• Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Our Editor Has Approved and Accepted our Manuscript!

    We just heard the wonderful news from our editor at Baker Books that “Redeeming Church Conflicts” has gone through all of the major editing needed for completion and we are on track for a May 1, 2012 roll-out. Needless to say, Dave Edling (my coauthor) and I are PSYCHED. Well. Dave is a very calm and reserved man, so maybe he is just “pleased”. But I AM PSYCHED! 🙂 One of the things we get to do in the following few months is bring a blog online related to our book’s topic (“redeeming church conflict”). So I was wondering if you guys could help me out a little … Specifically,…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Be in Heart What You Really Are

    There is so much wisdom in this brief book: The Heart of a Servant Leader: Letters from Jack Miller. The example I was reviewing today was written to a man who was in conflict with his church leaders and then, after another pastor was brought into the conflict to try to help (‘Rob’), the man became conflicted with the new (trying-to-help-with-the-conflict) pastor too. Please note: this excerpt is after a long, kind, gentle affirmation and assurance of deep love for the recipient of the letter. If Pastor Jack Miller was anything in life, he was an encourager. But this excerpt is such an insightful confrontation that I really wanted to…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Preventing Church Splits (HT: Thabiti Anyabwile)

    Hooray for this GREAT post from Pastor Anyabwile: Preventing Church Splits It is so good. Truly. And it’s about far more than ‘just’ preventing church splits—it’s really about all of the ‘one anothering’ commands of Scripture. (Love one another. Serve one another. Pray for one another. Forgive one another. Bear one another’s burdens, etc.) If you love the Church and would like to know how to love your local church better, take a few moments to read this. And then? Print it out (or give yourself a task and archive it electronically ) and spend some TIME with it in the coming weeks. It’s that good. Let me share just…

  • Hope in Suffering

    Pain Does Its Work and Grace Takes Over (by Ajith Fernando)

    PAIN DOES ITS WORK, AND GRACE TAKES OVER Written by Ajith Fernando while travelling abroad I left home on a trip abroad feeling very discouraged and hurt because of some problems. This is normal in the Christian life, and these are emotions I must not deny. Sorrow and pain must be permitted to do their work. They – deepen our commitment and mould our character, especially teaching us patience; – lead us to confess sin and show the fruit of repentance; – prepare us to face greater suffering; – bring us closer to suffering humanity; – make us more effective ministers; and – increase our joy by causing us to…

  • Grace in Daily Life

    Love in Deed

    Scene 1. This morning, Tara stands relatively paralyzed over a mound of clothes, toiletries, camping gear, and lists upon lists. Fred leaves for work. Anxiety starts to rise and paralysis remains. Scene 2. Auntie Dianne calls and says, “I have some unexpected free time. May I take the girls to the park so that you can be uninterrupted as you pack and run errands?” A sudden rush of HOPE comes over Tara’s heart. Little by little, ziplock bags begin to be filled and labeled. Check marks on lists start to rival to-do’s on lists. Tara thinks, “Maybe. Just maybe. I can get this done before Fred comes home from work.”…

  • Hope in Suffering

    Death and Dying

    Last week, Sophia asked me if it hurt to die. I told her that to the best of my understanding, sometimes it did and sometimes it didn’t. For example, our friend died recently in a head-on collision with a semi-truck. I believe that one moment Kirk was alive and the next moment, he was in glory. His injuries were so catastrophic that I simply cannot imagine that he felt any physical pain. But we also have two friends who have valiantly fought cancer for years and who just recently shared with us that they are entering into hospice. So unless the Lord chooses to work a medical miracle, they will…

  • Uncategorized

    Known by the Good Shepherd

    Recently, I have been deeply impacted by my private devotional reading/study of the gospel of John. (It’s really made me long for a women’s Bible study session using Dr. Kathleen Buswell Nielson’s study guide. Maybe one day …) For today’s Sabbath, I share a mere snippet from this rich gospel: “So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief…

  • Teens & Technology

    Letter to an Incomplete, Insecure Teenager (from John Piper)

    Europeanne (formerly known as “PalmTreePundit”) posted a link on FaceBook that I encourage you all to read: Letter to an Incomplete, Insecure Teenager (by John Piper) It is excellent! So real and gritty and honest; and yet, so hope-filled. It’s going in my “keeper file” for sure. Thanks, Anne! So happy you are settling into your new home! Love to you and Charlie and the kiddos—who aren’t really kiddos any more …   Your friend, Tara B.  

  • Uncategorized

    Hyperactivity is a Form of Sloth

    Really enjoyed this recommendation from Challies: Rest—A Four Letter Word? Here is my (most convicting) and favorite line from the article: “What has stayed with me is  a warning from Peterson that hyperactivity is a form of sloth. We can be lazy at the center, refusing to do the real work of caring for the soul.”