If you go into pastoral ministry, it is likely you will be on the receiving end of some unwarranted and untrue gossip. I remember speaking
slander
Reputation
Reputation is a precious thing. To have one’s reputation tarnished is serious business. It is why we have defamation, libel and slander laws. The damages
The idol of reputation
Everybody wants a good reputation. Nobody enjoys people speaking ill of them. And let’s face it, the Lord Jesus expects elders in his church to
When politics apes the church (or when the church apes politics)
I wrote this over a month ago but made it a private post. It is now publicly available. In today’s Guardian, Jeremy Corbyn is quoted as
How to dress up gossip as spiritual & how to address it in the church
Christians are particularly adept at dressing up gossip in spiritual language. Here are some of the ways we do that and why it is a much more serious problem than we often realise.