This year our Peacemaker Conference theme is "Church on a Journey" and is ever more relevant as summer vacations begin in earnest.

My husband Rick (Director of Ministry Relations) and I are taking our own journey this summer. We are riding the Harley and camping our way to Alaska for a little family reunion. 6 days, thousands of miles, unpredictable weather, all mean we have to be prepared for about everything!

Packing for this journey has been fun to watch. Rick started planning months ago. He did his research on the road conditions, camp sites, tales of previous travelors, and made lists of what to take to handle any eventuality. Once he had gathered all that we would need, he considered the best place to pack it on the bike to keep weight balanced and even. We packed our clothes not taking too much, but just enough to keep us warm and dry. And later this week after much care and strategy, we take off.

Paul Tripp in his great book on raising teens, Age of Opportunity, says this about vacations:

"...many parents are more organized, more intential, better researched, and more goal-oriented when planning their vacations than they are in raising their children."

How true not only with raising teens, but in all areas of life. As Rick and I have prepared for this bike trip and he has worked on plans for the upcoming Peacemaker Conference, we have thought much about how churches prepare for conflict. In reality, most don't, or they don't know how to prepare. Alfred Poirier, in The Peacemaking Pastor, elluds to how badly churches have responded to conflict in the past when he states:

"Unfortunately, when the world turns its attention to the church, it finds little evidence that we are sons of God, for it finds little evidence that we are makers of peace."

How can a church prepare, or pack for the journey of being peacemakers? I encourage you to consider the Peacemaker Conference as a place to begin the research. 

 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps", is the wisdom of Proverbs. Rick and I have planned a course for our Harley trip to Alaska. We are excited about the adventure. Is your church as intentional about planning for peace?

 We look forward to seeing you in Dallas in September!

Follow this link to read a really cool story about a man who was under the most severe form of church discipline 14+ years ago, and who returned to the Lord recently.

A few quotes that I appreciated, that will hopefully whet your appetite:

"Why was it that the person Steve wanted help and trusted the most was the pastor who 14 years ago would not let his blatant sin go unaddressed?"

"How many pastors minister long enough to every see an excommunicated member restored in the same tenure?"

"It’s a love that does the hardest things and receives the sweetest expressions of reconciliation this side of heaven."

"It was extraordinary grace on display as the Great Shepherd pursued and captured one that had strayed, fallen, and wallowed in the pit of emptiness."

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing - it's such a sweet reminder of a pastor's faithfulness to his sheep ... and ultimately of our Great Shepherd's unrelenting love for those he paid such a high price to redeem.

Last week I had the pleasure of taking some of the ladies from the ministry to the Bighorn River for a day of fly fishing.  One of my passions is teaching people to fish, so I spend hours in preparation for a trip like this to make sure that everything goes well.  I get the boat ready, go over all of the equipment that we need, and prep a big lunch (this way not all is lost if the fish aren't biting).

God blessed us with a beautiful day and a number of the ladies caught their first fish on a fly rod.  Based on the smiles on their faces, I think they had a great time. 

At home that evening I was unhooking my boat trailer from my truck when something occured to me.  A small pin about the diameter of one of my fingers is all that connects my truck to my trailer. 

This hitch pin bears all of the weight of my boat and trailer as I pull it over the Montana hills on my way to the river.  The pin was absolutely necessary for everything that happened on the trip that day, yet it was something that I overlooked and didn't even think about.

In many ways, this hitch pin is to my fishing trips as the Gospel is to peacemaking.   Without the hitch pin my boat, rods, and all my other gear are worthless.  Likewise, without the Gospel, all of the peacemaking tools and all of the training that Peacemaker Ministries offers is meaningless. When it comes down to it, without the hitch pin, I can't even start fishing.  In a very real way, without the Gospel, we can't even begin to help people reconcile with one another. 

It is easy to see the Gospel as just a small piece of biblical peacemaking.  In reality it is the foundation for everything that follows.  Without it, we can't even get started.

Just released!  And don't forget that we have another fantastic lineup of speakers for our 2009 conference!

2008 Keynote Address: John Stumbo from Peacemaker Ministries on Vimeo.

I just started reading Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing, and I came across this quote that's been making me do some thinking.

"We're always harshest to our friends when we think we need to fix them or feel the need to protect ourselves." (page 24)

Do you agree?  Disagree?  Why?

