Quick Links:

The ongoing pursuit of peace and harmony is what this workshop leader refers to as living in “Resolution Land.” Resolution Land is a mindset and attitude that brings peacemaking action. “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” (Romans 8:6-7). In Resolution Land, you have purposed in your heart, made up your mind, and are determined to pursue peaceful relationships in obedience to God. It is a way of thinking that leads to action that fosters harmony in relationships. As a minster and ambassador of reconciliation, come gain more insight into how to live successfully in resolution land.

Anger is one of the most common and complex experiences of life, and conflict is saturated with it. We consider anger to be a moral response rooted in a judgment we make against a perceived wrong. While God and the Lord Jesus always have righteous anger, and we might have righteous anger, we will see why so much human anger is sinful. In His righteous anger God seeks to establish justice and offer mercy. For us to have righteous anger like His we have to turn away from three wrong responses and practice three godly responses. While our society will say it is OK to be angry with God, Scripture helps us to discern the moral difference between expressing anger against God (it arises from unbelief) and expressing anger to God (it arises from trust).

There are times in our lives when God has us help others through their conflicts even while our own lives seem to have a degree of chaos. Though we know we live in challenging times and no relationship is perfect, how do we know if the struggles we face while serving as reconcilers should cause us to pause or even remove us from the work?

This workshop will explore the gray lines of knowing how our sufferings impact us and when God calls us to persevere or rest. While there is no perfect way to approach this, we can trust that God’s grace is sufficient and His word does not return void. It is my hope that this workshop encourages you to do good to all while not growing weary and to continue honoring Christ’s call for us to exchange our burdens for His rest.

Ever seen an argument over social media? Ever seen it separate friends and family where people quickly take sides, fire off a comment and destroy a relationship? This is an all too often occurrence. With a new form of communication, comes a new opportunity for misunderstanding, jumping to conclusions, reading into what someone said, “boldly” stating opinions, and judging others’ comments and statements. With no protocols, we can find ourselves causing more conflict than is necessary or embroiled in a conflict online. How can we navigate our social media presence? How do we lovingly confront someone on social media or should we even do that? How do we represent Christ well in the 21st century world of instant communication? Why should we think first before we type, and why does it matter? Our social media presence, and those of other believers, can be a good witness for Christ to bring Him glory or can be a tool of the enemy for conflict. Let’s rant and rave on Facebook. Let’s post about it. No, let’s talk about how to think about social media, questions to ask ourselves when we comment or post, how we can encourage fellow believers to be aware of their own social media actions and how to look at Scripture for guidance.

How careful should a person be when driving a car or operating other heavy machinery? Can a helpful tool become a destructive force if it is used wrongly or inattentively? This workshop explores our opportunities and responsibilities when using one of the most powerful instrumentalities available to peacemakers, parties, and all people made in God’s image: our words.