The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Month: March 2013 (Page 2 of 3)

The Reply to Blow

March 15, 2013 / / 7 Comments

Thank you so much for your faithful reflection and wrestling regarding the controversial Dallas Morning New column by Steve Blow we talked about in this space yesterday. I’ve received twice as many comments on email as I have in the “comments” section of this blog. And that’s fine. But, good gravy, people, your stuff is good! Really good! I urge you to consider putting some or all of what we’re sharing via email on the blog here so everybody can benefit and be blessed by your insights.

It appears that what most Christians are reading in this little controversy is the reply to Blow’s column penned by Ron Scates, the Senior Pastor at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas. You can read the response in its entirety by clicking here. I’m not endorsing the pastor or the Denison Forum website where this link sends you; it’s just the easiest place to find the response. Click on that link, read Scates’ reply, and then let’s discuss.

~~~Seriously, I’m not going to continue here until you jump over there and read Ron Scates. Do it! It’s really, really good!~~~

OK, he starts by naming a mentor of his at Union Theological Seminary — name dropping; not necessary — and his words of wisdom, “Bad theology always hurts people.” Good line. I like it. Scates expands on it:

“I guarantee you… anytime you and I develop our theology based on majority votes based on the surrounding culture — rather than by what God has revealed in his Word — inevitably, we wind up with bad theology.”

And people get hurt. Lost people get hurt. And Christians get hurt by bad theology that’s shaped by the prevailing culture of the times.

Limiting the role of women in our churches is bad theology formed in and by a male dominated culture; it goes completely against the commands and examples in our Holy Scriptures; and it’s not a very faithful expression of the Gospel of Jesus that claims we’re all equal at the cross of Calvary and at our Lord’s resurrection table. It hurts people. It hurts our women and our little girls. And it cripples our Christian witness to a lost world that can’t understand our petty rules and inconsistent laws. It’s OK for a woman to pray and read Scripture, to comment and exhort, in Bible class and in Small Group and at the church retreat, but our salvation is in jeopardy if she does it in the worship center between 10:00 and 11:00 on Sunday morning. Bad theology. Based on the surrounding culture. Hurts people.

Our traditional “sema-soma” views of body-soul in which our bodies and all of creation are burned up and destroyed on the Day of the Lord, but our disembodied souls float up to heaven where we spend all of eternity in a spiritual worship service, without sermons, I assume, is bad theology. It’s Gnostic, formed in and by a culture that was seeking secret knowledge and power. It’s Greek mythology, completely counter to what our Scriptures tell us about what God is really doing in redeeming all of creation. And it’s led to a lot of Christians not caring about our planet, not taking care of our own bodies, not caring what the church building looks like. People like that are said to be “so heavenly minded they’re no earthly good.” Bad theology. Hurts people.

I could go on and on. Five steps of salvation. Five acts of worship — one at a time, of course! Marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Leadership structures. Power hungry bishops and abusive elders are a result of bad theology. Measuring faithfulness to Christ by church attendance and knowledge of Scripture instead of Christ-likeness is bad theology. Youth groups who only learn and worship and serve with people their own age, that’s bad theology. It’s theology that comes from our culture and not from our Bibles.

More on that from Scates, who says it so much better than I do:

“How you and I approach the Bible is key to forging a good theology. Is the Bible a spiritual cafeteria where we go through the line picking and choosing only what looks tasty and palatable to us? Or is the Bible a banquet to which we have been graciously invited, where the Author/Host sets before us a fare of his own choosing? At a banquet, guests don’t try to change the menu. That would be bad etiquette.”

But the theology of the culture is so much easier, right? Of course it is. It tempts me all the time. It would be much easier to just play chaplain to a bunch of church people who sit comfortably in their pews week after week. It would be much easier to believe God has no holy expectations of his people. It would be much easier to believe I need to take care of myself first and look out for my own needs first and then take care of others. I’m reminded of something G. K. Chesterton wrote years ago in Orthodoxy: “Christianity has not been tried and found lacking; it’s been found difficult and never tried.” Something like that.

