin nature, reconciling us to the Father. This extravagant yet limited focus often neglects how a regenerated new birthed soul (a one-time work of God) impacts what we do with redeemed transforming bodies, where our sin nature will continue to exist, but will have no power to reign (Romans 6).

Sexual Identity and Loving Our Neighbor

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Sam Allberry, Rebecca McLaughlin, and Jackie Hill Perry participated in a panel discussion during TGCW21 titled “Sexual Identity and Loving Our Neighbor.”
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Creeds and Confessions

The Chalcedonian Creed

Canons of Dordt

Thirty-Nine Articles

The Belgic Confession

Athanasian Creed

Nicene Creed

The Second Helvetic Confession

The Apostles’ Creed