{"id":519,"date":"2007-01-26T21:44:46","date_gmt":"2007-01-27T03:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cottrillcompass.com\/blog\/2007\/peacemaker-seminar-day-1.html"},"modified":"2007-02-11T07:59:41","modified_gmt":"2007-02-11T13:59:41","slug":"peacemaker-seminar-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottrillcompass.com\/blog\/2007\/peacemaker-seminar-day-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Peacemaker seminar, Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we had the first half<\/strong> of the conference we’re attending in Puebla, Mexico.  It’s being put on by Toby Casteel and Roger Oliver, both missionaries here in Mexico.<\/p>\n

The seminar is all about “Peacemaking”.  Like many people, I’m suspicious of formulas, trends, or “directives from above” that are supposed to be “biblical”.  Whether I’m right or wrong, I rarely recommend books or materials, at least publicly.  But I will say this about the Peacemaker material<\/a>, which we’re using at this conference:<\/p>\n

If you look at it with an open heart, it will help you to wrestle with what God has to say in the Bible about our relationships with one another.<\/strong>  Even if you were to reject everything that Ken Sande (the author of the book and founder of the organization) has to say about peacemaking, it’s worth your time to read the book.  It brings up Scripture again and again and brings us face to face with what the Bible says about our responsibility as Christians.<\/p>\n

That being said, let me share two (of many) things that struck me today.  Having been through the material before, different things hit me each time I look at it.<\/p>\n

First<\/font><\/strong>, I was thinking about some of the reasons we avoid<\/em> dealing with conflict.  One thing we discussed is why (in 1Cor 6:1-8) Paul tells believers that they should not be filing lawsuits against one another.  I wrote,”[It] shows we are incapable and defeated, smearing God’s name and bringing His power into doubt.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Later I thought that it actually brings many of His attributes into doubt – for example,”If they follow a God of love<\/strong>, why can’t they love<\/strong> each other<\/em>?”  We also talked about how a lawsuit is a shallow solution<\/strong> that really doesn’t get to the heart of the matter.<\/p>\n

But then I got thinking…we often avoid<\/em> conflict for some of the same reasons.  We’re afraid that if the church\/our friends\/the world finds out about this or that conflict, they might:<\/p>\n