Relationships and Community on Blame

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Author

Andy Stanley

Keywords

People who blame things rarely change things. Blame is an unassailable change-avoidance strategy.

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Mutual Accusations

Author

William Ury

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 3:8-13, Matthew 7:3-5, Romans 14:10-13, Luke 6:41-42, James 6:41-42, James 4:11-12, Ephesians 4:31-32

In the mid-1980s, I helped facilitate a series of conferences between top Soviet and American policy advisers on the question of how to prevent a nuclear war. The times were tense and the accusations ...

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Author

Lady Nancy Astor

Keywords

The first time Adam had a chance, he laid the blame on a woman. (for humor)

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Shaming Vs. Accountability

Author

Brené Brown

Keywords

I was recently brought in to talk with a group of corporate leaders who were trying to manage a difficult reorganization in their company. One of the project managers told me that, after listening to ...

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Author

J. Todd Billings

Keywords

Our culture often suggests that we are “entitled” to a long, fulfilling life, and if that doesn’t happen, there must be someone to sue, someone to blame. When the word “cancer” is spoken, looking to t...

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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...

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Prayer of Adoration Great God our

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Prayer of Adoration Great God our Father: You are good and You are strong. You are faithful and true, and You won’t tempt or lie to us. In a world that appeals to our sinful cravings and dominated b...

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Haters of Humanity?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 8:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 4:12-16, Matthew 5:10-12, Luke 6:41-42, Genesis 3:8-19, Genesis 39:6-20, Job 2:11-13, Job 42:7-9

Most of us are aware of various persecutions that took place during the first few centuries of the church’s existence. One particularly brutal local persecution took place during the reign of Nero, wh...

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Donne, Undone

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 5:31-33, Matthew 19:4-6, Romans 8:28, Proverbs 22:1, 1 Timothy 3:7, Titus 2:7-8, Philippians 2:15, 1 Peter 2:12, Galatians 6:4-5, Daniel 1:17-21

While movies and novels often present stories of a budding love interest willing to give up everything for “true love” (Romeo and Juliet, for example), the renowned poet, and later clergyman, John Don...

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The Golden Result

Author

Ken Sande

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, Luke 6:37, Romans 12:10, Proverbs 15:1, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, James 5:16

The Golden Result is a corollary to the Golden Rule, which calls us to do to others as we would have them do to us. The Golden Result says that people will usually treat us as we treat them. If we bla...

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Author

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Keywords

Remember particularly that you cannot be a judge of anyone. For no one can judge a criminal until he recognizes that he is just such a criminal as the man standing before him, and that he perhaps is m...

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How to Get Married, the Secular Edition

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 2:18, 24, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Proverbs 27:17, Ephesians 4:2-3 , Colossians 3:13-14, Psalm 127:1

Where do you turn for marriage advice when you aren’t religious? This is becoming an ever-increasing question as western cultures become more and more secular. One option is to turn to the London-base...

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You, Lord God, made the eternal fabric

Author

Clement of Rome

Keywords

You, Lord God, made the eternal fabric of the world appear, and you created the earth. You are always trustworthy, you judge fairly, excellent and marvelous in your power; wise in creating and careful...

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1 Corinthians 1:3 7 & 8 "May God our Father and the Lord

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 1:3, 1 Corinthians 1:7-8

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong t...

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The Humanity of the Stranger: the Samaritan in the Israel/Gaza Crisis

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 10:null, Luke 10:30

Compassion does not demand that we know who is right and who is wrong. In fact, it does not ask for us to know anything at all about [people] except the fact that they are in need. As I facilitated...

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The Mess Serves a Purpose

Author

Matthew Kelly

Keywords

The Gospel doesn't reveal to us that life isn't messy. In fact, God, in the Incarnation, joins us in the mess. Consider this illustration to highlight how the Incarnation transforms our expe...

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Personality Traits Come Right Out of the Box

Author

Anne Bogel

Keywords

Current research indicates that personality traits are hardwired; they’re largely hereditary and remain relatively constant throughout our lives.1 If we’re outgoing or reserved, energetic or subdued, ...

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Don't Assume

Author

Kevin DeYoung

Keywords

Scripture

John 9:1-3, Matthew 7:1-5, James 4:11-12, Micah 6:8, Proverbs 18:13

As sinners, we are apt to assume the worst about people. We are eager to find favorable comparisons that make ourselves look good at the expense of others. We are quick to size people up and think we ...

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Author

Richard Rohr

Keywords

Until we learn to love others as ourselves, it's difficult to blame broken people who desperately try to affirm themselves when no one else will.

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Author

Dorothy L. Sayers

Keywords

“Listen, Harriet. I do understand. I know you don't want either to give or to take ... You don't want ever again to have to depend for happiness on another person." "That's true....

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Thomas Merton on Our Complicity with Evil

Author

Jeffrey Bilbro

Keywords

In the interior silence that contemplation opens, Merton recognizes his own complicity in the injustices of society. While the news-as-scoreboard model invites us to view ourselves as the “good guys” ...

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The Resurrected Bunny

Author

Ken Davis

Keywords

A woman looked out the window of her home and was horrified to see her German Shepherd shaking the life out of the neighbor’s pet rabbit. Her family had been quarreling with these neighbors; this was ...

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The Emperor and the Whipping Boy

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 19:16, Matthew 2:2, John 18:36-37, Revelation 17:14, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 9:6, Psalm 24:7-10, Colossians 1:15-20, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, Mark 11:1-11, John 12:12-16

In 1987 director Bernardo Bertolucci released the film The Last Emperor to raving reviews. It was based on the autobiography of the last living emperor of the Manchu dynasty in China, Henry Aisin-Gior...

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Preaching on the Same Topic

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, Malachi 3:10, Acts 20:35, Luke 6:38, Proverbs 3:9-10, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

John Chrystostom was an early church father and Bishop of Constantinople from 347-407. The name “Chrysostom” is not a surname, but rather an epithet “golden tongued,” given to him because of his excel...

liturgy

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, "May the Lord make you to

Keywords

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

May the Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward one another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you, to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God...

liturgy

2 Peter 3:14 & 18, "Therefore, beloved

Keywords

Scripture

2 Peter 3:14, 2 Peter 3:18

Therefore, beloved, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and f...

Quote

Author

Duke Kwon

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 50:15-21, 2 Samuel 12:13, Leviticus 6:1-5 , Luke 19:8-9 , James 5:16 , Psalm 32:5

How To Apologize • express sorrow (I’m sorry) • own guilt (I was wrong) • name specific wrongs (I did X) • name impact (I hurt u) • no IFs (sorry if I) • don’t blameshift/defend (but u) ...

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Inspired by Psalm 51:1-4

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 51:1-4

Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity and cleans us from our sin. For we know ou...

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The Dead Poet’s Society

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 1:4–8, Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 , Daniel 3:16–18 , Luke 9:23–25 , Romans 12:2 , Psalm 139:13–14

The film the Dead Poets Society is set in 1959 at Welton Academy, a strict, elite, all-boys preparatory school. The main character, Todd Anderson, is a shy and insecure student who struggles wit...

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Sacred Space: Lessons from Ethiopia’s Church Forests

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Too Busy for God? American work culture is all-pervasive. For many members of your congregation, it can be a real fight to get actual time off—and cell phones and the internet has made it possible to...

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