Scates particularly addresses Blow’s attack on the traditional views of hell and of Jesus as the only way to salvation:

“Do I believe hell exists? Yes. Do I fear hell? No. I hold both those beliefs for the exact same reason that I believe Jesus is the only way to eternal life because he says so… and that if I be in Christ, hell is not my eternal destiny. In the Gospels, Jesus talks more about the reality of hell than he does about heaven. It is Jesus himself who makes the claim (as much a minority claim in the 1st as in the 21st century) that he alone is the way to the Father… and away from an eternity in hell (John 14:6). Good theology always takes Jesus at his Word… rather than extends a wet finger to the prevailing winds of culture.”

Here at Central, we’re learning in our Sunday morning Bible classes that our Church of Christ history and particular theologies have been shaped and formed almost as much by culture and popular opinion as by our Lord. Almost. And that’s not a knock against CofC. Good gravy, it’s a commentary on our fallen humanity. It’s a call to be on our constant guard against it. And it’s a challenge to be always ready to grow and change and restore.

Scates’ last lines are perhaps his best. I’ll close with them the way he did.

“When all is said and done, good theology is a “revealed” theology… it comes from outside of ourselves… not something of our own making. Historically, the Church has always said that that source of revelation is God himself… revealing himself to us through is Living Word, Jesus Christ, and his written word, the Holy Scriptures. Good theology usually arises when you and I attend to, not contend with, the Bible.”

Peace,

Allan

Where Steve Blow is Right

March 14, 2013 / / 2 Comments

By now, I’m sure many of you have read the much-circulated response to a controversial column written by Steve Blow of the Dallas Morning News about the Church’s doctrine of salvation in Christ alone and its traditional teachings on hell. Blow wrote his column this past Sunday in reaction to NFL quarterback Tim Tebow’s pulling out of a scheduled speaking engagement at the First Baptist Church in Dallas. Tebow was allegedly catching some public heat for lending his name to and appearing at a place where the pastor regularly denounces “gays, Mormons, Oprah, Catholics, Obama, etc., etc.” So, because of the pressure, he bailed. And apparently, Robert Jeffress, the pastor at First Baptist, called Tebow a wimp from the pulpit the following Sunday. Blow wrote a column about it. And the reaction to Blow’s column has been swift and prolific and wildly celebrated. The one everybody’s talking about was written by Ron Scates, the Senior Pastor at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas.

Now, take a deep breath with me (breathe in….. hold it…. now let it go…. ahhhhhhh…. feel okay? Good.) and let’s look at this for a moment. Not many people have actually read Blow’s column, only third- and fourth-hand sensationalized characterizations of it by his detractors. In defense of those who haven’t read the actual column, it is hard to find. The Morning News makes readers pay for its best on-line material. And, secondly, it’s a lot easier to just read the rabid responses and pretend to hate the writer of this liberal, anti-Christian column. That second point is not a defense. Not at all. It’s just the way things are.

Let’s look at Scates tomorrow. Here’s a link to Blow’s original column from last Sunday. I hope this particular site is still offering the column for free by the time you click on it. It won’t take you long to read the column; it’s only about 600-words.

Blow never suggests in his column that Christians should change their views or relax their doctrines in order to appeal to the masses as has been claimed this week by some of his harsh critics. Yes, he is sarcastic in places — most of the best columnists are. And, yeah, he implies that his own religious beliefs have shifted so that he leaves room for other ways to salvation that don’t necessarily include Christ. But the main point of his column, and the thing that bothers me most, is his assessment that Christians in the United States don’t really believe in hell and they don’t really believe Jesus is the only way to God because if we did, we’d act like it.

I can’t shake that this week. It’s bugging me. Because I understand where he’s coming from.

Blow cites plenty of statistics in his short column. He tells us about a recent survey that found 70-percent of Americans agree with the statement: “Many religions can lead to eternal life.” Those numbers apparently include 57-percent evangelical Christians who also agree. And a religion survey conducted by Baylor University found that only 27-percent of Protestants  say their Christian faith is the only path to salvation. Blow confesses that, as a Christian, he too believes “the world is just too wide to say that God cannot move and work in many ways.”

