Conflict Resolution

Some sinful ways to resolve conflicts:
- Let time heal it. (Matthew 5:23-24; Ephesians 4:26)
- Try to bury it.
- Pretend it never happened. (Philippians 4:8a)
- Wait for the other person to initiate the resolution process. (Matthew 5:23-24)
- Punish the other person until they change and take all the blame. (Galatians 6:1; Romans 12:9-20)

Taken from Communication and Conflict Resolution: A Biblical Perspective by Stuart Scott, excerpted from The Exemplary Husband: A Biblical Perspective, Focus Publishing, 2000.

Dr. Mohler weighs in on "The Shack"

Dr. Mohler on "The Shack." If you consider yourself to be a confessional Southern Baptist, you can't dismiss his commentary on just about any issue, but especially something as socially and culturally significant as this:

"The Shack is a wake-up call for evangelical Christianity...The popularity of this book among evangelicals can only be explained by a lack of basic theological knowledge among us -- a failure even to understand the Gospel of Christ. The tragedy that evangelicals have lost the art of biblical discernment must be traced to a disastrous loss of biblical knowledge. Discernment cannot survive without doctrine."

Read the full article here: http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/27/the-shack-the-missing-art-of-evangelical-discernment/

Ed Welch on Depression

"You have to be willing to put up a fight. Let's say you find that you are reluctant to work at it. If that's true, you ought to question whether you really want to change. It may sound odd, but many people don't. The work involved doesn't seem worth it, they hate what they will have to face if they are no longer depressed, or they are loyal to their own style of life, preferring to wait for the world around them to change. So have the courage to ask yourself, 'Do I really want to change?'" - Edward T. Welch, Depression: The Way Up When You Are Down

How to Face the Future Without Fear

I Then Shall Live

I then shall live as one who's been forgiven. 

I'll walk with joy to know my debts are paid. 
I know my name is clear before my Father;
I am His child and I am not afraid. 
So greatly pardoned, I'll forgive my brother. 
The law of love I gladly will obey.

I then shall live as one who's learned compassion. 
I've been so loved I'll risk loving, too. 
I know how fear builds walls instead of bridges; 
I'll dare to see another's point of view. 
And when relationships demand commitment, 
Then I'll be there to care and follow through.

Your kingdom come around and through and in me. 
Your power and glory let them shine through me. 
Your Hallowed name, oh may I bear with honor, 
And may Your living Kingdom come in me. 
The Bread of Life, O may I share with honor, 
And may You feed a hungry world through me. 

- Gloria Gaither