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Audio from Willow Creek Conference
‘Course I’ll never listen to them (because hearing my own voice gives me the heebie-jeebies), but if you’re interested in hearing some recordings from a recent event I did, the church was kind enough to send me a link: Willow Creek Ladies’ Conference (April 2010) These are pretty much equivalent to my standard retreat sessions 2a/2b & 3.
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Marriage — One for Better and Worse
Fred and I just registered for the 2010 CCEF Conference — Mariage: One for Better and Worse and I hope to get to see you there too! If you’re not familiar with CCEF (the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation), I hope you’ll get to know them. Their materials are the finest practical theology (counseling the heart) resources that I know of. They are biblical, Christ-centered, and yet imminently practical and readable. (I’m obviously a big fan.) See you in November? Gratefully, Tara B.
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People at their worst, but the gospel at its best …
The world’s cutest webmaster and blogger (my hubby Freddy B.) posted this at the Peacemaker Ministries blog and I just CHEERED as I read it: Quail Springs Church of Christ Heals Rift Through Mediation What a (painful! beautiful!) testimony of God’s grace at work in a congregation and a wonderfully gifted Christian conciliator. Enjoy.
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Grateful for Hand-Me-Downs
We continue to live off of charitable grants from the Kent Family Foundation (of adorable hand-me-downs from six years ago) and gifts from Auntie Kali and Uncle Fred … and I am so grateful for them both! Without generous gifts from friends and family, I could never enjoy such pink & frilly girls on a Sunday morning: Sorry that my blog was dead all day long. Technology problems. Hopefully they’re squared away (or SQL’d away) or whatever technie term is appropriate. And hope you had a great Monday! G’nite, Tara B.
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Great Preachers are Great Listeners (and Lovers)
Worth the read over at HeadHeartHand: Great Preachers are Great Listeners (and Lovers)
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Francis Chan: “I promise you. I would take care of your wife.”
Powerful stuff here: Because he points us to powerful stuff here.
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Peacemaker Ministries Leadership Opportunity
I just re-read the study guide to the Peacemaker Ministries Leadership Opportunity and I want to encourage you again to consider purchasing this resource and introducing it to your church leadership. It really is a great distillation of some of the most important topics related to peacemaking and leadership. And even though the price might initially strike you as high—consider the cost of conflict in your congregation, and I bet you’ll quickly see that it’s a true bargain. (Not that I’m trying to sell you anything! I don’t get a commission. I’m sure no one at Peacemakers will even know I’ve mentioned this resource again. I just think it’s that…
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Accountability Without Transparency is Useless
TakeYourVitaminZ linked to a (convicting! accurate!) read over at RefineUs: Accountability is Useless It doesn’t take long to read the entire article, but it’s definitely worth it. The author, a pastor, begins by explaining all of the different levels of “accountability” he implemented in his life. But then he says this: “So with all of these boundaries and all of these safe guards and all of these great leaders and friends holding me accountable how could I ever be unfaithful to God and my wife? That’s not possible right? But I was unfaithful, despite all of my accountability. What I have discovered is accountability is useless. Accountability is only as…
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Richard J. Krejcir on Church Conflict
If you have an interest in biblical peacemaking and would like to read a slightly different take on it from the “standard” Peacemaker Ministries model, I encourage you to click through and enjoy this series of articles posted on the The Francis Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development (www.ChurchLeadership.org): Cultivating Effective Biblical Solutions for Conflict Yes, I have to admit that the JD/MBA (and Presbyterian?) in me still particularly enjoys the orderly way that engineer and fellow lawyer Ken Sande organizes the biblical principles over at Peacemakers. (Some of Dr. Krejcir’s articles in this series got a little rambly and my tiny brain just couldn’t keep track of 24+ points…
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Time to Learn the Word “No” (with Grace AND Truth)
A little Momma Tara Math for you to kick off your Wednesday: Complete-Crawl-Across-An-Entire-Room-MOBILITY + Lots-O’-Interesting-And-Some-Potentially-Dangerous-Things-To-Poke-Into = Time-For-Baby-To-Learn-The-(Good!)-Word-“NO” (Yes, yes, I know I probably shouldn’t have even let her do this even just ONCE. But oh! It was SO CUTE to see her discover the bowls. Move the food bowl. Play with it. Discover the WATER bowl. (Her eyes LIT UP. She began to move so purposefully towards it. I ran for the camera.) A one time freebie because it was so entertaining for me AND to encourage her that there really is a super interesting and fun world “out there” for her to discover now that she is mobile. Hopefully…
