8 THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND IN REGARDS TO CONFLICT AT WORK/CHURCH

(This was such a good post by Pastor Perry Noble that I wanted to re-Post it here.)

Eight Things To Keep In Mind In Regards To Conflict At Work/Church
May 10, 2012

#1 – Email DOES NOT WORK!  (This would also apply to texting as well as any form of social media!)    

When conflict use to arise with me and someone in the office I used to walk to my desk, log on to my computer and fire off an abusive email, several problems with this…

• It is the act of a coward, I would do this so that I would avoid a eye to eye conversation.
• It removes the fact that I am actually dealing with another person…if I type an email I don’t have to look them in the eye and removing that obstacle allows me to say things to them through typing that I would NEVER say to them in person.
• It often drags out the conflict way longer that it should be.
• It can easily be misinterpreted, thus causing new conflicts.

#2 – Handle Conflict Quickly – The Bible is VERY clear in Ephesians 4:25-26 that we are not to allow the sun to go down while we are angry.  If we allow something to fester inside of us what usually comes out of that is NEVER pretty.

#3 – Always Assume The Best About The People You Work With – If you don’t get anything else in this article then PLEASE get this, LOVE ALWAYS ASSUMES THE BEST ABOUT SOMEONE…ALWAYS!  If you hate/can’t stand the people you work with then THE BEST thing to do is to begin to ask the Lord, “what is wrong with MY OWN heart?”

#4 – Remember that Email Does Not Work!  

#5 – Stop Expecting People To Read Your Mind – Often times people have said something hurtful to me that they did not perceive as hurtful.  I would become angry with them and actually tell myself, “well, they should just know that hurt me!”  NEWS FLASH – THEY DON’T KNOW, and they won’t know unless I am man enough to look them in the eye (because email does not work), assume the best about them (which automatically assumes they didn’t mean to hurt me) and CALMLY walk them through why what they said wounded me.

#6 – Stop Waiting For Them To Approach You – If you know there is conflict and you know there is a problem to be solved but you are “waiting on the right time” or “waiting on them to come to me” then I would encourage you to read what Jesus said in Matthew 5:23-24.  Maturity is when a person is willing to seize responsibility instead of just waiting on something to happen.

#7 – Never, EVER Go Public When You Have Not Even Attempted To Talk In Private – Too often people take their conflicts online when they have never even attempted to handle them in a private matter (sort of goes against what JESUS actually said in Matthew 18:15 as the first step in dealing with conflict!)  People are way too quick these days to read/hear something that someone says and automatically fire off a tweet or blog post without ever attempting to have a conversation with the person that they assume “got it wrong,” causing them to feel like they need to be the savior of the world by jumping to conclusions and making accusations about things that they actually have zero knowledge of.

#8 – And finally, do not forget that Email does not work!  

God Change!

18-21Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. 

1 Peter 1:18-19 (MSG)

The God Change!

Change is something many of us pray for. A change in a relationship. A change with our career. A change in our weight or shape. A change in our attitude. But when it comes down to actually living the change required to increase any area of life we find it is actually much “easier said than done.”

Peter tackles this age old struggle. True change requires God! Not just the idea of God or the knowledge of God, but the deep understanding and awareness of what God is doing  and planning for us in our day-to-day journey. When our days begin and end with the reality that we are in a real relationship with God it changes everything. When we understand what God actually invested in the relationship, it re-shapes our expectations.

With everything that God gave and invested in us, we must realize that He will never quit on us. The God Change is realized in consistency! When it is a God Change it is real and lasting. When our motivation and strength is in Him our future will finally be realized!

Be Happy!

Pastor Bryan & Dana

Good Friday! Deny, Crucify or Magnify?

Easter is a time of year that just expresses life. The trees are turning green, the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing the birds are returning, the air is warm and the outdoors are so inviting.Easter is also that time of year that we are reminded of our Christian roots. If you have had an experience with Jesus you cannot go through this weekend without doing something about your knowledge of Jesus. So what will you do with this ”good Friday?”

Deny?

“Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” John 18:25.

For many we make the decision to follow Jesus without considering the cost. We want to say we know Him and we want to feel good about saying we know Him but when it comes down to it, we deny Him on almost every level. Peter denied him by association. He would not step out of the shadows and be counted with Him. He chose to be alone and obscure. He wanted to believe he knew Jesus but when “push cam to shove” he couldn’t stand up for Him. There was no way Peter could invite anyone to join Him on His journey with Jesus because Peter was living His Christianity in the shadows! He had no true identity with Jesus.

Crucify?

Now we look at a church service like no other church service we have ever seen. Instead of worshipping Jesus they are lobbying to crucify Him.

⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” John 19:5-6

This is the same crowd that were shouting His praises the week before. They loved Jesus, appreciated His miracles and felt warm and fuzzy when they were around Him. But now, on Good Friday, they wanted nothing to do with Him. They weren’t thinking about His sacrificial gift. They cared nothing about His love. They forgot about His promises. They saw no value in worshipping Him. They thought he was “the One” but now, in their minds, realized they were wrong. They crucified Him. Not just in words but by their actions. The man they previously confessed as Lord and Savior brought them no value on this Good Friday. They might have been in His presence but they did not recognize a supernatural Messiah.

Magnify?

⁵⁴  When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:54

The centurion was able to Magnify Jesus on Good Friday. On what must have been one of the most horrifying days of His life he was able to magnify Jesus for who He was. It is so easy to allow our lives and faith in Jesus to get swallowed by fear, faded by the shadows of doubt and worry, minimized by our need to control or because we get caught up in the crowds and lose sight of our supernatural Messiah.

This Good Friday let’s magnify our crucified King. Let’s step out of the shadows and take on His true identity. See His work in your life and move from the stage which mocks His name and onto the stage that invites others to join you in His presence!

³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Acts 2:36

Magnify Jesus! INvite a Friend to experience Him Now! Click here

Cry of the Stones – Video Blog

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/rPEe6vA1U1Q?version=3&hl=en_US

I am so excited about this new message series we are starting called “Cry of the Stones.” Check it out here and I hope to see you this Sunday @ 10 AM

60,000 People Invited to The Summit this Sunday!

Why did we just invite 60,000+ people to church his weekend?

• Because we believe God is ready to heal our neighborhoods!
• Beause we believe God has a better and bigger plan for our lives.
• Because we know that the crowds have been broken-hearted and only God can heal the deepest wounds with His message of love.
• Because we have an incredible vision to ”Redefine to our community the way they think about God and His Church!”

Most of all, because we are extremely excited about how God has changed our lives and we want to share it with as many people as we can!

So, we have just sent out Invite Cards to 20,000 homes and businesses in the south Knox and Seymour Community that looks like this:

For those of you reading this because you received this invite…WELCOME!

We really do believe that God can protect your heart better than any safe!. We are excited about His love and they way He is redefining Himself to us every single day. We are excited about you, your family and your desire to Learn more.

Let’s start out by allowing me to buy you a cup of coffee at The Living Room! Be my guest this Sunday morning from 9 – 9:30 AM. I will be in The Living Room to meet and greet and I will provide the coffee and pastries so we can talk about you! Check out our brand new website, especially the “I’m New” section and give us a call if you have any questions

Be Happy! and we’ll see you Sunday @ 10 AM!

Pastor Bryan & Dana McKnight