I don’t know if the numbers are correct or not. How would I know? They’re disturbing, for sure. But, I’m just not certain of the reliability of the statistics. What I am dead certain of is the truth behind Steve Blow’s most damning accusation against Christians: our actions speak much louder than our words when it comes to what we believe and don’t believe about the Christian faith and that undeniable testimony is that we don’t believe in hell or in Jesus as the only way to eternal life. Based on his own experiences as a professing Christian in our Christian churches, he’s concluded that

“most Christians really don’t believe this one-and-only path to salvation. If we do, what monsters we must be. There’s no way we could sit complacently in our favorite pew Sunday after Sunday, or devote such energy to building pretty new sanctuaries, when most of humanity faces eternal torment without our intervention. If we truly believed, we would quit our jobs and spend every waking moment trying to save people from the flames — just as we would save someone from a burning house.”

This is precisely why the Church is losing its kids and losing its credibility as a witness to something different and better and higher than what this world offers everybody every day. Because we’re not acting or living in ways that are different or better or higher than the ways this world acts and lives every day. What the culture sees, and what a lot of our own children and young people experience, is that we Christians preach and teach and sing about our concern for those without Christ, but do very little about it. What else should people think about us? When they see us bicker and argue about worship styles and leadership structures while doing nothing to share the Good News with our across-the-street neighbors, what other conclusion could they draw? While they watch us build new classroom wings and take ski trips, sit in more conferences and attend more meetings, and ignore everybody who doesn’t believe like we do, can we really blame them for thinking we don’t really believe what we say we believe? A whole bunch of us are spending more time and energy and money on fighting for our right to own guns than we are pleading with our best friends to submit to the Lordship of Jesus. We’re working 70-hour weeks and buying huge houses and driving four cars and piling the money up in our retirement accounts while paying no attention to the dozens of people we see every day who do not know Christ.

What else is the world to believe?

That’s where Steve Blow is right.

He says in his column that Jeffress’ traditional Christian faith is a “relic that is fading fast.” That’s a correct statement unless God’s Church begins to sacrifice and serve and genuinely live out our doctrines in ways that eternally impact the lost in our communities.

Peace,

Allan

Religious Freedom: Part Two

March 13, 2013 / / 0 Comments

In our Sunday morning Bible classes here at Central, we’re studying the history of our Churches of Christ within what is called the American Restoration Movement. The hope and prayer is that we, in the words of Doug Foster, “raise our historical spiritual consciousness,” that we come to understand how our distinctive faith and doctrines and practices have been shaped by particular history and culture in order to better grasp the founding vision of our movement and make a deliberate turn back to the best parts. And if you’ve made it past those two sentences to this one, congratulations. Sorry about that.

We’re using Foster’s book, Renewing God’s People, to guide our study and discussions. I’m sharing the fruits of our study and openly processing some of it in this space. You might look at yesterday’s post if this one’s going to make sense.

It was during the prolific exercising of “religious freedom” in the colonial days of the American frontier when the call for “restoration” became a popular cry among Christians. The denominationalism of the day couldn’t be good for the spread of the Gospel. The constant dividing and splitting and planting and branching probably wasn’t communicating the truth of unity in Christ. There seemed to be no end to the numbers of new churches and new forms of Christianity that were being established in the States based on somebody’s new or different interpretation of the Scriptures. Finally, a few church leaders began questioning whether new churches and new denominations, the exercise of this nationalistic and democratic and individualistic religious freedom, was actually harming their Christian witness. Some religious leaders went so far as to say this denominationalism was a direct affront to the prayer of our Lord in John 17 in which Jesus prays for unity among all believers “so the world may believe.” Denominationalism, in their view, was in fact a sin.

James O’Kelly (1735-1826) was one of these guys. A Methodist preacher in North Carolina and Virginia, O’Kelly openly questioned the power and authority of the bishops in the Methodist church, particularly the two in Baltimore. He balked at the whole bishop system, arguing that each Christian congregation should act democratically, like a republic, to govern its own affairs. His motto was “Bible government, Christian equality, and the Christian name!” In 1793, he formed the “Republican Methodists.” Then he went even farther the next year, dropping the name “Methodists” alltogether. We are only Christians, he said, “Christian” is the only name for disciples of Jesus.

