Help for giving and receiving difficult truth

It was a huge encouragement to see a good crowd come out to our vision meeting last night. Pastor Jim did a great job discussing several crucial insights on the shifts we are making and who we need to be in order to make those shifts. There were many testimonials shared concerning the growth people are experiencing and how great they feel about who we are becoming. And there also several that shared some difficult criticisms and concerns with strong feelings attached. All in all, I am really glad we had the meeting. The conversations after the meeting were especially helpful.

In this time of transition as a church we need to walk in love and maturity. If you find yourself needing to express truth that may be difficult for the other person to receive... remember these guidelines (taken from "Incarnate Leadership" by Bill Robinson)

First, I will have a hard time hearing truth if I am busy defending myself.
Second, I will have a hard time identifying truth if the assault feels more like it's more for your good than mine.
Third, I am not capable of accepting truth from you if the attack feels personal.
Fourth, I will stop thinking about truth if you make claims about my motives - and I would rather you ask me what they are than tell me what you think they are.

Great food for thought.

Longing for encouragement

I have always been captivated by the sense of hope that rises to the surface when someone reaches out to another human being with encouragement. We all thirst for the security of knowing that we are going to be alright... that we are going to survive this day and live it as we should... that we will respect ourselves at the end of the day and be able to have the respect of those closest to us. But, we live in a world that fights against us. We do have enemies, seen and unseen that are committed to stealing our security from us. Our hope lies in Jesus. He is waiting for us on the front lines of our own battle field. He is waiting there with encouragement and the power to make it through the day. Rob Bell said it this way, "We find God in our own oppression, in our own crying out, in our own response to the body of Christ broken for us, the blood of Christ poured out for us, and when we can't find God in our own oppression, we can always find God in the oppression of others." So, today I can set out to find encouragement from Jesus in the places of my life that feel oppressive to me. I am learning to "... share in his sufferings in order that I may share in his glory" (Romans 8:17).