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In this audio talk, Steve Estes maintains that Christian ministry can be filled with various challenges, oftentimes criticism and conflict rank as the top challenges faced by those in ministry. Estes offers a case study involving church discipline at his church and asks, “How do you deal, not with what goes on in them, but in you when conflict arises in the church? Estes offers six points in this talk: 1.) If you are a Christian in ministry, you will have many occasions for anger; 2.) Those who sin against you are, more importantly, sinning against God (the key player is God, not you); 3.) God will often deal with you if you make yourself the issue when others sin against you (Moses said, “because of my anger with you [Israel], God was angry with me”); 4.) By making yourself the focus, you detract from what God is doing (You are in the room to point angry people to God); 5.) God will use your patient, forgiving attitude, He will also use your frank confrontation with them at times (Consider saying positive things in writing and negative things face-to-face); and 6.) The difficulty of the process will sweeten your union with Christ in a way not possible under easier circumstances.
Key Scriptures: Psalm 51:4; 1 Samuel 7-8; Exodus 17:1-8, 32:7-10; Numbers 11:4-10, 12:1-8, 14:4-12, 26, 20:1-12; Deuteronomy 1, 3, 4; 1 Corinthians 10; John 6:26-35, 7:37; 1 Peter 2:18-24; James 1:19-20