In that same year, 1794, O’Kelly published his Cardinal Principles of the Christian Church:

~ The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Head of the Church

~ The name Christian should be used to the exclusion of all party and sectarian names

~ The Holy Bible is our only creed, and a sufficient rule of faith and practice

~ Christian character is the only test of church fellowship and membership

~ The right of private judgment and liberty of conscience are the privilege and duty of all

~ The union of all followers of Christ to the end that the world may believe

What do you think about those six rules? Is this a fairly decent summary of standards and practices for a Christian church based on the Gospel of Jesus? What would you add to a list like this? What would you subtract? Could a church or a group of churches even function with this type of charter? Could a group of churches — Churches of Christ, maybe — function this way today?

O’Kelly’s churches grew to about ten thousand members in North Carolina and Virginia. They eventually adopted believer’s baptism by immersion as their standard practice and taught that the unity of all Christians is God’s plan for redeeming the world.

At the same time, a group of Baptists in Vermont led by Abner Jones (1772-1841) and another group of Baptists in New Hampshire led by Elias Smith (1769-1846) began to independently proclaim a non-creedal Christianity. They  denounced Calvinism and took the name “Christian” as the only acceptable label for disciples of Jesus. These two, again independently of one another, established at least fourteen churches in the early 1800s.

Funny, huh? Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell weren’t the first ones or the only ones with these kind of ideas. The idea of “restoration,” stripping away what is new and unnecessary to get back to something in its pure and original condition, actually was fairly popular at the turn of the 19th century.  It was being preached and practiced by many. And Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17 was driving it.

“…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” ~John 17:20-23

Peace,

Allan

Religious Freedom

March 12, 2013 / / 1 Comment

We began our Bible class on Sunday morning by trying to name all the different Christian denominations in the U.S. As you can imagine, the names came fast and furious and I scribbled the words on the white board as quickly as I could to keep up: Methodist. Presbyterian. Catholic. Lutheran. Church of God. Baptist. (What kind of Baptist? OK, four or five different kinds we could think of.) Christian. Disciples of Christ. Unitarian. Non-Denominational/Community. Episcopal. Assembly of God. Then it started to slow down a little. I asked, “No Church of Christ? Why hasn’t anybody said Church of Christ?”

And someone in the back, on the right hand side of the room said, jokingly, “We’re not a denomination!”

Much laughter and frivolity ensued.

OK, Church of Christ. What kind of Church of Christ? One-cuppers. No-classers. Acappella. Instrumental. No kitchens. Etc.,

It took about two minutes to fill the giant board with all the names of all the different versions of Christian churches in the U.S. We kind of started cheating at the end by naming Cowboy Church, Biker Church, and Skater Church. But the point was well made and well illustrated. As Yakov Smirnoff used to say, “Only in America!”

There are more Christian denominations in the United States than in any other country in the rest of the world. More sub-sets of denominations. More splits and plants and branches than anywhere else in the history of this planet. It’s always been that way here. When America was being colonized, there was no official national religion. (There still isn’t, of course; we forget that sometimes.) Unlike the rest of the world, no one denomination could serve as the state church. In the colonies you had Puritans and Baptists, Anglicans and Presbyterians, Methodists and Lutherans, Quakers and German Reformed, all here to establish “the true church.” They had left their own churches and homes, they had fled their own families and nations, because they couldn’t implement their own individual ideas and preferences in their established churches. They didn’t want a Pope or bishop or church board telling them what to do. So they came here where they wanted — and they got! — religious democracy. Here in America, ordinary members were making decisions for the churches. Ministers were not formally educated. It was religion without the creeds and councils. In that age of reason and enlightenment, people figured they could read the Bible for themselves and come to their own conclusions about the right and wrong ways to do church. And they did!

The result of that is what you saw on our white board Sunday morning.

Back then, the idea was that if you read your own Bible with an open mind and good common sense and the conclusions you drew were different from what your church was teaching, you just started another church. What do I mean “back then?” It’s all still the same today!

Religious freedom. Yuk.

