“See to it that on one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” -Hebrews 12: 15 Commenting on this passage in Hebrews, author Stephen Mansfield notes in Chapter 5 of Healing Your Church Hurt that the word “bitter” comes from the Greek word pikros– […]
“And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the […]
In Chapter 5 (“The Throne Room of Your Mind”) of Healing Your Church Hurt, author Stephen Mansfield opens by relating a recurring fantasy he has where he is seated on a throne in a large, ornate room. Exuding benevolence and compassion, he is approached by all the people in the world who have ever offended […]
“Life has meaning only in the struggle, Victory or defeat is in the hand of God, So let us celebrate the struggle.”- Swahili proverb Today author Stephen Mansfield (Healing Your Church Hurt) presents and discusses his fifth and final question designed to help us find life in the midst of our adversity. 5. During the bruising […]
Today author Stephen Mansfield (Healing Your Church Hurt) presents and discusses the fourth question in this series. 4. What did those closest to you do when you went through hard times? Stephen notes that by answering this question we can tell a great deal about ourselves. Crisis, however, can test the dearest of friendships. Some […]
In today’s post, author Stephen Mansfield (Healing Your Church Hurt) continues his presentation and discussion of five questions designed to help us heal and restore. 3. Were you clinging to anything that contributed to your church hurt? Stephen states that this question will be harder to answer than the others because we never want to […]
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” -Jonah 2: 8 (NIV) Author Stephen Mansfield (Healing Your Church Hurt) continues his presentation and discussion of five questions designed to help us find life in the midst of our ministry downsizing or vocation loss. 2. How did you try to medicate […]
In Chapter 4 of Healing Your Church Hurt, author Stephen Mansfield presents and discusses a series of five questions to help us find life in the midst of our ministry downsizing or vocation loss. The first question is discussed today. 1. Of the things your critics said, what do you know to be true? During […]
Author Stephen Mansfield begins Chapter 4 (“Lessons from a Season in Hell”) of Healing Your Church Hurt by asking us to revisit those agonizing days of our church wounding in order to carefully probe them for lessons to be learned. Speaking from personal experience, he states: “It will take courage, and a brand of humility […]
“But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” -John 2: 24-25 Stephen Mansfield comments on this passage in Chapter 3 of Healing Your Church Hurt, noting that the word entrust […]
In Chapter 3 of Healing Your Church Hurt, author Stephen Mansfield cites the inclusion of the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over Mark in Acts Chapter 13, noting that the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to be honest about human nature. Stephen writes: “Christianity is not the absence of stupidity and hurt. Christianity is the message […]
Stephen Mansfield begins Chapter 3 (“Man: The Greatness and the Grief”) of Healing Your Church Hurt by describing the glorious feeling we have when we experience the dynamic of joining with fellow believers as we worship the Lord and live as a community of faith. As we feel transformed, we believe we’ve found reasons for […]