"Most often, we grow by listening, not by talking. Consider nine ways to become a better listener." - TGC
"We speed past the questions that would help us get to know another person’s story and instead immediately look to the places of greatest difference and disagreement." - Denison Forum
"Have a normal conversation. ...a normal conversation about life, sports, family, who has the best French fries, whatever. Somewhere along the way, a problem with a child, a health concern with a family member, or an issue at work will pop up. Just offer this: Would it be OK if, when I pray, I include that in my prayers?" - Lifeway
By M.R. Conrad. Reposted from Rooted Thinking.
How do you choose your friends? Your mom likely helped you choose your first friends. She probably told the mothers of your classmates, “I want my kids to have good friends so they stay out of trouble.” University professors exhort their students to network to gain connections to move up in their fields. “It’s not what you know but who you know,” the experts often repeat. But left on your own, how do you go about choosing friends? What common interests draw you to other people? What are you looking for in a friendship?
At age 25, Henry Martyn boarded a ship for India.1 You might call him the “Father of Tentmaking Missions.” Nobody calls him that, but that’s what he did in 1806 long before tentmaking trended in missiological circles. He took a job as an Anglican chaplain for the East India Company so he could take the gospel to countries in Asia and the Middle East that did not welcome missionaries. Arriving in Calcutta, Martyn traveled north to Serampore to befriend William Carey and his team of Baptists.
"Why a growing number of congregations are taking deliberate steps to relearn the habit of talking together." - Christianity Today
