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Top 10 Tips for Sleep Deprived Prayer (4 comments)
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Paul is one of the Staff Editors at Matthias Media. He is married to Cathy and has three fantastic kids. He loves student ministry, reading, writing music and playing the saxophone, and is looking forward to meeting Jesus face to face.
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Thanks Lionel. I am about to go to a meeting with Leichardt Council and some people opposed to what we are doing as a church. And it’s very clear how I should apply the principles you have spoken about in this meeting. Yours, Dominic
“Secondly, a godly comment is one which is clothed in prayer for the other person.”
Crikey, do we really have to clothe every comment in prayer? I thought blogging was already time-consuming enough as is…
Ben, OTOH, <i>life</i> is time consuming.
Well, at least, <i>my</i> life seems to be just at the moment. :-(
‘A comment that fails to understand what I’ve said, but instead just ends up talking about something else that exists in the mind of the commenter, is unloving.’
‘And feel free, of course, to disagree with me, or to pick holes in my argument—provided you’ve heard what I’ve said’.
Lionel.
I have really tried to appreciate what you have said. And yes I feel nervous responding with a comment!! I suggest that you may have failed to take into account the limitations that some of us may have.
There can be all sorts of reasons a person may not understand such as having a different intellectual ability to the writer, reading difficulties, inability to hold together a range of ideas. They may, such as myself, think they have understood sufficiently when they might not have and so respond inappropriately’ (unlovingly?) in relation to the comment.
In our churches this can also be an issue that can be overlooked but leads to people being unwittingly silenced because of their limitations.
I suggest love (patience) will be needed from both sides because of the nature of communication between fallible and cognitively limited people.
Di
Hi Lionel,
Great Blog mate.
In my job I receive a bit of . . . well let’s call it . . . “constructive criticism”. If people followed your advice I reckon I’d spend far more time talking with disgruntled people ABOUT THE ACTUAL ISSUES rather than about HOW the issues were raised. Love covers a multitude of sins. Your wisdom is much appreciated.
benny
STOP SHOUTING, BEN. GODLY PEOPLE DON’T SHOUT.
Oh—you were discussing substance, not style? I missed what you said, sorry.
Hi Lionel,
On the odd occasion when (probably unwisely) I’ve been given the chance to preach at church, one of the things that’s struck me is the difference between what I thought was the main point of my talk, and what other people thought I was saying. Now this could merely be a symptom of how bad my talk was, but I’m certain that others have encountered it.
Post-modernists make a big thing about how the reader’s interpretation is as valid as the writer’s. How do we overcome this to ensure that when people “listen” to us, what they hear is what we’re actually saying.
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