Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by David Roberts from his book,  Healing Conversation   (p. 59). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is a very good image to think about. David says, " Imagine the potential if we could create safe spaces in which people could be vulnerable, heal from past wounds and learn to engage in meaningful conversation? What if, with our words and patience, we could open closed hearts, build trust, and help people feel liberation and joy at the prospect of talking honestly about their fears, thoughts, beliefs, hopes, and dreams? We could talk each other out of brokenness and isolation and into connection and wholeness. We could talk ourselves into some places in life that have yet to be built. We could talk ourselves into a renewed marriage, or a real understanding of our children. We could talk ourselves into politics that unite instead of divide. We could talk ourselves into a society that is fair and ...

A thought by David Roberts from his book,  Healing Conversation   (p. 54). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) He continues this thought, " We see examples of poor communication all too often in life, in books and in movies and we scoff and say the word 'dysfunctional' to allude to that situation. Why don’t we connect with ease, spontaneity and deep joy with each other? We’ve touched on some barriers to great conversations in previous chapters. The right/wrong trap, extremism in our culture, hostile individuals, and hiding within a tribe or behind a mask are some of these. Our personal brokenness and issues also get in the way. "Our fears, insecurities, and judgmental attitudes, adopting the habit of thinking in extremes or in generalities—all these things keep us apart. So, we do what we know, which is speak out of our own needs. That naturally causes us to push our own agendas which sabotages safe commu...

A thought by David Roberts from his book,  Healing Conversation   (p. 54). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) To connect and understand, we definitely need to communicate. David says, "What is connection? It is the many shared moments that bind us together. What is required to have such connection? Our stories connect us. Shared experiences connect us. Laughter connects us, but underneath all of that we deeply connect through attentiveness, kindness, tenderness, and compassion." He continues, "How do we understand the content of kindness, tenderness and compassion? We have to talk. The deepest way we have to share life, ideas, feelings and relationship is through meaningful conversations, whether written or spoken. The primary way we can learn, grow, connect, understand and become relationally involved is with our words. All our understanding is built through communication." He goes on, "Talking a...

A thought by David Roberts from his book,  Healing Conversation   (p. 35). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) We don't want to go it alone so we choose a tribe to belong. David says, " Choosing a tribe is a perfect way to hide in plain sight. It satisfies our need to belong, kind of. It gives us a sense of identity, sort of. It allows us to know and be fully known, in theory. This attempt to belong by selecting a tribe is not just a practical decision, it is emotional. We have a very deep longing to put an end to our feelings of disconnection and loneliness. The tribe choosing satisfies a need to belong, but to the extent we are hiding who we are, it also allows us to maintain a very real sense of anonymity. While it feels safe, it is also lonely. Often, the well-defined attributes of a group can be confining and demanding. Choosing a tribe can sometimes be complicated." He goes on, "Safety exists in nu...

A thought by David Roberts from his book,  Healing Conversation   (p. 20). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is so true. David says, " I long for us to find a renewed sense of respect, connection and grace, to rediscover conversations of dignity, curiosity and growth. "I have longings for our culture, our politics, our world, our relationships, my world, and my life. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about longings because it may imply that we’re unhappy. We want so badly for things to be good. We want to be strong, to be okay." He goes on, "I long for unity, collaboration, resolution and combined efforts leading to combined celebrations. But everywhere I look I see polarized views pulling us apart. I see extreme fanaticism creating endless wars abroad and here. The voices of much of our culture are mean, unfair, and ill-mannered and I’m sick of hearing them. What also sickens me is that people see...

A thought by David Roberts from his book,  Healing Conversation   (p. 13). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That's an honest thought. David says, "Do you feel that way? I had hoped by now, having passed through so many milestones in my life, that life would be more tranquil. Just saying that sentence aloud feels unsettling. What an open-ended line of thinking. How would you finish the sentence? I had hoped by now my life would be_______!" He later says, "How many of us have an inner soundtrack that plays heightened music that serves as a warning that some sort of danger is just around the next corner? How many live with an anxious sense that we are not where we should be, the world is out of control and something is bound to jump out of the dark and get us? Are there those of us who sense we are on the wrong road, at the wrong time and too late we will finally see what’s dead ahead? Will we wish we ha...

