11 Signs of a Monster Pastor

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11 Signs of a Monster Pastor

Disciple Guide writes – In a previous post, I wrote about “monster churches” in reference to congregations that chew up and spit out pastors on a regular basis. Monster churches are highly dysfunctional and rarely fruitful.

The congregation, however, is not always the problem. Just as monster churches are a factory of discord, monster pastors take trouble with them wherever they go.

Nicknames for monster pastors include: dictator, authoritarian and control freak.

Biblically speaking, they may be false teachers, greedy for selfish gain, deceitful workmen and ravenous wolves. They specialize in hijacking congregations and then abusing their power.

Monster pastors have little regard for the sheep (or the Chief Shepherd for that matter). Instead, their first priority is self, masked by other agendas. Such pastors may use pressure tactics, political maneuvering, and/or persuasive speech in order to manipulate a congregation into acting on their behalf.

When they don’t get their way, monster pastors usually 1) move on to another church, 2) cause a stir in their current church and/or 3) blame the congregation for not following their lead. Simply put, monster pastors are building their own kingdom rather than Christ’s kingdom.

As a general rule, monster pastors:

1. Are always right and never wrong.

2. Cannot accept criticism without becoming defensive.

3. Are not willing to share the pulpit.

4. Do not support other ministries.

5. Overly use the personal pronoun, “I.”

6. Resist accountability.

7. Feels threatened by former pastors.

8. Surround themselves with “yes men” rather than edifying leaders.

9. Do not entrust ministry to other leaders.

10. Undermine programs that they cannot control.

11. Insist that everything in the church run through them.

Rarely do you see a monster church matched with a monster pastor. Why? I think they can sniff each other out. Just like a bully rarely picks on another bully, choosing instead to prey upon the weak. Many times, monster pastors leave behind congregations with empty bank accounts, warring factions and a tarnished reputation.

Like a codependent spouse, abused churches typically continue to hire abusive pastors. The best thing that these churches can do is to stop and evaluate their situation before hiring another pastor (read this post to learn more).

If your church is in this predicament, consider bringing in a trusted interim pastor with a strong track record of long, peaceful pastorates. Ask the interim to help the congregation address problems and patterns that have wrecked havoc in the past. Spend time creating a plan to move forward and a strategy for selecting a new pastor.

Consider investigating candidates before interviewing them. Look for red flags such as a pattern of short-lived pastorates and a history of conflict. Take seriously the qualifications for a pastor found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

The ministry in which I serve, DiscipleGuide, has a heart for helping struggling churches. Our church solutions ministry provides personal assessment, coaching, and consulting services. If we can be of help to your congregation, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

After serving in campus ministry at the University of Central Arkansas and coordinating student conferences for the Department of Church Ministries from 2000-2005, Scott Attebery pastored Wyatt Baptist Church in El Dorado, Arkansas. After seven years of pastoring, Scott was selected as the Executive Director ofDiscipleGuide Church Reources, a department of the Baptist Missionary Association of America. You can read his blog at scottattebery.com.

For the original aticle, visit pastors.com.

First Folio of Shakespeare from Catholic College to be Exhibited in London

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First Folio of Shakespeare from Catholic College to be Exhibited in London

Catholic Herald report–  A recently discovered First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays will be exhibited next year – the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death – at the Globe Theatre on London’s South Bank.

The First Folio was discovered last November in a library in the small town of Saint-Omer, near Calais in northern France. A librarian came across it when he was preparing an exhibition of links between the area and England.

During the Elizabethan and Jacobean period many English Catholics escaped to France, and a college at Saint-Omer gave a Catholic education to English boys. The college was expelled from France in 1762 and moved first to Belgium and then in 1794 to Stonyhurst in Lancashire, where it remains today.

A spokesman for Stonyhurst College said: “Many precious medieval artefacts, illuminated manuscripts and books were taken with them, and survive at Stonyhurst to this day, but it seems that a slightly scruffy and dog-eared First Folio was overlooked and left behind.”

Some of the college’s books, including a 15th-century Gutenberg Bible, ended up in the town library in Saint-Omer. The presence of the First Folio at the Catholic college indicates, if nothing else, that Shakespeare’s work was well-regarded by Catholics at the time.

The First Folio, containing the text of nearly all Shakespeare’s plays, was compiled by the playwright’s friends and published in 1623, seven years after his death. Entitled “Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies. Published according to the True Originall Copies”, it is the only source of a number of his plays, including Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar and As You Like It. Although over a quarter of the 800 copies have survived – this is the 233rd known copy – it is one of the rarest and most valuable books in the world.

