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Why I pray now for my daughters’ future husbands re: p*rn
Incredibly sad. Sobering. A call to prayer and action! Teens and P*rn: Ten Stats You Need to Know
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Through the Bible Through the Year
We are all enjoying Fred’s reading for us each evening: John Stott’s “Through the Bible, Through the Year: Daily Reflections from Genesis to Revelation” Tonight, we go to bed with these verses in our hearts: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31
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Minimizing Our Suffering
Have you ever looked around your life and seen so many people “truly” suffering that you are tempted to minimize your own? Doesn’t it sometimes feel selfish and self-indulgent to weep over your (small amount of) pain when there are people “out there” who are REALLY experiencing TRUE pain? I struggle with this propensity myself and I hear it in the voices of women at events coast-to-coast too. One of the truths I try to remember to believe myself—and I remind women of over and over again is that pain is pain, suffering is real. To restate an old poem: Yes. We can cry over the man who has no…
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Feeling Guilty …
Throughout this last week, I’ve had a number of really awful things I’ve done in the past just JUMP on me. I’ve physically cringed (and sometimes cried out a silent, “I can’t believe I did that!”) when I’ve thought of what I’ve done. So I thought it was a good time to review Ed Welch’s article and try to lay hold of these truths that I really do claim to believe: Feeling Guilty? Who Doesn’t?
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Insomnia and then … nightmares about insomnia
If I weren’t so tired, I would’ve found it a little funny that my really bad night of insomnia apparently was punctuated by some brief times of REM sleep, because then I had nightmares about being awake with insomnia. Pathetic! But such is life. I keep thinking of the end of the last session of my Fear Not! retreat: Sleep in Peace—God is Awake! ‘I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.’ Psalm 16:8-9 If only my subconscious mind would get the message…
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Snow Day!
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Using Titles When Introduced
One of the many things I am grateful for re: my childhood is that my parents taught me to stand when introduced to someone; to look them in the eye and repeat their name back. (“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Jones.”) They also taught me that adults should be referred to by title, unless they invited me to use their first names (my godmother was “Anne”—one of the very first adults I ever called by their first name) or by a nickname (“Auntie Dianne”). I try to continue this teaching with my girls, especially as regards adults with titles: Dr., Professor, Pastor, Congressman. Yes. That’s actually the reason for…
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When Change Seems Unlikely …
Dave keeps knocking ’em out of the park! Want to be encouraged? Enjoy this: When Change Seems Unlikely in Church Conflicts
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Nancy Leigh DeMoss Book GIVEAWAY: “Brokennss, Surrender, Holiness”
I just received a (beautiful!) hardcover book in the mail (for being a Challies “Friend of the Blog”) and after checking my LibraryThing.com (so much easier than walking ALL the way downstairs to look—hah), I confirmed that, yes, I already own it. So would you like it? If so, just leave a comment by one week from today and next Friday morning, I’ll let Random Number Generator pick one of you as the winner. It’s a great book (actually three great books) that I hope will truly bless one of you. Happy Thursday! — Tara B. PS Don’t forget to make sure I have some way to contact you.…
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Final Galleys for “Redeeming Church Conflicts”
I was thrilled yesterday when two encouraging things happened re: my new book, “Redeeming Church Conflicts”. First, our ranking on Amazon jumped from 4.7 millionth to #165,241st. All in one day! I guess someone must have pre-ordered one copy. Very encouraging! Second, we received the final galleys from Baker Book House Co: Dave is happily working through a final reading and compiling our Scripture Index too. Then I’ll take my swing at it and we’ll be ready to publish. (BTW—If you’re interested in reading a fun article on proofing manuscripts, I heartily recommend, The Price of Typos. It’s a great little read; really revealed my propensities re: spelling and word…
