Cult psychology is the art of taking what is good in the heart and mind of a person and turning it against them in order to control them. The tragedy is that the very things that make you a decent, faithful, community-minded person — your loyalty, your generosity, your desire to belong, your respect for…
One of the quiet worries that keeps people tied to a church is the question of giving. “If I leave, how will I obey God with my money? Where will my offering go?” It is a sincere concern — and the answer in Scripture is liberating. The earliest believers did not funnel their generosity through…
If you could attend a gathering of the very first Christians, you would not recognize much of what we now call “going to church.” There was no auditorium, no stage, no sermon delivered to a silent audience, no offering plate passed toward a building fund. There was a home, a shared meal, and a room…
“Are you still going to church?” It is one of the first questions people ask when they sense someone drifting from the institution — and the question itself reveals a deep confusion. It treats “church” as a place you go and a service you attend. The New Testament treats it as something else entirely: a…
Most people have never heard of a “membership covenant” until they try to leave a church and discover they cannot do so quietly. Others have watched a friend be named from the front, shunned by the congregation, and cut off from lifelong relationships — all under the banner of “church discipline.” Done as Scripture describes,…
The lights dim. Fog drifts across the stage. A countdown clock hits zero, the band launches into the opening number, and screens the size of billboards fill with motion graphics. Modern worship can be genuinely moving — and it can also be indistinguishable from a concert. For a growing number of believers, that resemblance has…
“Sow a seed and reap a harvest.” “God wants you rich.” “Your breakthrough is one offering away.” The prosperity gospel — the teaching that faith and giving will reliably produce wealth and health — fills arenas, sells books, and funds private jets. It is also, measured against Scripture, very close to the exact thing the…
He has a bestselling book, a conference tour, and a social-media following in the hundreds of thousands. His face is on the church sign, the app, and the merchandise. When he steps on stage the lights find him, and the room responds. The celebrity pastor is one of the defining figures of modern Christianity —…
Drive past almost any growing church and you will eventually see the banner: a capital campaign, a thermometer chart, a appeal to “give sacrificially” toward a new sanctuary, a gymnasium, a parking structure, a second campus. The building fund is one of the most familiar features of modern church life. It is also one of…
If you have grown dissatisfied with the church you attend, you are probably wrestling with what to do about it. You are not the first believer to face this question, and there is no single right answer for every situation. The choice usually narrows to five options: Stay and keep quiet Stay and try to…