This appears to have been a working copy of the book. Handwritten stage directions and alterations in Henry IV suggest that it was used in the performance of plays at Saint-Omer College, which had a reputation for well-attended drama productions. In one scene the word “hostess” is changed to “host” and “wench” to “fellow”, perhaps indicating that a female character was turned into a male.

The Saint-Omer First Folio will be put on display at the Globe Theatre for two months from July 2016.

Having recently opened the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the Globe is now actively planning its own library and archive on site, on London’s Bankside. Once the library is complete it will be gifted an important collection of rare and valuable volumes, including its own First Folio and Quarto editions of Shakespeare’s plays. A spokesman for the Globe said that this would cement the theatre’s reputation as the first point of reference for teaching, research and interpretation of Shakespeare in performance.

Source: Catholic Herald

Christian Rapper KB Talks New Album And Shared His Troubled Past

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Christian Rapper KB Talks New Album And Shared His Troubled Past

Christian Post report– Dove award-winning rapper KB said recently that human suffering inspired his forthcoming album Tomorrow We Live. He also opened up about his troubled past, overcoming temptation and dealing with the perils of the music business.

On April 21, the 26-year-old Christian hip-hop artist, born Kevin Burgess, drops his highly anticipated, second studio album which features his brand new single “Sideways.”

“The album was inspired, like all my music is inspired, by my community in Tampa,” the St.Petersburg, Florida, native told The Christian Post. “So I’m in folks’ lives. I’m at the hospital with them, I’m at the nursing home, I’m at their house, I’m there when cancer strikes, adultery strikes, I’m there. So I very much have a front seat in the afflictions of people around me.”

The 116 Clique member was faced with his own personal struggles during his youth, particularly after moving from an Air Force base to the hood after his parents’ divorce. At one point, he found himself dabbling in drugs and battling depression but he was able to turn his life around after being introduced to faith through Christian rap.

“I looked in the mirror and … I was like, ‘What are you doing? What is going on with you?'” he recalled. “It was in that I think that I was made ripe for the Gospel, because a few weeks later I was handed a CD and the dude on the CD made the music that I liked. And he talked about the God I needed and I believed, and I’ve been walking with Jesus ever since.”

Last year KB’s latest EP 100 debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Christian Album Chart and it scored him a Dove award for “Rap/Hip-Hop Song of the Year.”

As is often the case with most acclaimed artists, with success comes the pressures of fame, and the Reach Records artist admits that overcoming temptation is a constant battle.

“For me, I don’t trust myself a whole lot … I encourage everyone don’t trust yourself too much,” he said candidly. “So, I keep [good] folks around me and I have been taught by some good dudes.”

One of those “good dudes” is Lecrae, who is featured on KB’s new single “Sideways.” The Grammy Award-winning rapper shared the song with his 900,000 Twitter followers on Monday in a show of support.

“I just had a conversation this morning with someone about Lecrae and he was asking questions like, ‘Is he in the Illuminati?'” KB said laughing.”I’ve had long debates and conversations with people to try and help them understand. But what I say now is, the man loves Jesus and you might not agree with [him] but the dude loves the Lord, and I have been greatly impacted with just the character aspect when I look at his life.”

In addition to relishing in the success of his music, KB is also enjoying the joys of fatherhood following the birth of his and his wife’s 9-month-old son.

When asked which secular artist he most wants to work with, KB said it would have to be pop singer Bruno Mars who he said “is our Michael Jackson.”

Source: Christian Post

Turkey: SAT-7 Christian TV Station Now on Air

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Turkey: SAT-7 Christian TV Station Now on Air

Christian Today report–  A Christian TV station has begun broadcasting on a Turkish satellite network for the first time in what is being hailed as a significant moment for the Christian community there.

SAT-7 TÜRK’s broadcasts now have the potential to reach more than 50 million viewers in Turkey, Europe and central Asia.

The channel was launched in 2006 but could only share satellite time on other SAT-7 channels, though for the last year it has also broadcast on the internet. Because the government-regulated Türksat 4A is the most popular satellite with the largest audience in Turkey, however, it can now reach millions of viewers.

“We are overwhelmed and truly believe it is a miracle that we can finally broadcast on Türksat,” said executive director Melih Ekener. “We have hoped, dreamed and prayerfully anticipated this launch since the station began airing on SAT-7 ARABIC in 2006. It is really a miracle, and we are very thankful to God for what he has been doing.”

Turkey’s Christian population decreased dramatically in the 20th century, though it is still the spiritual home of the Orthodox Church. There are now only about 150,000 Christian believers in Turkey and SAT-7 believes that a television channel that is produced by local believers, serves their own communities and airs programs about the significant Christian heritage of the country will help reach others for Christ.

