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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px">Mark 3:20-35<span> - <strong>"Looking a Little Bit Crazy"</strong></span></div>
<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px">Mark 3:20-35 <span>- <strong>"</strong></span><strong>When You Are Wrongly Criticized"</strong><span> by Leonard Sweet</span></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span>Mark 1 the sermon title "Looking a Little Bit Crazy" <br>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px">A photocopied sign was
posted inside a church office. It was one of those humorous full-page
slogans that people in different offices duplicate and pass among
themselves. Most of us have seen this particular message, I suppose, but
posted in a church office, the words took on a new meaning. There it
was, taped to the cinder blocks behind a secretary's desk. The sign
read, "You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps." <br>
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At
one level, why not put a sign like that in a church? Many churches are
busy, hectic, confusing places. There are worship services to plan,
educational programs to run, choirs to rehearse, fellowship dinners to
organize, and outreach efforts to facilitate. There is a lot going on,
and things can get frantic. The running joke in one church I know is
that the staff keeps saying, "Next week it's going to get quiet," but
the quiet week never comes. The work load can become a little bit crazy.
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On a deeper level, there is a great deal of truth to that sign.
There is something strange about the church. We are not just another
club or civic organization. The church's view of reality is increasingly
out of phase from a lot of prevailing views. In the church, we do and
say things that do not always make sense to people outside of this
house. </div>
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<div style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0px"><span>Mark 3 the sermon titled "When You Are Wrongly Criticized" by Leonard Sweet </span><span><br>
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Anyone here like criticism? <br>
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How do you respond to criticism? <br>
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Does being criticized bring you down or fire you up? <br>
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Do you want to hunker in your bunker or lob your own volley of vitriol back at your critics?<br>
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Learning
how to respond to criticism is a lifetime journey. That's because
critics will be accompanying you from cradle to grave! <br>
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Since
2012 is a big election year there is no shortage of negative, critical
remarks flying around the airwaves. Of course all politicians virtuously
claim they hate "negative" ads. And, of course, every candidate uses
them. The justification for both sides is "Negative ads work." Surveys
allegedly show that those nasty, negative, often highly personal attacks
are the most effective way of swaying public opinion. Negativity,
bad-mouthing, accusatory honking profoundly changes the way we think and
the way we act... </div>
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Constant Controversy <br>
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Have
you ever been misunderstood? Have you ever been misrepresented? Has
anyone ever taken your words and motives and twisted them around and
used them against you? If you live long enough in this world you are
going to face that kind of a personal attack.<br>
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I can remember an
instance in another church when a certain group in that church took my
preaching tapes and listened to them to find words and phrases they
disagreed with. These disagreeable sayings were brought up in a business
meeting and used to attack me personally. It hurt at the time, but it
was a good lesson to me. It served to remind me that God's servants will
be attacked. It also reminded me to think about my words before I say
them because I might be called on to give an account of them. <br>
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The
earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus was surrounded by constant
controversy. Nearly everyone He met misunderstood Him and what He came
to this world to do. Nearly everyone was guilty of misrepresenting His
words and His works. The things He did and said in love were used to
attack Him in hate! <br>
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Alan Carr, The Servant Under Attack <br>
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