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Happy (But Busy) Valentine’s Week …
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Boldness to Declare the Gospel in the Midst of Much Conflict
Last night, Fred shared this wonderful translation of 1 Thessalonians 2:2 with me: “But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.” (ESV) Sounds like a perfect peacemaking verse! Definitely going in the pack o’ memory verses for regular review …
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Top Ten Reasons Our Kids Leave The Church
This is an excellent article for every Christian in the church. I bet even Cap’n Dave would approve! And it gives me serious pause as to how much my parenting and care for my friends in the church is intentionally pushing back against this tide: Top Ten Reasons Our Kids Leave the Church (HT: Z)
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The First Pangs of Conscience (or Is It Remorse?)
I think it has only been within the last two weeks that our three year-old has expressed her first pangs of conscience. Both times, she did not merely express anger and frustration at the painful consequences for her choices; she went deeper. She began to wail in grief over what she had done and how she (herself) had a “bad,” a sinful, heart. It was for me simultaneously heart-breaking (it is hard to be around any person who is despairing, more or less our precious little love bug!) and hope-producing (ahhhh! evidence of that for which I have prayed for every single day of her life—the Holy Spirit at work in her heart). Both times, I…
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Helping our Pastors to Exercise Faith
Cap’n Dave is almost halfway through his seven-part series on “How to Preserve Your Pastor” and today’s entry is definitely worth the read: How to Preserve Your Pastor (Part 3): Failure to Exercise Faith
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Redemptive Confrontation: “God wants us to adjust the intensity of our communication to fit the other person’s position and the urgency of the situation.”
From Ken Sande’s The Peacemaker: “Talking to other people about a conflict is usually an unpleasant experience. We often let tensions build to the exploding point and then confront people with a list of their wrongs. They become defensive and react with a list of our wrongs, which leads to a painful battle of words. Those who are more verbally skilled may win a few arguments this way, but in the process they lose many important relationships. The gospel opens the door for an entirely different approach to talking to others about their role in a conflict. Remembering God’s mercy towards us, we can approach others in a spirit of…
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“We must reverentially fear God’s nature, but we should not doubt his nurture …”
“Christians gain spiritual power from the certainty of God’s support. Self-preserving, human efforts may result from fear of a God who will get you if you get out of line, but such works mistake outer conformity to God’s standards with holiness from the heart … Spiritual worship (Romans 12:1)–the selfless actions and inner desire to honor God–cannot result from threats. Proper fear of God in his people is not a concern for his wrath but a reverence for his holiness. We must reverentially fear his nature, but should not doubt his nurture. He will not harm those who are covered in the righteousness of his own Son and who, thus, are…
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The Very Lines Along Which Our Spirits Live
“Authority exercised with humility, and obedience accepted with delight are the very lines along which our spirits live.” C.S. Lewis
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Some pastors are overly concerned about their critics.
Dave has a great article over at our RedeemingChurchConflicts blog. Here is just a snippet to hopefully tempt you to click through and read it all: “Pastors, just like the rest of us, want to be liked. They desire meaningful friendships and frequently go out of their way to demonstrate hospitality to church members. They also want the admiration of the members of their church because they know the grace-filled message of God’s Word will be more readily accepted if the messenger is appreciated for both his biblical knowledge and consistent Christian character and gentle witness. Most pastors seek to avoid conflict with church members believing that such encounters may…
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“Why would you ever do that?” — The Real Source and Strength of Lasting Compassion
I just learned that my handouts are due soon for the PCA’s upcoming women’s leadership conference: PCA Women’s Ministry Leadership Training Conference: Leading with Compassion–Called to Serve, Equipped to Lead I would appreciate your prayers as I work to finalize my content. The title for my plenary session is: “Why would you ever do that?” — The Real Source and Strength of Lasting Compassion It has already been through one layer of my theology-checkers, so hopefully there is no unintentional heresy in there. (Not being seminary trained, I really rely on the help and oversight of my friends and church leaders.) I’m also doing two workshops: Biblical Peacemaking: As the PCA…