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” ~Galatians 5:13-15

The American concept of “freedom” is a whole lot different from the Scriptural view of “freedom.” The apostle Paul writes that freedom means we are released from the things of this world — sin, selfishness, ego, pride, unalienable rights — that would keep us from serving others. Scripture says freedom is being loosed from the shackles of self to consider the needs of others more important than our own, to become less so that Christ and his holy will can become more. This nation’s concept of freedom is just the opposite. This nation’s founding documents and ideals, based on the prevailing thoughts at that time and still supporting the prevailing thoughts in our time today, tell us that Americans are free to do what we want, free to choose, free to own, free to pursue personal happiness, free to move, free to make money, free to speak, free to do whatever we want wherever we want, and whenever we want to do it with nobody ever telling me I can’t.

How do you think the freedom the colonists had to start all their own churches based on their own individual understandings of Scripture benefited the Kingdom of God? How might it have hurt? I’m certain there is both good and bad here. What’s good about our religious freedom in this country? How does this same freedom hinder the spread of the Kingdom or the sanctification of Christians? How might things be different — then and now — had American Christians understood and were to understand freedom as the liberty to serve others instead of ourselves?

Peace,

Allan

God Bless Jerry Humble

March 11, 2013 / / 0 Comments

I missed out on Jerry Humble. I missed out big time. I didn’t know Jerry hardly at all. I’ve heard a lot about her, especially over the past several months and weeks. But I didn’t know her, certainly not like most of the people here at Central. When we moved here a year and a half ago, Jerry was already to the point where conversations with her were difficult. I had a couple of meaningful visits with her then, but she wouldn’t remember them a week later. And, so, yeah, I really feel like I missed out.

I do know her husband, Bill Humble. I know Bill pretty well. And because of what I know about Bill, I always thought, “He must have a really wonderful wife.” And I’m right about that.

I do know her daughter, Becky Liles. I know Becky pretty well. And because of what I know about Becky, I always thought, “She must have had a really spectacular mom.” And I’m right about that.

I’ve watched most of Jerry’s family and closest friends, especially over the past several months and weeks. I’ve seen the way you took care of Jerry. I’ve seen your great dedication and commitment to her. I’ve seen the love you have for her. And I’m thinking, “She must really be something.” And I’m right about that.

We were all together around Jerry’s bed Thursday night and I was asked to read Proverbs 31. Honestly, I thought, that’s probably a good idea. OK, yeah, a woman of noble character, it makes sense. I really wanted to read Psalm 139, which Becky suggested later. I really, really wanted to read from Isaiah 46, which I managed to squeeze in later. But, yeah, Proverbs 31, why not?

And I started reading. With Bill. And Becky and Ted. And Jan. And Amanda. A few others. With all the ones who know Jerry best and love Jerry most.

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.”

And as I read, I was moved.

“She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.”

I was moved by the reactions and the responses  from those in the room to the faithful words of Scripture that so perfectly described this faithful woman of God. It was indescribably special.

“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. Her husband is respected at the city gate where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

I felt like this passage was connecting everybody in the room to Jerry, through God, and to one another. We were united by these faithful words to Jerry and to God and to one another. God was doing something really extraordinary in the reading of his Word. It was sacred. It was holy.

“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

When I finished reading, I felt like I knew Jerry Humble. I knew her. This is Jerry. To everybody who knows her, Jerry truly reflected the glory of God. Jerry revealed God to all her family and friends. She showed them God. And I felt like on Thursday night, our God had turned the tables. God revealed Jerry to me. Through Holy Scripture, God showed me Jerry. And now I know her.

Jerry was a good woman. Everybody who knew her will testify to that. We thank God today for the lessons in kindness and generosity he taught us through Jerry. We thank God today for the way he revealed himself to us through Jerry’s sacrificial nature, her forever giving nature. We thank God for showing us through Jerry how to be strong in the face of sickness, how to persevere when things become difficult, how to keep going when things get tough. Oh, yeah, she was a good woman. We’d all be hard pressed to think of anyone as good as Jerry.

But, praise God, Jerry didn’t put her faith in her own goodness. She did not trust in her own good deeds or exemplary life. Jerry Humble put her faith in God. She put her trust in God. So for Jerry, and for us, death has no sting. Death has no victory. In fact, death is actually swallowed up in the victory of our God in Christ.

