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21 June 2010 0 Comments

Confrontation Is Not A Bad Word

Confrontation Is Not A Bad Word

I’ve received many calls over the years from leaders in the church about conflict.  Small group leaders, elders, key volunteers and staff will call and say, “Frank, my team/group is in complete turmoil.”  I’ll often be silent for a minute or two and let them share and then I’ll be quiet for a moment and [...]

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27 July 2009 9 Comments

When God Speaks To You

Does God speak to you? I think he does, and I think he uses people around us more than we give the “Big Guy” credit for. We often look at the Bible as a method that our creator uses to communicate (it is certainly the best place for us to get a glimpse into the [...]

29 January 2009 1 Comment

Validation

I saw the video below on a friend’s blog and I had to pass it on. The short film shows how a little validation can go a long way in building relationships and impacting one’s circle of influence. However, there is also a subtle lesson in the video as well. When we become solely dependant [...]

15 September 2008 0 Comments

Referee Pastor – Resolving Conflict

My boys are getting older and beginning to play together more and more often. You know that that means… they fight more often too. The latest was this morning. Shelli made us some great french toast and we enjoyed breakfast together at the table as a family. Shortly after, Shelli went up to shower and [...]

21 April 2008 0 Comments

Confrontation

I have been thinking a lot about confrontation lately. I spoke about it in a recent sermon, given counsel to a few leaders and volunteers, and wrote about it in a recent post (here). David Foster, author and pastor, recently posted 10 Signs It’s Time To Confront: 1. It’s time to confront when things aren’t [...]

6 October 2007 0 Comments

Team Family

The past two weeks have been a little challenging in the Chiapperino household. I have had to travel quite a bit. As you saw from the posts below I spent much of the last week in September at the Small Groups Conference in Chicago, and most of the first week in October at the Orchard [...]

2 August 2007 1 Comment

Hatchet Man

I tend to be the kind of guy that wants to cut someone off at the knees when they mess up. Jesus extended grace and I struggle doing that… I want to extend the hatchet, or maybe a baseball bat, or perhaps a sledge hammer. I recently didn’t extend someone grace and God showed me [...]

20 June 2007 0 Comments

The Anxiety of Meaninglessness

I have a close friend who seems to be struggling with what Paul Tillich calls “the anxiety of meaninglessness.” He has been spiritually all over the map and took a step away from Christianity while we were striving to complete a degree in Bible together. Watching him take this journey away from his faith has [...]

2 June 2007 0 Comments

Getting Older And Growing Younger

I love helping my son Michael learn to physically navigate where he wants to go. Lately we have been learning to climb up and down stairs. I will ask him, “Are you ready to go?” and he will vigorously nod his head telling me yes and spinning his hands around in circles telling me go [...]

7 April 2007 0 Comments

Marriage Is Like Racoon Hunting

I know that this sounds crazy but marriage is like coon hunting. Cliff, who is a good friend of mine from college, just left me a message on my myspace page and it got me thinking about the past. A few years ago I went up to his home town with him (up near Erie [...]