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Sit down with me as we think through some tough topics in a reflective way and examine some of the difficult issues that can trouble followers of Christ. My hope is that you’ll always come away with more to think about… RBC Ministries
Archive for the 'Relationships' Category
(Posts Archive)
- Responding to Insult |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Feb 08 2010
In our day we have seen a national leader insulted by an Iraqi journalist who used a press conference to throw his shoes at the head of an American President.
Something similar happened to David of Israel.
If you have just a minute, have been thinking about the way King David responded to an enemy who, at [...] - Back With Memories |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Jan 23 2010
Am sitting in a coffee shop after our return from Jerusalem… looking through the early morning darkness at an American flag hanging at half mast. Wondering whether the lowered colors are for losses of our own soldiers or for the suffering people of Haiti…
My thoughts go to faces of those I had a chance to [...] - Jerusalem Journal |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Jan 19 2010
On arriving in the Middle East my cab driver said that he used to be on “the left.” But said he had come to the conclusion that Arab and Jewish people would never be able to live together.
Later an Israeli friend said, regarding peace, “The United States has been the savior of the world.” Made [...] - So Be it… Un…resolved |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Jan 04 2010
On New Years Eve I watched a few hundred local runners brave frigid temperatures to take on a 4 mile course around our local Reeds Lake.
They called it their Resolution Run. As we watched them warming up I wondered what “Resolution Run” meant for them.
I say “them” because Di and I watched it all [...] - Taking Inventory and Steps |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Dec 05 2009
Over the months I’ve talked every once in a while about how 12 Step thinking and process echoes basics of true spirituality.
Even after the specific language of the Bible has been removed to make the Steps “accessible” to those who come with an aversion to the “religion” of their past, real wisdom remains.
Step 4 of [...] - To Forgive or Not to Forgive |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Nov 23 2009
If the Bible is full of “studies in contrast” and “truth in tension” rather than “self-contradictions and discrepancies,” another example is what the Scriptures variously say about forgiveness.
Some passages indicate that one mark of a follower of Christ is to forgive those who harm us (Matt 6:14-15; Col 3:13).
Other texts make it clear that we [...] - What Unites and Divides Us? |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Nov 03 2009
Sometimes I wonder what people who don’t believe in Christ must think when they see how many different denominations show up on the church page of the newspaper.
Best case might be, “Wow, looks like a fight, maybe I ought to see what their issues are.”
Worst case might be that they stay away thinking, “Don’t want [...] - From Jeter to Jesus |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Oct 29 2009
Although I’m interested in baseball only enough to have watched a couple innings of World Series Game One, I read an article yesterday in the New York Times about Yankee short stop, Derek Jeter, that caught my attention.
Sports writer, Jack Curry, described some of the mental characteristics that have made Jeter (team captain [...] - The Pain of Being Misunderstood |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Oct 20 2009
Communication has to be one of the most wonderfully difficult challenges in life. Whether among friends, family, or co-workers, conversation can be hard work with unpredictable and problematic outcomes.
Even here in cyberspace with all of its self-protective anonymity, who will deny that, depending on how much we’ve been willing to say, we can– [...] - Care and Convictions |
Posted by Mart De Haan on Oct 15 2009
Our “Good Conversation” has surfaced a couple of points that I think are very important.
None of us want our moral advocacy, political involvement, or lack of political involvement to indicate a lack of concern for others. In fact, we probably would all like to believe that we support political action or inaction based on what [...]