“In that day we will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation!'” ~Isaiah 25:9

May our gracious God bless Jerry’s sweet family with his merciful comfort and peace. May he grant them joy and strength. And may we be forever grateful for the divine gift of knowing this beautiful daughter of heaven.

Peace,

Allan

A Powerful Weapon Against Satan

March 8, 2013 / / 0 Comments

“You ought to forgive and comfort him so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him… in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” ~2 Corinthians 2:7-11

The situation in the Corinthian church was critical: a sorrowful, repentant brother and a congregation reluctant to forgive and restore. The apostle Paul knows that Satan will attempt to use this circumstance against the Kingdom of God. The devil is hell-bent on destroying the mutual forgiveness and acceptance that is supposed to characterize the people of God. We, the Church, are the evidence — we’re the banner, the big flashing billboard, the huge neon sign — we’re the proof, the testimony of God’s redeeming work in Christ and the unity created by the Holy Spirit. Forgiving and restoring this brother, reaffirming their love for this brother, would prove to the whole world that Jesus really is who he says he is and he really is changing people.

Well, Satan can’t let that happen. So the devil does what he does best. He tempts the congregation to bear a grudge. To judge. He tempts us to pride. And arrogance.

“That guy can’t just say ‘I’m sorry’ and expect you to roll over and act like nothing happened. You’ve got to stand up here. You need to teach this guy a lesson. This guy needs to prove himself first. He’s not equal to you. Yeah, you’ve got some sin in your life; but you’ve never done what this guy did!”

Do you hear Satan?

“I suppose maybe you can forgive him; but that doesn’t mean you have to talk to him. OK, go ahead and forgive him; but that doesn’t mean he might not need to find another church.”

You ever heard that in your ear before? Or in your heart? That’s the devil talking, it’s not God’s Holy Spirit.

More than anything, in this situation, Satan wants the sorrowful brother or sister to be overwhelmed. The devil wants the outcast to feel empty and useless and all alone. So the devil does what he does best. He accuses. And he lies.

“These people will never understand you. They can’t relate to you. Nobody in that church has ever done what you’ve done. Everybody’s got friends here except for you. You’ll never be accepted. You’ll never get connected. You’re always going to be alone.”

Do you hear Satan?

“They say they forgive you, they say they love you. But you’re the only one who knows the truth: You can’t even forgive yourself. You can’t even really love yourself. These things you’ve done, those things that have happened to you, that deal you’re going through right now, nobody in the Church can help you with that.”

You ever heard that in your ear before? In your heart? That’s not God’s Spirit talking, it’s the devil.

God’s Spirit says forgive. Comfort. Reaffirm your love.

Satan cannot outwit us, the devil has no power over us as long as we’re ministering in these ways with one another and in the world. Forgive. Comfort. Reaffirm your love.

Naming and exposing sin is not at the core of what it means to live for the glory of God. Finger-pointing is not the Gospel. Witch-hunting is not the Gospel. Shaming the outcast or ostracizing the wrongdoer is not ministry. Those are all Satan’s tools and methods.

Forgiving sin! That’s Gospel! Forgiving sin! That’s Christian ministry done in the name and the manner of Jesus! Forgiving!

Scripture doesn’t tell us to grab a mop and a bucket and work harder to scrub the sin away from our lives and the lives of our neighbors and friends. And God doesn’t automatically remove all sin from our lives at baptism like exterminating roaches or amputating a diseased limb. Sin is not dealt with by more laws and rules. It’s not handled by isolation and shame. The Holy Creator deals with our sin by forgiving us!

And that’s how we deal with it, too.

Forgiveness isn’t going soft. It’s not wimpy or sissy to forgive. It’s not an apathetic or ineffective shrug of the shoulders. Forgiveness is hard-edged, hard-core, bad-to-the-bone Gospel! Forgiveness is the white-hot flame of resurrection love forged in the fiery furnace of the cross! Forgiveness doesn’t ignore the sin. And forgiveness doesn’t avoid the pain. Forgiveness deals with the problem head on. And it opens the door to healing. It clears the path for Holy Spirit transformation. Forgiveness is powerful. It’s a mighty and miraculous wonder that comes straight from heaven. And it’s a nuclear arsenal of unstoppable might against the devil and his schemes.

Peace,

Allan

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