I Loved This on Resolving Conflicts

See here.

Also, last week, I heard a great presentation from Pastor John Waak of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Victoria, Texas, dealing with Healing After Conflict.

In it, Pastor Waak used the Biblical narratives of the lives and interactions of Saul, Israel's first king, and the younger man David, whom God chose to take Saul's place. Waak said that in any conflict, we are likely to exhibit traits like one or the other of these men.

Before going into the specifics of this, John made several observations:

• In conflict, we must learn to be Christians who stand on our feet, often that will mean running away from actual conflict.
• Conflict does happen even in churches and has an impact on us personally and as congregations.
• Conflict rarely yields a winner.
• Conflict makes us feel "ugly and torn," not "a purposeful child of God."
• Most frightening of all, conflict can cover us with unrighteous anger. The Bible says that Satan kills, steals, and destroys. We can see how Satan, the Evil One, employs to kill, steal, and destroy our faith and our fellowship as Christian people. By contrast, Pastor Waak, pointed out, Jesus came into the world to give us abundant life!
• Then, Pastor Waak showed the contrast between Saul and David in their conflict.

I urge you to contact Pastor Waak at johnwaak@oursaviourslutheran.com. Tell him you'd like a copy of his fantastic breakout presentation given on October 6, at the annual gathering of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. The group participation piece can be a great template for congregations dealing with conflicts.

You might want to read this passage: Philippians 4:1-9.
You might also read Matthew 18:15-20.