‘Nothing could be more destructive to Christian koinonia than the common practice today of pretending not to have any problems. It is often true that Christian homes may be filled with bickering, squabbling, angry tantrums, even bodily attacks of one member of the family against another, and yet not one word of this is breathed to anyone else and the impression is carefully cultivated before other Christians that this is an ideal Christian family with no problems of any serious consequence to be worked out. To make matters even worse, this kind of conspiracy of silence is regarded as the Christian thing to do, and the hypocrisy it presents to…

‘A Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ. Among men there is strife. ‘He is our peace,’ says Paul of Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:14). Without Christ there is discord between God and man and between man and man. Christ became the Mediator and made peace with God and among men. Without Christ we should not know God, we could not call upon Him, nor come to Him.  But without Christ we also would not know our brother, nor could we come to him. The way is blocked by our ego. Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother. Now Christians can live with one another in…

What a great example of Roger Nicole’s Polemic Theology (What Do I Owe the Person Who Differs from Me?): David Powlison Responds A (very!) rare internet/blog exchange addressing a difference (or miscommunication?) among Christians … rare because it is gracious. Oh, wouldn’t it be great if such exchanges began to be commonplace? If the world would say, “Oh! Look at how those Christians LOVE each other!” and “You know, I’ve never heard a Christian slander. Or gossip. Ever.” What a wonderful world that would be …   “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that…

Some days, you just need a little dose of Emily Dickinson, don’t you think? “True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island … to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.” “A friend is someone, who upon seeing another friend in immense pain, would rather be the one experiencing the pain than to have to watch their friend suffer.”   “Ultimately the bond of all companionship, wheather in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.”  

Wow. This video amazes me. Talk about not being baited by a personal attack. Talk about charitable presumptions. A gentle answer really does turn away wrath.  What graciousness! (Thanks, Melodee, for the link.)  

The website for the 2010 Peacemaker Ministries Conference is now live: 2010 Peacemaker Conference — Forgiveness September 16-19 in Washington D.C.   Hope you can make plans to attend! Steady Freddy B. will be there … 🙂  

‘For many women, even Christian women, the longing for a place where they belong causes restlessness and insecurity. But the redeemed woman, who has been strengthened in her inner being to know that God has made a place for her in His heart will sing with the psalmist, ‘Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations’ (Psalm 90:1) … She knows that her ‘adoption through Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 1:5) makes her part of God’s family. She has been rooted and grounded in love; so she rejoices in her historical and global connection to God’s children, and she understands that  she lives out that connection locally in the church…

Thanks, TakeYourVitaminZ, for this Bonhoeffer quote: “Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community.”   No more illusions. Real life. Real community. Amen. May it be so.  

One of my fb friends, Thomas Knox Myrick, is a young man I don’t really know beyond fb-land, but Fred and I comment on how we’d like to get to know him based on his reading lists and updates (preach it Thomas!). Today he posted a link to a great W. Smith article that I encourage you to read: Wisdom in Relationships   Enjoy!  

Take Your VitaminZ linked over to this article that had an interesting take on hard conversations: On Hard Conversations I think it is particularly of interest to me this morning because I’ve been reflecting this week on various hard conversations that people have had with me over the years—some, redemptive. Some, condemning. But all, truly hard. I’ve also had to initiate some hard conversations lately—so that’ll have you on your knees and shaking a bit in your Keds as it were. And the leadership event I’m participating in next weekend down in SC will discuss redemptive confrontation / the “3rd G” – Gently Restore, so the topic is heavy on…