Personal Development on Events

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Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 2:24, Colossians 1:19-20, Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 2:2, Philippians 2:6-8, Galatians 4:4-5

The cross is the center of the world's history; the incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivot round which all the events of the ages revolve. The testimony of Christ was ...

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On Winning? Considering Kevin Durant and Anthony Bourdain

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Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Albert Camus Two events recently collided in my mind and coalesced into this short essay: The first was a relatively in...

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Author

Michel de Montaigne

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Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.

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William James

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My experience is what I agree to attend to.

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Building on a Solid Foundation

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A. J. Swoboda & Nijay K. Gupta

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Building an antifragile faith takes time. It can’t be rushed. Consider this: It takes (on average) around twelve to eighteen months to construct a new single-family home in America. This process incl...

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PTSD and Our Core Story

Author

Casey K. Tygrett

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Scripture

Genesis 1:31, 1 John 3:2, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Revelation 21:4, Jeremiah 31:3

The robbing of our lives occurs when the core story of who we are—created as “very good” (Gen 1:31) and never downgraded, and “beloved” of God (1 Jn 3:2)—is taken through specific memories and twisted...

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The Importance of Building Margin Into your Life

Author

Daniel Im

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Scripture

Exodus 18:13-24 , Leviticus 25:1-7, 1 Kings 19:4-12, Mark 6:30-32 , Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 46:10

[D]o you have margin in your life, like the white spaces between these words and the edges of the page? Having margin is about intentionally scheduling white space in your calendar to pray, rest, read...

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Dorothy Day: Read Books-Not the News

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The Pastor's Workshop

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Proverbs 2:1-6 , Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Philippians 4:8, James 1:5, Psalm 119:105

A common question I’m hearing from folks these days is whether it is beneficial (or a moral imperative) to pay attention to the news. The Catholic nun and social activist Dorothy Day asked the same qu...

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Using Alcohol to Cope

Author

Annie Grace

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As adults, we develop all sorts of coping mechanisms to handle stress. Maybe you like to read a book, meditate, knit, watch TV, or exercise. When I was in New York, I used to go for a long run at the ...

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O God, we thank you that you have not

Author

William Barclay

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Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:23-24, Psalm 119:105, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Lamentations 3:22-23, 1 Samuel 1:24-28, Acts 2:42-47

O God, we thank you that you have not treated us as we deserve. We thank you that, though you are Creator, Judge and King, you are also Father, so that, though we are wandering children, there is alw...

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Adapted from Psalm 6 and “Morning Needs” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Dustin Ray

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Scripture

Psalm 6:null

Pastor: “O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. All: “My soul also is grea...

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Understanding Reframing with Physics and The Titanic (The Movie)

Author

Brad E. Kelle

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Reframing

While the second example is a bit dated (Titanic is over approaching its third decade in circulation!) the logic holds and can be applied to a variety of films set in a historical context: I think of...

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The Banshees of Inisherin Movie Review

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Ephesians 4:null

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or. what's a heaven for? " Robert Browning A part of our desire at The Pastor’s Workshop is to help pastors connect the stories in ...

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John Mark: The Comeback Kid

Author

Bryan M. Litfin

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Scripture

Acts 12:12, Acts 12:25, Acts 13:13, Acts 14:19, Acts 28:16, Colossians 4:10, Philemon 24:null, 2 Timothy 4:11

We all love a good comeback story. In such tales, the young upstart rises like a meteor, fails big, then fights back against the odds to win the victory. Tech whiz Steve Jobs was like that. After prod...

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Seek First the Kingdom

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Matthew 6:33

R. C. Sproul points out that diligence matters in sanctification. We may remember Archimedes’ “Eureka!” moment about specific gravity and Newton’s observation of the falling apple as point-in-time eve...

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To the Prophet, God is Intimately Involved in Life on Earth

Author

Abraham J. Heschel

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To the prophet, God does not reveal himself in an abstract absoluteness, but in a personal and intimate relation to the world. He does not simply command and expect obedience; He is also moved and aff...

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A Lack of Accountability

Author

Václav Havel

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Scripture

Genesis 2:15, Romans 8:18-23

Whenever I have encountered any kind of deep problem with civilization anywhere in the world—be it the logging of rain forests, ethnic or religious intolerance or the brutal destruction of a cultural ...

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Remember Who You Are

Author

John Stott

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On May 28, 1972, the Duke of Windsor, the uncrowned King Edward VIII, died in Paris. On the same evening, a television program recounted the main events of his life. Viewers watched film footage in wh...

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Author

Skye Jethani

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My secret is that I want to be relevant and popular. I want my desires fulfilled and pain minimized. I want a manageable relationship with an institution rather than messy relationships with real peop...

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Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

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To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the succe...

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Author

Owen M. Griffith

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Gratitude

Gratitude is an appreciation of desired elements that have occurred among the events and happenings of one’s life. Its counterpart, resentment, is the rejection of one’s life until certain desired ele...

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The Most Radical Discipline

Author

Dallas Willard

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Scripture

Matthew 26:38-42

Solitude is the most radical of the disciplines for life in the spirit. In penal institutions, solitary confinement is used to break the strongest of wills. It is capable of this because it excludes i...

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The Ways to Self-Knowledge

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

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“Know yourself” is good advice. But to know ourselves doesn’t mean to analyze ourselves. Sometimes we want to know ourselves as if we were machines that could be taken apart and put back together at w...

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The Enemy of Our Soul

Author

Louie Giglio

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The other enemy of the soul, meaninglessness…chokes out life with equal vigor. Meaninglessness woos us into spending our one shot at life on insignificant and trivial things. If we are not vigilant, w...

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Tell Them About the Dream, Martin!

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Matthew 5:9, James 2:8, Proverbs 21:3, Romans 12:21, Isaiah 1:17, Galatians 3:28

Most of us in the United States know the famous “I have a Dream” speech Martin Luther King Jr. gave at the Lincoln Memorial as part of the 1963 March on Washington. On a sweltering, humid day in the n...

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A Father’s Love brings Hope and Endurance

Author

Wayne Rice

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Scripture

Matthew 28:20

The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 provided one of track and field’s most incredible moments. Britain’s Derek Redmond had dreamed all his life of winning a gold medal in the 400-meter race, and his dream...

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The Hard Spiritual Work of Gratitude

Author

Henri J. M. Nouwen

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Gratitude

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the succe...

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Stuck in the Houses Our Words Construct

Author

Gregory Spencer

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Scripture

James 3:5-6, Psalm 19:14, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Proverbs 18:21, Romans 12:2

All day long, all of us are framing and reframing our lives. We talk about the memory of our adorable but sexist grandpa. We label ourselves as movie critics or introverts or justice-lovers. We say th...

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How do you help People Change: The Story of the St. Lucian Parrot

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Isaiah 58:12, Psalm 24:1, Colossians 3:12, Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 5:14-16

But could you imagine how valuable it would be to be able to change people’s thoughts, actions, behaviors across a whole host of areas from one to another? This is precisely the question Dan and Chip...

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A Sign that Something is Wrong

Author

Caroline Leaf

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Scripture

Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:18, Ephesians 4:26-27, Proverbs 3:5-6, James 1:2-4

Anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress are all ways of describing natural human responses to adversity and the experiences of life. And we all face adversity in many different ways: challengin...

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