• Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Why Churches Stall

    TakeYourVitaminZ thanked Tim Chester for this (great!) Marcus Honeysett article (’tis hard to accurately thank everyone re: links to links to links in blogland, isn’t it? but I do try …) A Hole in the Fuel Tank? Ten Reasons Why Churches Stall I encourage you to read the entire article (it isn’t long). And to tempt you, here are just a few summary points from Mr. Chester to consider as to why churches stall: 1. The church forgets who we are and what we are for … mission quickly becomes just one among many activities rather than the defining vision of who we are as a community. 2. The majority…

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    No More My God

    No More My God Isaac Watts 1674-1748 No more, my God, I boast no more Of all the duties I have done; I quit the hopes I held before, To trust the merits of Thy Son. Now, for the loss I bear His name, What was my gain I count my loss; My former pride I call my shame, And nail my glory to His cross.   Yes, and I must and will esteem All things but loss for Jesus’ sake; O may my soul be found in Him, And of His righteousness partake! The best obedience of my hands Dares not appear before Thy throne; But faith can answer…

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    Such a Thing as Perfection

    Vintage Jill Carattini in today’s RZIM Slice of Infinity: Error of a Serious Sort I encourage you to read it slowly. It’s that good.   Here’s just a brief excerpt (that you really should read in context to understand its richness and depth): “In deep contrast to such severe or optimistic readings, the Christian view of humanity adds a nuanced dimension to the conversation. Christianity admits that while there is indeed an error of a serious sort, the error is not in “humanness” itself. Rather, something has gone wrong. Thus, the great paradox of humanity can be rightly acknowledged: we find in being human both a deep and sacred honor…

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    Sin is Uglier …

    I am praying for UrbanServant and her beloved family as they make the trek to Colorado Springs. (Oh! Do click through and read of God’s glory and work through this dear woman if you are not yet already familiar with her blog. Enjoy! And please also pray for them. I’m really hoping—and taking steps to try!—to be a blessing to this family as they transition to our Mountain Time Zone.) And I am taking notes and more notes from this John Piper sermon: Helping the Children to Love the Different People Worth the time. Truly. I strongly urge you to listen and I pray that we will all live out…

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    Saving Kiki

    We don’t have television news on in our home, so we get our information from other sources. Just by reading and listening, however, I know that the airwaves (internet cable thingy waves?) have been inundated with photos and video from Haiti. We have prayed as a family, but we haven’t seen a lot of the live footage of the death and devastation. But TakeYourVitmainZ posted a photo that motivated me to go out and look for coverage of this: the remarkable, God-honoring rescuing of a seven year-old boy named Kiki. If you poke around news sites, you’ll see clips of Kiki answering questions from reporters as to how he survived…

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    Deleted Post

    Just a quick note to let “dismayed” know that I have deleted the post from 2006 that motivated his or her criticisms this morning. I stand behind the theology of what I said in the post (I truly believe that God is sovereign, even—especially—over our worst suffering.) However, I also believe that the criticisms are warranted in that, like so many things on the internet, it was not possible to understand my tone by reading solely this one post. If you don’t know me or regularly read my blog, I guess you could presume to know that I am “flippant” and “not sensitive”. I thought about trying to re-write the…

  • Relationships & Peacemaking

    Hard Conversations

    Take Your VitaminZ linked over to this article that had an interesting take on hard conversations: On Hard Conversations I think it is particularly of interest to me this morning because I’ve been reflecting this week on various hard conversations that people have had with me over the years—some, redemptive. Some, condemning. But all, truly hard. I’ve also had to initiate some hard conversations lately—so that’ll have you on your knees and shaking a bit in your Keds as it were. And the leadership event I’m participating in next weekend down in SC will discuss redemptive confrontation / the “3rd G” – Gently Restore, so the topic is heavy on…

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    Approaching the Throne of Grace with Confidence

    Yesterday I met for the first time with a new friend for prayer, Bible study, and accountability regarding a certain area of temptation that we both face. As is often the case whenever I’m trying something new, I really (really!) wanted to back out at the last minute. New = scary, at least for me. (Not cooking level of scary or anything, but scary nonetheless.) But I also really (really!) wanted to meet. Not with any “twelve step plan for victory” or spreadsheet of organized temptations & relevant Scriptures or even with any “big goal” in mind. But just for friendship and companionship along life’s journey—and for encouragement to remember…