Several weeks ago, I came across an excerpt from a short Bible study on 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.  I really appreciated what he had to say about Paul's words on reconciliation in this passage; it's been rattling around in my mind since then, so I decided it would be worthwhile to share.

This is from Darrell L. Guder's Bible study called "Ambassadors for Christ;"it's kind of a long and weighty quote, but definitely worth chewing on a bit:

Seen through the lenses of the gospel, the world is desperately in need of reconciliation. Certainly we would confirm that diagnosis-the news reported in any daily paper would document humanity's need to be reconciled. But the human diagnosis will not identify the problem as our need to be reconciled with God. We focus upon the brutal divisions that make nations, tribes, religions, and cultures into each other's deadly enemies. We struggle to find human resources to bring about the reconciliation for which we all long. The gospel defines creation's distress as the result of our separation from God. It is not merely a matter of human resources but of divine intervention. So, the gospel announces that God has intervened. Our separation from God and each other has been overcome, the chasm bridged, the opposing factions brought together. Our message starts with the assurance that in Christ there already is a new creation. The work of reconciliation was accomplished at Calvary, Easter, and Ascension Day. Thus, our calling to the role of ambassadors is a consequence of what God has already done. As ambassadors, we are called into royal service, to bear this wonderful message to the world: your distress has been resolved, your rebellion overcome, your separation ended. Nothing more needs to be done before the reconciliation can take place-except that we should accept and receive the gift of forgiveness and healing that seal our reconciliation. The unlikely ambassadors who make up the church of Jesus Christ are sent out to the world to make plain that God has transformed our plight on the cross of Jesus. We are to invite the world to receive what is already available and to claim what is already true. Of course, this means that the church itself must live out this wonderful reconciliation in every dimension of its life. So the call to be reconciled is still addressed to the church as well, so that we can embark upon the embassy to the world that is our calling: "Be reconciled to God" (5:20).

(Link was from Sets-n-Service)

At the end of this summer, we'll be releasing a new product called "The Leadership Challenge" that explores various dynamics where leadership and peacemaking intersect.  Below is a sneak peek at session 2, "The Shepherd Leader," taught by Tim Laniak.

The Leadership Challenge: Teaser 1 from Peacemaker Ministries on Vimeo.

This is a post from Sean Thom, who works in our bookstore. Thanks, Sean, for contributing your thoughts!

The blog over at Desiring God posted an interesting article: "Discerning Idolatry in Desire".  In it, John Piper outlines 12 markers that show a desire is becoming an idol.  Here are some parts that stood out to me:

•  Paul says in Colossians 3:5, "Covetousness is idolatry."  Covetousness" means desiring something other than God in the wrong way. But what does that mean-"in the wrong way"?  The reason this matters is both vertical and horizontal. Idolatry will destroy our relationship with God. And it will destroy our relationships with people.
• Enjoyment is becoming idolatrous when it is starting to feel like a right, and our delight is becoming a demand. It may be that the delight is right. It may be that another person ought to give you this delight. It may be right to tell them this. But when all this rises to the level of angry demands, idolatry is rising.

This mirrors how, on pages 102-109 of The Peacemaker, Ken describes the progression of an idol, moving from "I Desire" to "I Demand" to "I Judge" to "I Punish".  That insight into how a desire in my heart - whether it is for a good thing or not - can become sinful idolatry has been very helpful by revealing the ways I am sinning in the midst of conflict.

I highly recommend reading the rest of John Piper's article.  It adds layers of depth to how desires can become idols.

Justin Taylor has a great entry this morning in which he meditates on a quote he heard recently: "A mature Christian is easily edified."
Justin says:

"I'm afraid that far too often an accurate assessment of myself would reveal: easily annoyed and easily irritated…"

I saw myself in his list of things that come easily, and I was able to add plenty more. Mostly I was struck by how “easily” I fall into sin in the midst of my conflicts.

Read the whole thing; it’s not long and you may be easily edified.

Our friends over at Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation recently updated their line of topical counseling booklets that we carry in our bookstore.  As a result, we are selling the discontinued booklets at a clearance rate of only $1.00/each! (The new ones will be $3.99/each.)

Topics range from God's Love to Worry to A.D.D. to Conflict.  They are great tools for applying biblical principles to many situations encountered in life and are useful in counseling (or conflict coaching) situations.

These are only available while supplies last, so hurry and place your order today!