Life on Planet Earth on Complaining

illustration

Hell Begins…

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:14-15, 1 Corinthians 10:10, Hebrews 3:12-15, Matthew 13:41-42, Matthew 25:46

Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others…but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a ...

liturgy

Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Most Holy Lord, we speak with eloquence, but have no love. We speak truth to power, pontificate, and smugly consider our knowledge superior to others, but display little to no charity. We give sacrifi...

liturgy

Lord, forgive us for the times when we fall

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Lord, forgive us for the times when we fail to follow your word. During this time, we silently reflect on the times when we’ve ignored your commandments in Scripture, the times when we have… Failed ...

illustration

Where Your Complaining Comes From

Author

Paul David Tripp

Keywords

Concerns

If right now you’re complaining about something, you’re not complaining because you have a lack of resources problem… people problem, …fairness problem, physical health problem, church problem, m...

illustration

Your Complaining Is Not Because…

Author

Paul David Tripp

Keywords

Discouragement

If right now you’re complaining about something, you’re not complaining because you have a lack of resources problem… people problem, …fairness problem, physical health problem, church problem, m...

illustration

Judgment and Joy Don't Go Together

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:14-16, James 5:9, Numbers 14:27, 1 Corinthians 10:10, Luke 5:30, 1 Timothy 2:8, Exodus 15:24, Luke 6:37, Matthew 7:1-5, 1 Corinthians 5:12

Judgment and joy don’t go well together – no, judgment leads to grumbling. I’m sure you’ve met people in your life who are hard to please – maybe even your parents, or your boss. People for whom n...

liturgy

Heavenly Father, let it not be said

Author

Gabe Fung

Keywords

Heavenly Father, let it not be said that we are disunified as a people. We are unified by our grumbling. We grumble against you for what you have done or left undone, according to our misplaced commun...

illustration

The Nine Men and the Goat

Author

George Mikes

Keywords

In Budapest, a man goes to the rabbi and complains, “Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?” The rabbi answers, “Take your goat into the room with you.” The man in...

illustration

Lament: A Definition and Example

Author

J. Todd Billings

Keywords

In his faithful memior/treatment of the subject of lament, professor J. Todd Billings defines the practice of lament through his own experience of receiving a diagnosis of Multiple Myloma: Lament. T...

liturgy

Inspired by Psalm 51:1-12

Author

Gabe Fung

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:1-12

Hear the good news of God’s forgiveness of His grumbling and wayward people: He hides his face from our sins. He blots out all our iniquities. God creates in us a clean heart and a new spirit. He does...

liturgy

Almighty God, from the very beginning,

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Almighty God, from the very beginning, You have designed us for glorious work. You have given us Your Spirit and spread before us limitless resources. Because You have made us a royal priesthood, we n...

liturgy

Prayer of Adoration God, Almighty –

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Prayer of Adoration God, Almighty – holy, gracious, truthful and loving, we’re drawn by Your invitation to enjoy Your love, an invitation to feel Your touch and hear Your voice, to taste and see tha...

liturgy

Lord, You answer our pleas for help.

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Lord, You answer our pleas for help. You draw near to us when we are hurting; You save us when we are crushed by life. Your Psalmists declare it on every page. Yet we often feel abandoned and alone. W...

liturgy

Father – Your love is faithful through

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 1:3, Matthew 28:19, John 10:30, Matthew 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 Peter 1:2

Father – Your love is faithful through all generations Jesus – Your grace is extends from eternity into eternity. Spirit – Your presence knows no boundary or barrier. For that we praise you, Triune...

liturgy

Almighty God, you bless us so richly.

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Almighty God, you bless us so richly. You renew us and give us new life. You equip us with the gifts of your Spirit. You give us an amazing calling to follow you each day. But we fail to use the gifts...

liturgy

Almighty, gracious God, we confess to

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Almighty, gracious God, we confess to you that we do not see what you see. You are ever-present, speaking, coaxing, prodding, leading, guiding, and motivating. Yet that is not enough. Like the stubbor...

liturgy

Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Dearest Brothers and Sisters, the One who was rejected by family, friend, and neighbor, is the One who expresses love for sinners like us. He epitomizes the love of which Paul wrote to the Corinthian ...

illustration

The Happy Complainer

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Scripture

Philippians 2:14-15, Proverbs 21:9, Ephesians 4:29, Colossians 3:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Charles Darwin, known for his chronic complaining, was at his happiest when he had something to criticize. One evening, he and his wife attended a banquet where everything seemed to go wrong. The spee...

illustration

Confession is not…

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:1-11, Romans 5:20, Proverbs 28:13, 1 John 1:9, John 21:15-17, Luke 18:13

Confession is not telling God what he doesn’t know. Impossible. Confession is not complaining. If I merely recite my problems and rehash my woes, I’m whining. Confession is not blaming. Pointing finge...

illustration

A Rough Day

Author

Justin Sedgewick

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 19:10, 18, 1 John 4:10, Psalm 139:1-3, Isaiah 49:14-16, Hebrews 13:5

13-year-old Mary is having a tough day and has stretched herself out on the couch to do a bit of what she thought to be well-deserved complaining and self-pitying. She moans to her Mom and brother, “N...

illustration

The Creation of Artificial Time

Author

John Mark Comer

Keywords

The Passing of Time

We all know our world has sped up to a frenetic pace. We feel it in our bones, not to mention on the freeway. But it hasn’t always been this way. Let me nerd out on you for a few minutes just to show...

illustration

Schoolwork through Different Experiences

Author

Shawn Achor

Keywords

In the fall of 2009, I was invited to go on a month-long speaking tour throughout Africa. During the trip, a CEO from South Africa named Salim took me to Soweto, a township just outside of Johannesbur...

illustration

Uneasy Lies the Head

Author

Greg Gilbert

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 5:12, Proverbs 3:24, Matthew 11:28-30

It was William Shakespeare, in 1597, who had Henry IV complaining about the duties of kingship. “How many thousands of my poorest subjects,” the king lamented, “are at this hour asleep!” He goes on to...

Quote

Author

Erik Erikson

Keywords

I must register a certain impatience with the faddish equation, never suggested by me, of the term identity with the question, “Who am I?” This question nobody would ask himself except in a more or le...

blog

One Key Idea for Short-term Mission Trips

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

When do you schedule the “fun” activities on your short-term mission trips? JULY 2018 When I was in youth ministry planning mission trips, we often scheduled a short sightseeing adventure for the end...

blog

S.I.T. For the week of 6/3

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

God's Voice Speaking through the Frustration My first conscious experience of hearing the voice of Jesus occurred when I was a college student. It grew out of a period of genuine frustration. Bec...

illustration

Any Worse Company

Author

Brennan Manning

Keywords

The story is often told of a man who made an appointment with the famous psychologist Carl Jung to get help for chronic depression. Jung told him to reduce his fourteen-hour workday to eight, go direc...

illustration

God’s Voice Speaking through the Frustration

Author

Richard J. Foster

Keywords

Silence

My first conscious experience of hearing the voice of Jesus occurred when I was a college student. It grew out of a period of genuine frustration. Because of my poor academic training and a less-than-...

illustration

Scarcity: The Great Lie

Author

Lynne Twist

Keywords

For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is “I didn’t get enough sleep.” The next one is “I don’t have enough time.” Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us...

Quote

Author

Alphonse Karr

Keywords

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

liturgy

illustration

illustration

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

blog

blog

illustration

illustration

illustration

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalm

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea