Personal Development on Bad News

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Bad News as Opposed to Good News

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Scripture

Exodus 14:, Exodus 15:, Jonah 3:4-10, John 11:38-44, Acts 9:1-31, 1 Corinthians 1:18

(What’s the worst good news you’ve ever received? Here are a few that come to mind for me. “Mr. Halter, this is Bill from the Ford service department. I’ve got some good news for you. All the smoke y...

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Healing From the Inside Out

Author

Dave Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:13, Psalm 147:3, James 1:2-4, Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 17:14, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Isaiah 41:10

The bad news was that a friend’s leg was severed in a gruesome automobile accident. The good news was that it was surgically reattached. A few months later she asked if I wanted to see her scar. I swa...

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Permission to Speak Freely

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 5:11, Ephesians 4:15, Proverbs 27:5-6, Colossians 4:6, Proverbs 3:7, Proverbs 25:11, Ezekiel 33:6, Matthew 18:15

If you’ve ever watched a war movie, or a film that takes place in the military, you’re likely to have encountered a specific scene, in which a subordinate will have something to tell a senior officer ...

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The Wordy Pianist

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 10:19, Ecclesiastes 5:2, Isaiah 26:3 , James 1:19, Matthew 6:27, Psalm 141:3, James 3:

The renowned pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1887–1982), often hailed as one of the greatest musicians of all time, loved to share this humorous story about himself. Known for his gift of conversation—he s...

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The $20 Million Mistake

Author

Erwin Raphael McManus

Keywords

In The Last Arrow, Erwin McManus shares the story of Mark Floyd, a businessman who convinced investors to place $20 million dollars in an investment that ultimately failed. Instead of crawling into a ...

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The Caffeine Study and Self-Deception

Author

Gregg A. Ten Elshof

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 18:17, John 3:20-21, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Psalm 139:23-24

In one fascinating study some years ago, subjects were presented with evidence suggesting that there was a correlation between heavy caffeine use and breast cancer. Subjects were then asked to report ...

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Author

Brenda Ueland

Keywords

If your idleness is a complete slump, that is, indecision, fretting, worry, or due to over-feeding and physical mugginess, that is bad, terrible and utterly sterile. Or if it is that idleness which so...

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Our Emotional Lives are Complicated

Author

Marc Brackett

Keywords

So, how are you feeling? It’s not a trick question. But it’s more complicated than it sounds. We’re always feeling something, usually more than one thing at a time. Our emotions are a continuous ...

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Review: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 1:null

My Aversion to Self-Help Books & Their Gurus but Why I Recommend This One! I am not one for “self-help” books. I know that I probably could use some more personal coaching advice, but… my habit ...

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The good news in Christ is that when we face

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Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Romans 8:1, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 103:12

Leader: The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey. Friends, believe the good news o...

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Persuading Ourselves of the Truth

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 5:20, Galatians 6:3, 2 Timothy 3:13, Proverbs 12:15, Romans 1:21, 1 John 1:8

When we observe evil, sinful behavior from a distance, the inclination is simply to see people as acting with malicious intent. We assume they are “bad people.” But often the motivations that lead to ...

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Holding on to the Extreme

Author

Linda Evans Shepherd

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Luke 12:15, Matthew 16:26

Have you ever seen an episode of the A&E TV show Hoarders? It’s a show about perfectly normal-looking people who live in perfectly normal-looking houses who become overwhelmed by their possessions...

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Leader: The good news is that Christ

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Leader: The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again. Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel. People: In Jesus Christ we...

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Merciful God, you have moved and

Author

Laura B. Murray

Keywords

Merciful God, you have moved and changed our lives in amazing ways, yet we have kept these stories to ourselves. We confess the times we have kept these stories to ourselves out of fear of rejection a...

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Hope is What is Needed

Author

Caroline Leaf

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 34:18, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 15:13, Isaiah 41:10

Many people are broken and without hope. It’s not surprising that a Brooking’s report in October 2019 noted how “deaths of despair” were affecting many sectors of society, particularly in America’s he...

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Hear the good news: For the joy set

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 53:5, Romans 5:8, John 14:27, 1 John 1:9, Colossians 1:13-14

Hear the good news: For the joy set before him, Jesus Christ endured the shame of the cross, taking all our weakness and failure. Jesus went to the cross for the joy of having you as part of God’s Kin...

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When Scandals Become Blasé

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 13:4, Matthew 18:6-10

In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes , Jonathan K. Dodson describes what has become a reality of modern-day life-scandals happen every day, and no-one...

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Leader: As Jesus healed the afflicted

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Scripture

1 John 1:9, John 10:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Peter 2:24, Ephesians 1:7

Leader: As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life. Friends, believe the good news of the gospel. People: In Jesus Christ we are f...

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Hard Work is Missing and Its Social Decay

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

In Hillbilly Elegy the author tells of Bob, who worked with him at a tile warehouse with his girlfriend. Bob missed work once a week, was chronically late, and took many breaks each day, lasting ove...

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Surprising Peace in Times of Crisis

Author

Edward T. Welch

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 1:7, Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 6:34, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 56:3

In his book, Running Scared, Pychologist Edward Welch illustrates how the fear of an event is often worse than the event itself. To demonstrate this, he provides two examples of people whose lives are...

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Author

Epictetus

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 11:2, Ecclesiastes 7:16, Micah 7:8, Psalm 131:1-2, Philippians 2:3-4

If you wish to improve be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters.

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Author

Frederick Buechner

Keywords

Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.

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Surprising Peace in Times of Crisis: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

In his book, Running Scared , Pychologist Edward Welch illustrates how the fear of an event is often worse than the event itself. To demonstrate this, he provides two examples of people whose lives...

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Author

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Keywords

Mistakes

"A step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction."

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Author

Jen Pollock Michel

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 18:14, Ruth 1:20, 1 Kings 19:1–18, Mark 5:25–34, 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, Psalm 42:5

My friend Wendy calls the incremental disappointments we endure over the years “the slow leak of life.”

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Crazy, But True Stories of Criticism at a Christian Radio Station

Author

Brant P. Hansen

Keywords

In his excellent book, Unoffendable, Brant Hansen shares a few humorous, but sadly true, stories of people being critical of his work at a Christian music station: One day, we talked about the local...

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Why We are Reluctant to Share the Gospel

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 29:25, Acts 4:13, John 15:18-19, 2 Timothy 1:7-8, Colossians 4:5-6, Matthew 5:14-16, Romans 1:16

Why is it so intimidating to talk about Jesus in contemporary western culture? One obvious reason might lie in the ubiquitous negative portrayals of Christians in mainstream media. Sam Chan makes this...

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Author

Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone

Keywords

Whether we are easily swamped or nearly waterproof, there’s one wiring challenge we all face: Bad is stronger than good. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt elaborates: “Responses to threats and unpleasantnes...

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Author

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Keywords

Times of crisis, of disruption or constructive change, are not only predictable, but desirable. They mean growth. Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.

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Better Never than Late

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Like most artists, the Scotsman George Bernard Shaw experienced a lot of rejection early in his career, before he eventually became a celebrated playwright. During this period of struggle, one of his ...

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