A thought by David Roberts from his book,  Healing Conversation   (p. 8). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is so true, isn't it? David says, "People assert with great passion that my idea, philosophy, point of view is right, and yours is wrong." He goes on, "There was a time when the church seemed to understand that they were called to be the ultimate place of hospitality where everyone who was weak or heavy burdened could find a place to rest and be restored. Churches were places where people could celebrate their spiritual paths with honesty, inclusion and love. Churches were great role models of caring hospitality and safe places for people to unburden themselves or at least, converse deeply. And, some still provide this beautifully. "These last few decades, however, have seen more and more churches descend into places of debate over the most difficult political, social, cultural and gene...

A thought by David Roberts from his book,  Healing Conversation   (p. 6). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) We need to understand this, don't we? David says, " Henri J.M. Nouwen has defined hospitality as: '…primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.'" 1 David goes on, "Every human being longs to be wholly himself; to be happy, to be known, not hidden, to love and to be loved, appreciated, understood, supported, celebrated and connected. In all the years I have served as a pastor I have never had anyone come into my office seeking loneliness. Some have come wishing they could be left alone, but no one wants to be lonely. "The key to be...

A thought by David Roberts from his book, Healing Conversation   (p. 4). Moran James Publishing. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) This is the first of three purposes for us to talk. David says, " It’s basic stuff. When are we leaving? What’s for dinner? Do you need anything from the store? Although functional talking is basic to navigating our lives, it still requires caring attentiveness to be effective. We encounter a lot of conflict because we do not communicate the functional information clearly. Without listening and clearly articulating what we mean, functional talking can complicate the simplest of tasks. This is where many of our conversations devolve. These logistical conversations typically are not impassioned or emotional unless someone has messed up the information and we experience conflict. At those times the kind of 'passion' that is revealed can be hostile and unsafe. If we can’t safely talk about such low-level in...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 69). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Ok, that sounds interesting. Mark says, " The bottom line? You can’t just pray like it depends on God. You also have to work like it depends on you. If you want God to do the super, you’ve got to do the natural. And you have to start first thing in the morning." He goes on, "How you start the day sets the tone for the rest of it, yet many of us never give the morning a second thought beyond getting out the door on time. Our morning rituals are as unplanned as an earthquake. Is that the best way to start the day? Que será será—whatever will be will be. That’s sounding the retreat before the day even begins. If you want to win the day, you’ve got to attack the day. How? Eat the frog." He continues, "Some people like to ease into the day without breaking a sweat, and I totally get that. Perhaps e...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 60). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) So true! Mark says, " Am I right? Most of us are good actors! We play the part pretty well—until we hit rush hour traffic. Or is that just me? It’s our reactions that reveal who we really are. And maybe that is why Jesus focused so much of His teaching on reconditioning reflexes.     " Pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)      Love your enemies. ( Luke 6:27)      Bless those who curse you. (Luke 6:28)       If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (Matthew 5:41 ESV.)      If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:39 ESV.) "None of those things come naturally . They’re as counterintuitive as kissing the wave." He continues, "A few days after his denial, Peter infor...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 55). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) There is an important part of imagining the past. Mark says, " We generally think of imagination in future-tense terms, but all parents of preschoolers know that kids have imaginative memories too. Especially when it comes to the proverbial cookie jar! True or false, postimagining is reimagining the past after it happens! This is when many of us make excuses or provide alibis for the hand that got caught in that cookie jar. But let me flip the script. This is also how we acknowledge the hand of God. Isn’t that what David did with the lions and the bears? He postimagined his past from a providential point of view." He goes on, "When I started preaching, I was frustrated by the fact that I wasn’t good at speaking extemporaneously. I had to script every word, every time. Speaking from an outline would have...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 53). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And scars are tough to get rid of. Earlier Mark says, " When we experience physical trauma, our bodies form scar tissue. Unlike our original tissue, scar tissue develops in random patterns. The result is a loss of functionality. In my case, a loss of flexibility. I never regained my full range of motion, and I take full responsibility for that fact. I didn’t do what the physical therapist told me to do! She told me that I needed to release the scar tissue . How? By massaging it. If you don’t release the scar tissue, it becomes a weak link in the kinetic chain. Instead of tension being evenly distributed across a muscle group, scar tissue causes unhealthy tension. If that scar tissue is not released, it opens you up to reinjury." He goes on, "What’s true of physical trauma is true of emotional, relationa...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 49). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Good thought! Mark says, " We want to be self-sufficient. In fact, we confuse self-sufficiency with spiritual maturity. Our only sufficiency is the grace of God, and the only way we qualify for it is that we don’t. His grace has the power to bury dead yesterdays six feet deep! The problem, of course, is that we dig them back up!" He goes on, " Religion is spelled do . Christianity is spelled done . It’s not about what you can do for God. It’s about what God has done for you at Calvary’s cross. Jesus said, 'It is finished.' (John 19:30) That’s how we bury dead yesterdays. We nail them to the cross. Then we take up our cross and carry it daily. (Luke 9:23)" He then says, "There is an old axiom: 'Let go and let God.' It’s hard to let go of present-tense concerns and future-tense...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 42). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Such a good thought! Mark says, " If you don’t own it, it will own you. Kissing the wave is confessing what’s wrong—in this case, cancer. But it’s also professing what’s right—God’s healing power. Remember my miraculous healing from asthma? It began with a brave prayer. For Lora, (his wife with breast cancer) the healing process began with a brave question she stumbled across while reading a poem about illness: "What have you come to teach me?" He goes on, "When we find ourselves in difficult situations, we get so focused on getting out of them that we fail to get anything out of them. Then we wonder why we find ourselves in the same situation all over again. There is nothing wrong with asking God to change your circumstances, but His primary objective is changing you. The circumstances you’re as...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 38). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that can be positive or negative. Mark says, " Our ability to remember the past is a gift from God, but it comes with a caveat. We don’t always remember accurately. This fact reminds us that memory is both selective and subjective. As such, it can be a blessing and a curse. When we remember yesterday the wrong way, we live a lie. And living a lie undermines our ability to win the day." He goes on, "Sometimes we misremember—or try to forget—because the past can be incredibly painful. That’s where the second habit— kiss the wave —comes into play. You’ve got to own the past, or the past will own you. How? You have to accurately inventory your past, hiding from nothing. Then you have to own all of it—the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is what it is. Or maybe I should say, it is what it was . You may no...

