Featured Articles on Trans·formed This Week
Don’t Hide Your Laundry (Marc Cortez): We’ve worn our coats of shame for so long, that we can still feel its abrasive rub on our skin and smell the musty odor of long-kept secrets wafting from its pockets. We know it’s not really there. But, it’s hard to hear the quiet whisper of our heads over the terrified screaming of our hearts. So, convinced deep down that there’s a part of me even God can’t love and won’t transform, not in this life, I hide. Stuffing my dirty laundry under my bed, quietly guarding my dark corners. And, in the process, I deny the Spirit’s power, God’s love, and Jesus’s death on the cross. I don’t mean to, but I do it anyway.
.
Don’t Assume the Story You Hear Is the Real Story (Bev Hislop): We each deal with life as we see it. The care-seeker’s perspective is the reality she deals with every day. It is knowing her reality that will enable a shepherd to walk her through her painful circumstances. Understanding that there may be another perspective will be essential in leading the care-seeker to a place of healing and strength.
.
.
Rooted Leadership: Values (Chad Hall): Leaders who live reflective lives recognize the competition of values, take note of which values win out in certain battles, and allow this wisdom to inform future values-based decisions. It’s impossible to avoid values competition, but knowing your priorities allows you to make decisions with greater confidence, conviction, and speed.
.
.
Temptation Is Not Sin (Bill Mounce): “Temptation” is being enticed to sin. You are walking along the path and someone bumps into you, they hurt you; and the thought flits through your head to respond in anger. That’s temptation. A person of the opposite gender walks by, and something inside you tells you to look him up and down; that’s temptation. Someone walking with you says something that hurts, and that same voice whispers that you should slander her reputation. That’s temptation. Let me cover three things about temptation.
..
Other Articles on Trans·formed This Week
- Why Theology Matters (video)
Other Posts of Interest from around the Web
- Cheap E-Book Alert: Good deals on some very interesting books.
- Marc Cortez is giving away some commentaries on Jeremiah/Lamentations and Ezekiel/Daniel. If you’re looking to stock up your commentary collection, check it out.
- Walking While Black: My well-meaning white friends have no idea why so many African Americans distrust or fear the police who have vowed to protect and serve. And they have no idea what it is like for black parents to have to prepare their children to deal with a public that often still judges them by the color of their skin. They are so committed to the idea that we live in a color-blind society that it is hard for them even to perceive, let alone help change, the reality that impacts our lives and the lives of our children daily.
- Husbands Love Your Wives More Than Seminary: To my shame, I could spot the subtle ways heretical worldviews creep into the church, but I paid little attention to the subtle ways resentment crept into my wife’s heart. I jumped to unpack the mysteries behind Christ’s tears as He hung alone on the cross, but I left alone the mystery of my wife’s tears as she, once again, went to bed alone because her husband “needed” to study. After all, I was in seminary, and shouldn’t she support God’s calling on my life? She should be stronger, trust God’s plan more, and be more understanding of the demands of my calling, right?
- 10 Leadership Lessons I Learned from Golf: You may not think of the golf course as a beaker for leadership testing, but there’s a ton to learn, besides how to hit it long and straight. Which, between you and me, is a task much harder than leadership.
- The Hardest Question in Theology: Why do the innocent suffer? Why does God allow earthquakes? How could Adam and Eve sin? Do we have free will? No problem. I can handle these questions. But the one that really ties my theology in knots, the one that keeps me awake at night, preventing me from fully understanding how God could possible be good, loving, all-powerful, and holy, is quite simply this: Why does God allow cats?
- The Subtle Art of Sabotaging a Pastor: There are many temptations common among the Enemy’s undershepherds but one universal temptation of them arises from their flesh and it is this: they want people to be pleased with them. Wanting to be liked is not a sin, really — to use the Enemy’s terminology — but it can be quickly turned to one at the hands of a spiritual disintegrator as shrewd as yourself.
- How to Run an Elders Meeting: By the astounding grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the elders have been entrusted with the awesome role of “undershepherds” of his flock. This ministry is done collectively; therefore, the elders must meet together regularly to carry it out. The elders must consecrate themselves to the glory of God and the good of his people, and carry out the shepherding, prayer, discernment, and management tasks entrusted to them. As they do so, they should conduct themselves as Spirit-filled men who seek unity and true understanding of each other’s minds.
Comments