By Rick Warren Every relationship—even a good one—has conflict. If you don’t know how to deal with it, how to resolve it, how to manage it, you can kill your relationship. The Bible says conflict is caused by selfishness. James 4:1 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren’t they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you?” (GNT). I am basically a selfish person. I think of me before I think of anybody else. And you do, too. I want what…
By Chuck Lawless I’ve been involved in the local church as a pastor long enough to know that some Sundays are really hard. If that’s the case for you, I hope these ideas will help you find some joy today: Focus on those who affirmed you rather than the few (or even the one) who got under your skin. It’s been my experience that we too often let the few voices drown out the many. The opposition isn’t always as strong…
By Thom Rainer I receive volumes of blog comments, emails, and social media communications every day. On occasion, one of those comments will stop me in my tracks, like this recent blog post comment. I am providing it to you almost completely unedited. I made a few edits to protect the identity of the writer. I respectfully request you not to lecture this lady, but to offer prayer and encouragement. The headings are mine, but the words are hers. The…
By Mark Dance Have you noticed that some people have a hard time hearing “no”— particularly those in our family and ministry? Others have a hard time saying “no”— particularly those who are called to love and lead churches. The moment Janet became my wife, all of my friends, family, and church members got an immediate demotion. When I said “I do” on our wedding day, I simultaneously said “no” to over seven billion other people. The purpose of this post is to help you…
By Barnabas Piper Doubt is common to all Christians. We struggle for a million reasons ranging from difficult intellectual questions to times of extreme suffering to feeling like God is absent. And sometimes the people you think are the least likely to struggle with doubts actually struggle the most. My father was a pastor of the same church, Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis, from three years before I was born until he retired on my 30th birthday. The church grew steadily…
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