Redeeming Church Conflicts

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    A Multitude of Faithful, Risk-Taking, Plodders …

    Yesterday, I was researching something for one of my pastors and I came across a bunch of emails from one of the hardest-working women in our little church. Her wisdom, wit, and passion (along with her faithful, long-term service to our church family) reminded me of one of my favorite Kevin DeYoung articles that I encourage you to read in its entirety:  The Glory of Plodding A few snippets to hopefully tempt you to click through: “The best churches are full of gospel-saturated people holding tenaciously to a vision of godly obedience and God’s glory, and pursuing that godliness and glory with relentless, often unnoticed, plodding consistency … That’s my dream for…

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  • Redeeming Church Conflicts,  Relationships & Peacemaking

    When (Differently) Gifted Pastors Destroy the Church (Rather than Build it Up)

    Desperate for some biblical hope (which means I was desperate for Christ!), I sat and re-read through page after page of Dave Edling’s wise and pithy words over on our Redeeming Church Conflicts site. What a feast for the soul! Nothing like Truth to reorient the ol’ heart attitudes. This post is a particular favorite of mine, so I thought I’d re-share it here too: When (Differently) Gifted Pastors Destroy the Church (Rather than Build it Up) Dave’s observations as to the four main reasons why church conflicts often emerge due to the misuse of spiritual gifts is, I believe, spot-on. I hope that you will click through and read the entire post. And I…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    It is naive to deny that professing Christians are quite capable of gossip, innuendo, spin and outright lies when engaged in conflict …

    Many thanks to our friend, Dr. Tim Lane (formerly of Westminster/CCEF, currently serving as President of the Institute for Pastoral Care) for his insights and endorsements of Redeeming Church Conflicts: Redeeming Group Conflicts I particularly appreciated this note: “It goes without saying that Christians are quite capable of gossip, innuendo, spin and outright lies when engaged in conflict. To deny that professing Christians are capable of this is naive. When you combine group conflict with perceived hurt, character scrutiny or doctrinal rectitude, the terrain can be challenging to navigate …”  Amen, brother. And thanks again! Tara B. PS If you’re not yet familiar with Tim Lane, I hope you will click through to his website…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Why do adults throw tantrums over seemingly trivial provocations?

    There is an excellent article by my friend, spiritual father, and co-author, Dave Edling, over on our Redeeming Church Conflicts blog: What Rules Govern Your Interactions with Others? (Especially in Your Church Conflict) In it, he cites some (perfectly fine) ideas from a Wall Street Journal article about business communication. But then he goes further—just as the gospel calls us to do. Let me tempt you with just a brief excerpt … “If your goal is to simply not feel so bad about yourself following your behavior the researchers have some good coping tips for you: Picture a scenario that is likely to trigger your anger, and imagine a calm…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    If ministry can be accomplished alone it lacks biblical value; if it is not fun it misses biblical perspective.

    Some of Dave’s best writing to date over at our Redeeming Church Conflicts blog: How to Preserve Your Pastor (Part 7): Sharing Ministry … With Friends This is dedicated to my new friends. Especially my new pastor friends.  You know who you are. I couldn’t help but think of you as I read these words from (my spiritual father and dear friend), Dave Edling: “Pastor Bob’s experience was never a lack of those seeking to share neither ministry with him or a lack of friends because he had the vision to have fun with his many friends as they undertook something bigger than any one of them could accomplish alone. Vision…

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  • Eulogy for a Bad Mother,  Redeeming Church Conflicts,  Relationships & Peacemaking,  Sin & Repentance

    “One reason people cling to the hurts they have received is that it gives them an excuse for being angry …”

    My friend and one of my heroes of the faith, Ajith Fernando, graciously gave me permission to share this with you. It includes some of his key teachings from Reclaiming Love: Radical Relationships in a Complex World (which I just ordered and am looking very forward to reading). Ajith has a particular burden for this topic because of the deep hurt that angry Christian leaders can cause. RESIDUAL ANGER Ajith Fernando A few days ago I realised that Paul used the words “rejoice,” “rejoiced,” “joy,” and “glad” a total of sixteen times in the Epistle to the Philippians. The great Bible scholar A. T. Robertson aptly named his classic exposition on Philippians, Paul’s…

  • Redeeming Church Conflicts

    Wow! Redeeming Church Conflicts is SUPER CHEAP on Amazon right now!

    I have no idea why Amazon is having this HUGE sale on my second book (Redeeming Church Conflicts), but they are: Redeeming Church Conflicts only $6.98 (with Amazon Prime!) and $3.99 Kindle This is MUCH cheaper than even I can buy it from my publisher as the author! If I had any extra cash right now, I’d stock up. Anyhoo … if you’ve even been in a group conflict and struggled to know what to do, I truly believe this book will help you. It is especially good at encouraging HOPE (when things feel hopeless!) because my coauthor, Dave Edling, is one of the most experienced Certified Christian Conciliators working in conflicted organizations and churches ever so he…

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