SAT-7 TÜRK produces drama, documentaries, music, worship, children’s, women’s and youth programs and, more recently, live shows. The staff produced 360 hours of new programming in 2014 and is expected to increase that dramatically this year.

“So many things have miraculously fallen into place over the past few months that it is impossible to miss the hand of God in facilitating the start of SAT-7 TÜRK broadcasting on Türksat,” said Dr Terence Ascott, founder and chief executive officer of SAT-7. “We give God the praise for this exciting development and also recognise the signal this sends to the world about the Turkish authorities’ positive attitude towards Christians and other minorities in the country.”

Source: Christian Today

 

UK Votes Against Amendment Banning Gender-Selective Abortions

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UK Votes Against Amendment Banning Gender-Selective Abortions

Christian Post report– The British Parliament has voted 292 to 201 against an amendment that would have explicitly banned abortions based on the gender of the unborn child. U.K. pro-life group LIFE has said that it’s “dismayed” at the results, and argued that the Parliament has failed to protect unborn girls, who are most often the victims of gender-selective abortions.

When asked by The Christian Post for comment on Tuesday, LIFE shared the following statement by spokeswoman Michaela Aston

“Parliament yesterday failed in its duty to ensure women are not discriminated against at all stages of their lives. Instead, it caved in to the intense lobbying efforts of the abortion industry and its advocates, against the outlawing of sex selection abortion.”

The statement continued: “The abortion of girls because of their sex has no place in modern societies which embrace equality and non-discrimination against women.”

The vote in question concerned an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill, which would have made clear that gender-selection abortions are not allowed under the Abortion Act.

AFP noted that politicians against the amendment, such as Health Minister Jane Ellison, have argued that the existing law already states that aborting an unborn child based on its gender is illegal.

Prime Minister David Cameron also opposed the proposed change, warning that it could stop women being able to “avoid the certainty of genetic disease.”

Others members of Parliament, such as lawmaker Fiona Bruce, disagreed and said that the amendment was needed to strengthen and clarify the law.

“It is necessary because there is no explicit statement about gender selective abortion in U.K. law,” Bruce said.

“The law is being interpreted in different ways because when the 1967 Abortion Act was passed, scans to determine the sex of the fetus were not available.”

Although the amendment to the Serious Crime Bill was voted down, politicians approved an alternative amendment that will facilitate a review of how common place gender-selective abortions are in Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

According to statistics released by the Department of Health in June 2014, there were 185,331 abortions in England and Wales in 2013, which was 0.1 percent higher than the 2012 total.

An investigation by The Independent in 2014 separately noted that the practice of sex-selective abortion, commonplace within some immigrant groups, has reduced the female population of England and Wales by somewhere between 1,500 and 4,700.

LIFE spokeswoman Aston added that Britain’s abortion industry desires to “operate as a law unto itself. For decades it has stretched or ignored the Abortion Act with seeming impunity. We have seen the Crown Prosecution Service refusing to prosecute abortion doctors offering to do abortions because of sex.”

She added: “It was therefore high time for Parliament to send a clear and unambiguous message to this out of control industry, which likes to say it has the interest of women at heart, that they will not be allowed to terminate unborn girls because of their sex. It failed to do this yesterday.”

Source: Christian Post

 

150 Kidnapped Assyrian Christians ‘Facing Death’ at Hands of ISIS

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150 Kidnapped Assyrian Christians ‘Facing Death’ at Hands of ISIS

Christian Post report– Terror group ISIS has kidnapped 150 Assyrian Christians and is planning on murdering them, reports have said. The number is an update on estimates from Tuesday, when 90 Assyrians were thought to have been captured.

CNN reported on Wednesday that Osama Edward, founder of the Assyrian Human Rights Network, has said that his organization’s team on the ground in Syria has been collecting information about the kidnappings.

“Maybe they are facing the same destiny. That’s why we call on all over the world, like the U.S, Europe, coalition forces — protect Assyrians, save Assyrians in Syria,” Edward said.

“They are facing death, people are unarmed, they are peaceful. And they need help, they are just left alone — no one’s protecting them.”

ISIS, which last week released a video showing the beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians, is expected to release a new message detailing its plans to kill the 150 Assyrian hostages.

Edward added that he expects the latest video message to be directed at U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.S.-led coalition of allies, which has been hitting ISIS targets across Iraq and Syria with airstrikes.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki condemned the kidnappings on Tuesday, and said: “ISIS’ latest targeting of a religious minority is only further testament to its brutal and inhumane treatment of all those who disagree with its divisive goals and toxic beliefs.”

