Changing a Murderer into a Minister
Businge Peter Simon passed the long hours in his prison cell dreaming about how he would murder the man who sent him there. But before he could put his plot into action, God intervened in a dramatic way. Here is what Businge wrote to me: Brother Ken, Praise the Lord, God is great, God is […]
A Lost Translation … Almost
XYZ Translators (all names changed) was about to lose a ten-year investment in learning the language of a remote tribe in Africa. John and Janice had lived with the tribe for a decade, building relationships, mastering their vocabulary and creating an alphabet they could use to write a New Testament Bible in their language. Then […]
Destroy Your Enemies
As the Civil War was coming to an end, it seemed inevitable that the North would prevail. President Lincoln had many discussions with administration “hardliners,” who hotly opposed his intention to be merciful and generous to the South. During one particularly heated conversation, one of those men rebuked Lincoln, saying that the North must “destroy […]
Barnabas: Portrait of a Peacemaker
When Peacemaker Ministries launched its initial training on biblical conflict resolution, my dear friend and founding Board member Jim Soft contributed this study on the character of a peacemaker. May God grant all of us grace to develop these qualities! ~ Ken Sande One of the most profound and rare eulogies in all the Bible […]
A Peacemaker’s Prayer
Years ago, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “A primary qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing God’s work well and triumphantly, is a sense of our own weakness.” This insight led me to write a prayer that I’ve used again and again whenever I have needed to be reconciled to someone […]
Reconcile Before It’s Too Late
The woman on the phone was crying so hard I could barely understand her. “You warned me,” she said over and over. “But I didn’t listen, and now it’s too late.” “To late for what?” I asked when she paused to take a breath. “When did I warn you? Why is it too late?” “You spoke […]
Blind Optimism Can Be Dangerous
Churches and ministries (as well as married couples) could learn a vital lesson from the U.S. State Department. Chip Zimmer, our ministry’s Vice President, worked for the State Department from 1990-2001, serving in diplomatic posts in Africa and Latin America. In light of last week’s evacuation of the families of U.S. diplomats in Turkey, Chip […]
Never Give Up
One of the greatest heartbreaks a parent can experience is to be estranged from an adult child … which usually means losing contact with beloved grandchildren as well. That’s what happened to Karen when she offended her daughter, Debra, with a few careless words during her granddaughter’s soccer game three years ago. A frozen silence […]
Are You Teachable?
I’ve been in the middle of hundreds of conflicts. Divorces, custody battles, business lawsuits, forced pastoral exits, church splits, nonprofit disintegrations … you name it, I’ve seen Christians fight over it. After many long and difficult mediations, I learned that there was one factor that usually made the difference between seeing either genuine reconciliation or […]
A Better Way to Handle Abuse
Sexual abuse in the church does not have to end in broken lives, agonizing lawsuits and divided congregations. As illustrated by the real-life abuse case described later in this post, when people follow God’s ways and words, these terrible incidents can result in healing, justice and healthier churches. When victims of abuse first come forward, […]