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We are not to work on the Sabbath because it takes us out of the play of joy. It is as bizarre as making love to your spouse, but getting out of bed during the process to cut your lawn or wash dishes. Such an offense would do far more than spoil the mood; it would be a direct assault on the integrity of joy, announcing that a mundane chore is more pleasurable than sexual joy with your spouse.
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Dan B. Allender |
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To be told, "The past is the past and we are new creatures in Christ, so don't worry about what you can't change," at first relieves the need to face the unsightly reality of the destructive past. After a time, however, the unclaimed pain of the past presses for resolution, and the only solution is to continue to deny.3 The result is either a sense of deep personal contempt for one's inability to forgive and forget, or a deepened sense of b..
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Dan B. Allender |
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When pain lumbers through the front door, squats down in the middle of your life, and makes itself at home day after day, year after year, it can make you choke. It can make you angry at God.
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Dan B. Allender |
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Jesus, the fullness of God and man, is the full perfection of humanity, and he calls us to a humanity that is full and alive, without flaw or fault.
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Dan B. Allender |
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To enter the realm of play, we must give ourselves to something or someone and turn away from all else. It is both a pledge and a betrayal.
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Dan B. Allender |
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What might it look like if we lived as if we will not be endlessly divided from those who have brought us harm and whom we have failed as well?
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Dan B. Allender |
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The Sabbath is a party, and what is a good party without a drinking song? Almost all the early John Wesley hymns were sung to what at the time was wild pub music.
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Dan B. Allender |
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Abundance is not about possession; it is utterly, completely, and solely about gratitude.
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Dan B. Allender |
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A gift that has the power to change us awakens a part of the soul. But we cannot receive the gift until we can meet it as an equal. We therefore submit ourselves to the labor of becoming like the gift. Giving a return gift is the final act in the labor of gratitude, and it is also, therefore, the true acceptance of the original gift.' There is a burden of gratitude that, if it is not returned, will crush our spirits or splinter them. But we..
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Dan B. Allender |
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The absence of tumult, more than its presence, is an enemy of the soul. God meets you in your weakness, not in your strength. He comforts those who mourn, not those who live above desperation. He reveals Himself more often in darkness than in the happy moments of life.
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Dan B. Allender |
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We are to free the slaves because we were once slaves. Sabbath is a remembrance of the stale bondage of Egypt and the fresh air of our new garden given to us because of the faithfulness of God's covenantal love, not due to our capacity to make God happy. Yet God is more than happy with us -- he adores us and lavishes us with freedom and joy.
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Dan B. Allender |
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Action is never enough if defined as eradicating the problem. Action is always enough if it is faithful to the call of the moment.
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Dan B. Allender |
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from chapter 3, "What Makes A Good Story?") "Our willingness to hold dear the moments of past shalom prepares us to imagine a new and better day, and, even more to move toward that day with passion and purpose." --
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true-self
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Dan B. Allender |
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Shalom is shattered by sin, by the intrusion of a lie, a distortion of the truth that mars the pleasure of being naked, transparent, trusting and true. ... shattering occurs when our dignity os assaulted and death enters to divide and destroy.
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true-self
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Dan B. Allender |
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We live in a culture where the acknowledgment of wrong or the ownership of risk and failure is paramount to forfeiting the game.
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Dan B. Allender |
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Marriage requires a radical commitment to love our spouses as they are, while longing for them to be what they are not yet. Every marriage moves either toward enhancing one another's glory or toward degrading each other.
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Dan B. Allender |
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When life is hard, pleasure can be more than a diversion. It can easily become a need. We easily move from a properly moderate enjoyment of sensuous experience to a consuming desire for it.
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Dan B. Allender |
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in our perceived source of life. It is recognizing that our self-protective means to avoiding hurt have not ushered us into real living (the reckless abandon to God that ultimately leads to a deep sense of wholeness and joy) or to purposeful, powerful relating. Repentance is the process of deeply acknowledging the supreme call to love, which is violated at every moment, in every relationship--a law that applies even to those who have been h..
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Dan B. Allender |
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Anyone who wrestles with an uncertain future on behalf of others--anyone who uses her gifts, talents, and skills to influence the direction of others for the greater good--is a leader. No one is a mere follower. If you are a follower of God, for instance, then you are called to lead. Every believer is called to help someone grow into maturity--and such is the core calling of a leader.
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Dan B. Allender |
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Lust almost always becomes perverse.
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Dan B. Allender |
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Paul calls leaders not merely to be humble and self-effacing but to be desperate and honest. It is not enough to be self-revealing, authentic, and transparent. Our calling goes far beyond that. We are called to be reluctant, limping, chief-sinner leaders, and even more, to be stories. The word that Paul uses is that a leader is to be an "example," but what that implies is more than a figure on a flannel board. He calls us to be a living por..
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Dan B. Allender |
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tendency
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Dan B. Allender |
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Self-doubt is common when our efforts fail to bring results. Failure is a rock in our shoe that nags us until we find relief. At first, failure to achieve our desired end will elicit careful scrutiny (What can I do better?) and resumed commitment (How can I try harder?). Success may be achieved--straight As, an athletic scholarship, perfect Sunday school attendance--but the real goal--a happy family, an end to the abuse, or relief from the ..
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Dan B. Allender |
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instead,
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Dan B. Allender |
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stands
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Dan B. Allender |
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The Sabbath is not a vacation; it is a grateful celebration. Who are you celebrating? To whom do you owe your life, your current taste of re-creation? Who marked you with kindness that has enabled you to offer care in return? Who has scarred you with heartache that has enabled you to enter the wounds of others with grace? We are called to bless those who love us and those who love to do us harm.
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Dan B. Allender |
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Joy must be chosen, but the deeper conundrum is that it can't be controlled or cajoled as to when it will come or how long it will stay.
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Dan B. Allender |