Psaki highlighted that ISIS has targeted people of all faiths, and that the majority of its victims have been Muslims — a point echoed by Obama.

The Assyrian Christians, kidnapped from villages near Tal Tamer in northeastern Syria, are believed to have been taken to a location controlled by the jihadists, the network said. As many as 35 Assyrian towns and villages have been captured by the terror group, which has forced thousands of families to flee the region.

Persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern added that at least four churches were destroyed in the raid. Edward told the group that most of the hostages are women, children, and elderly people. He said that ISIS could have attacked even more villages and taken even more people, but heavy rainfall prevented the group from doing so.

“In summer time you can cross the river, but the past three or four weeks have seen a lot of rain. So ISIS was able to attack the villages just on one side of the river,” Edward said, referring to the Khabur River.

Steve Oshana, executive director of A Demand for Action, said that ISIS continues to heavily target Christians and indigenous people in Syria.

“The recent violence against the Assyrian Christian communities in Khabor is only the latest in an escalating campaign of violence against these indigenous people. The siege of Mosul was just the beginning; soon the Nineveh Plains, the cradle of civilization, fell to the hands of the Islamic State, and now the very presence of Christianity in Syria is threatened by this siege,” Oshana said.

Source: Christian Post

 

Alex McFarland’s Apologetics Tour ‘Stand Strong’ Aims to Teach Young Christians How to Defend Their Faith

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Alex McFarland’s Apologetics Tour ‘Stand Strong’ Aims to Teach Young Christians How to Defend Their Faith

Christian post report– Author and noted Christian apologist Alex McFarland will be leading an apologetics tour across the United States meant to focus on keeping young people in the church.

Called “Stand Strong,” the first stop for the tour will be Friday at Tennessee Valley Community Church in Paris, Tennessee, near Nashville.

In an interview with The Christian Post, McFarland explained that the roots of the Stand Strong series of events stemmed from his experiences meeting Christian youths on past speaking engagements.

“I meet so many young people who come from Christian homes or maybe went to a Christian school, K through 12, and yet they get to college they have a real faith crisis,” McFarland said. “It always breaks my heart when I see young people that really become agnostic, if not atheist, because they get to the university and they’re confronted with the objections to the faith and they don’t know how to answer it.”

McFarland also told CP that “we’re trying to evangelize the young people” so as to “equip them” to “defend their faith.”

“We believe that it’s time for a whole new generation to experience 1st Peter 3:15 in becoming ready always to give an answer, a defense for the faith,” continued McFarland.

“There’s a whole generation of young believers that really are not as well equipped as they need to be to dialogue with Muslims, to dialogue with those that are moral relativist, and those that are atheists.”

In addition to Tennessee, during the year Stand Strong will hold events in Ohio and Alabama. Earlier this week Stand Strong aslo secured a location for an event in South Carolina.

McFarland explained to CP that he hopes the Stand Strong tour will have at least one speaking event in each of the lower 48 states in the next five years.

Another major speaker who’ll be part of Stand Strong is Jason Jimenez, a speaker, Christian apologist, and experienced youth pastor.

Jimenez told CP that Stand Strong was meant to serve as a “more mobile” version of the annual Truth for New Generation apologetics conference.

“We want to reach the parents, but we also want to reach the young people. So depending on whatever the needs are in the community, Stand Strong lends itself to have a strong biblical worldview weekend conference,” said Jimenez.

“It was trying to get something a little bit more mobile that wasn’t as big, as expensive and that we can hit a lot of churches around the country, equipping them biblically.”

Jimenez added that Stand Strong meets “a growing need” found nationwide with churches trying to keep the faith among youths.

“You get a lot of people who are there, but you don’t know if they’re saved or if they are saved but are very biblically illiterate,” said Jimenez.

“We have a lot of these young people who attend church, but a lot of them as they are getting older they are becoming de-churched.”

Source: Christian Post

 

American ‘Solder of Christ’ Says He Is Fighting ISIS in Iraq to Answer Jesus’ Call

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American ‘Solder of Christ’ Says He Is Fighting ISIS in Iraq to Answer Jesus’ Call

Christian Post report– A 28-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Detroit, describing himself as a “Soldier of Christ,” said that he is fighting ISIS militants on the front lines in Iraq to answer Jesus’ call to protect defenseless people.

“People ask me, ‘Why you?’ I come back and I say, ‘Why not? Why just me? Where’s everyone else at?'” the Army veteran, who requested to be identified only by his first name, Brett, told ABC News in an interview.