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 35). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Yes it is! Mark says, " It can make us or break us, and that’s up to us. You can get frustrated with the fact that you’re right handed or left handed, or you can cultivate ambidexterity. You don’t get to choose how your story starts, but the ending is up to you." He goes on, "God can flip any script, and that includes David versus Goliath! "If you want to bury dead yesterdays, you’ve got to come to grips with who you are in Christ. False humility is thinking of yourself as anything less than who God says you are, and it’s as destructive as pride. You may be up against a giant, but you are in Christ. And in Christ, you are nobody’s underdog! Just like He did with David, God will turn your weakness into ambidextrous strength. "Your brave is someone else’s breakthrough. "Your hurt is someone...

  A thought by Mark Batterson from his book,  Win the Day   (p. 32). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)   So what does he mean by that? At the beginning of this section, Mark said, "According to some estimates, as many as 80 percent of our thoughts each day are negative. If the battle is won or lost in the mind, that sounds like a losing battle before it’s even begun! Flipping the script starts with your internal script. You can’t let your inner critic—and we all have one—grab the mic and become the narrator! If you want to bury dead yesterdays, you... have to rehearse a different story! He goes on, "Gaylord Perry was a future Hall of Fame pitcher but a not-so-great batter. In 1964, his manager made an offhand comment: 'Mark my words, a man will land on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run.' In one of the craziest coincidences in sports history, Perry hit the first home run of his twen...