Pursuing Peace [eBook]

A Christian Guide to Handling Our Conflicts

A Guide to Resolving Relational Conflict

You have conflict in your life—we all do. You encounter it in your home, your workplace, your school, or even your church. All around us tensions exist and disputes persist.

Offered here is a step-by-step process for pursuing peace in ALL your relationships and a tool you can use to help others. This guide is:

• BIBLICAL — relies on the absolute authority, sufficiency, and life-giving power of God’s Spirit-breathed Word
• CHRIST-CENTERED — depends on the forgiving and empowering grace of Jesus
• PRACTICAL — provides concrete action steps, case examples, discussion questions, and suggested language to handle specific situations
• PROVEN — offers tried-and-true methods from a pastor, professor, counselor, and certified Christian conciliator who has led couples, churches, and Christian schools to make peace for over twenty-five years

Packed with wisdom and practical techniques, this manageable book on reconciliation will send you on your way to pursuing peace while helping others to do the same.

Robert D. Jones (DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) serves as a biblical counseling professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a certified biblical counselor, a Christian conciliator, an adjunct instructor, and a church reconciliation trainer with Peacemaker Ministries. Jones is the author of Uprooting Anger and has written numerous ministry booklets and articles.

“Interpersonal conflict is a misery maker, stirring up chaos and the fog of war. Robert Jones carefully walks down the narrow road that makes peace and stirs up joy. His presentation is judicious, wide-ranging, balanced, biblical, and full of grace. Every counselor needs to know these things. Every struggler willing to take the time will benefit—and we are all strugglers in these matters. Speed-reading not allowed! Pursuing Peace needs to be slowly absorbed and would make a marvelous twelve-week study.”
—David Powlison, Executive Director, Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation

“Conflict comes in many shapes and sizes, so we need a variety of perspectives and insights into how to respond to it in biblically faithful ways. I am delighted that Robert Jones has brought his many years of pastoral and counseling experience to bear on this topic—providing a fresh perspective on how to approach conflict and estranged people in a grace-filled, gospel-centered way.”
—Ken Sande, President, Peacemaker Ministries

“In a day when ‘us and them’ seems to be the default presumption with which our society confronts culture, politics, and religion, Robert Jones has provided us a scripturally sound and pragmatic path to follow to experience the peace for which most of us have a God-given desire. While the book may find itself in the syllabus of many Christian counseling classes, it is equally at home in the school of practical theology. Rich with biblical references and connected to practical application, Pursuing Peace will be helpful specifically for those dealing with issues of conflict in any arena of life, and generally for all who wish to gain a clearer understanding of how to interact with others in God-pleasing ways. With uncanny insights and sharp clarity, Dr. Jones addresses and then makes sense of normal, everyday conflicts and how they should be handled so that full resolution might be experienced. This book is indeed a helpful contribution to the culture of our day.”
—Thom Rainer, President and CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources

“Robert Jones has written a most profitable and sound book in Pursuing Peace. Though I wish it were not needed in the church today, the fact is that the message and advice of this book are desperately needed even among believers. I urge all of God’s leaders in the household of faith not only to read this volume, but to discuss it as a guide for what to do the next time the peace of Christ’s church is disturbed. Such reading and discussion will save loads of grief and some future headaches, as well as possible loss of the joy of the Lord.”
—Walter C. Kaiser Jr., President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“Conflicts in relationship are inevitable. However, they do not have to be destructive. Pursuing Peace is a faithful, biblical guide that shows us how we can actually grow and mature spiritually, and find grace and peace on the other side. This valuable resource will well serve the body of Christ.”
—Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Sinful human beings live in a broken and fallen world full of unwanted opportunities for painful and destructive conflict. Dr. Jones’s practical and biblical insights provide an excellent guide to navigate the realities of conflict in God-honoring and effective ways. This book is for everyone who struggles with the inevitable conflict that so deeply impacts our lives and relationships. Pursuing Peace promotes faith, hope, and love in the One who is the Prince of Peace. A must-read for every believer.”
—Judy Dabler, Reconciliation Specialist and Founder, Live at Peace Ministries; coauthor, Peacemaking Women: Biblical Hope for Resolving Conflict

“Robert Jones gives us both a grand, God’s-eye view of conflict and a down-to-earth, practical roadmap for healing in our relationships. The big picture keeps us coming back to the gospel again and again for fresh grace and wisdom, and the practical guidance brings it all home to daily life. This book has helped me personally and will be a valuable resource to me as a pastor as I counsel others through conflicts with spouses, family members, and friends.”
—Mike Wilkerson, author, Redemption: Freed by Jesus from the Idols We Worship and the Wounds We Carry

“You do not need to read this book if you never experience conflict or do not know anyone else that does. If, however, conflict is part of your experience—as it is for the rest of us—you must read this book. Dr. Jones’s words are anchored in the words of Scripture, rich in the graces of Christ, and full of practical wisdom. This book will serve as a reliable guide to anyone interested in pursuing relational peace.”
—Heath Lambert , Executive Director, The National Association of Nouthetic Counselors; Associate Professor of Biblical Counseling, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College

“Pursuing Peace is an excellent guide for helping people biblically resolve conflict and is greatly needed in our world of inevitable conflict.”
—Oletha Barnett, Conflict Resolution Director, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship; Attorney at Law, DeSoto, Texas