“Jesus says, you know, ‘What you do unto the least of them, you do unto me,'” he added. “I take that very seriously.”

ISIS has specifically targeted Christians on a number of occasions in its war in Iraq and Syria. Last week, the jihadists posted a video titled “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross,” which depicts the beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians.

Christian leaders, such as the Vatican’s Pope Francis, said that such crimes should unite all Christians everywhere across denominational lines.

“The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard. It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ,” the pontiff said.

“As we recall these brothers and sisters who died only because they confessed Christ, I ask that we encourage each another to go forward with this ecumenism which is giving us strength, the ecumenism of blood. The martyrs belong to all Christians.”

Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria, also called the 21 murdered Egyptian Christians “martyrs for the faith.”

The U.S. and its allies have hit back against ISIS terror targets using air strikes, but have not sent ground troops in the region. Brett revealed that he is fighting alongside the Dweikh Nawsha, a local Christian militia under the command of the Kurdish peshmerga forces in Iraq.

Brett, who was raised a Roman Catholic but identifies simply as Christian, explained in his interview that he came to Iraq to fight for the defenseless, both for Christians and the many others who have been attacked by ISIS and the terror group’s mission to establish an Islamic caliphate.

Local forces and militias have protected some key cities in the region, such as the Syrian border town of Kobane, from falling under ISIS’ control. The terror group has continued expanding its territory and its army, however, with U.S. intelligence officials pointing out recently that at least 20,000 foreign fighters, including 150 American citizens, have attempted to join and fight for ISIS.

Nick Rasmussen, chief of the National Counterterrorism Center, said that the rate ISIS is recruiting foreign fighters is “without precedent,” while Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said that Syria in particular is seeing “the largest convergence of Islamist terrorists in world history.”

Source: Christian Post

 

Former ABC Lord Carey’s Might be Removed From University Alumni for His Views on Homosexuality

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Former ABC Lord Carey’s Might be Removed From University Alumni for His Views on Homosexuality

Christian Today report– A picture of former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey at the Strand campus of King’s College London (KCL) may fall victim to a campaign by gay activists.

Lord Carey is a distinguished KCL alumnus, but has been targeted by the University’s LGBT association for his views on gay marriage, of which he has been an outspoken opponent.

KCL’s LGBT student council officer Ben Hunt told the university’s Roar News: “The [university] principal has asked me to compile a list of new alumni for the window in suggestions.

“[This] will also mean the removal of Lord Carey and the inclusion of minorities in the discussions for new alumni.”

A spokesperson for KCL said: “It is likely, subject to planning approval, that the proposed redevelopment of the Strand campus will require a review of the Strand windows and we will consider the diverse views of our students, staff and alumni at the appropriate time.”

Lord Carey has been the target of KCL activists since 2012, when students described his statement at a Conservative party fringe event that “Same sex relationships are not the same as heterosexual relationships and should not be put on the same level” as “outdated, hurtful and offensive”.

Source: Christian Today

 

GMA Announces 2015 Gospel Music Hall of Fame Inductees to be Honoured This Year

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GMA Announces 2015 Gospel Music Hall of Fame Inductees to be Honoured This Year

Christian post report– The Gospel Music Association announced this year’s GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame recipients who will be honored during a ceremony on May 5.

Marking its second annual ceremony, the GMA Honors event celebrates trailblazers in gospel music, inducting many in the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame and honoring individuals and organizations that impact culture. This year’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees include BeBe and CeCe Winans, Mark Lowry, Roland Lundy and Twila Paris.

Furthermore, the GMA Honors at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena will recognize Bishop Paul S. Morton, the founding bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International, as well as The Bridge, which was founded by Candy Christmas, and Passion founded by Louie and Shelby Giglio. Lastly, Porter’s Call is also being recognized, along with its founder Al Andrews.

President of the GMA Foundation Jackie Patillo cited the responsibility and purpose surrounding the GMA Honors.

“The GMA Foundation is charged with observing our gospel music history and its trailblazers,” she said in a statement. “With the ongoing support from our music community, we can fulfill the mission to foster an appreciation for our heritage and its impact for generations to come. We always thank all of those involved in helping make these special celebrations possible.”

John Huie, CAA and co-chair of the GMA Honors, also chimed in, noting the significance of the 2014 GMA Honors.

“Last year’s inaugural event was an amazing evening of firsts for our industry,” he said. “We have been encouraged by the many comments surrounding the ceremony and are thrilled to honor this year’s recipients.”

Performers and presenters at this year’s GMA Honors will be announced in the coming weeks. Tables and individual tickets to the event are available for purchase at gmahonors.com.

Source: Christian Post

 

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