I believe that a grace culture is one where we are quick to seek forgiveness, express sorrow and repentance, to offer forgiveness and to seek reconciliation. This reflects the teaching in the Sermon on the Mount which is all about what it means to be saturated in God’s love and grace so that we enjoy… Continue reading Grace Culture – the importance of swift repentance and forgiveness
Tag: reconciliation
Get these two words in your regular vocabulary
This is a subject I will keep coming back to because I believe it is so important that we get this right if we are going to see healthy gospel churches. They are “sorry” and “forgive”. Elton John sung that “sorry seems to be the hardest word.” It shouldn’t be should it. We know that… Continue reading Get these two words in your regular vocabulary
Seeing clearly and reporting accurately (my responsibility in a dispute part 2)
On our After Eight slot for Bearwood Chapel we were talking about the bit where Jesus says to take out the log in your own eye before attempting to remove your brother’s speck the other day. I asked Sarah, in the context of this, what she thought was our primary responsibility in a dispute. She… Continue reading Seeing clearly and reporting accurately (my responsibility in a dispute part 2)
Skin Deep? What if we took Jesus seriously about divorce?
Jesus says: 31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. As you can see, the culture of his day said… Continue reading Skin Deep? What if we took Jesus seriously about divorce?
Skin Deep? Anger and Murder
Have you ever called anyone a fool or an idiot? I would probably do better to ask if anyone has not called someone that! So, we probably should take Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:21-26 seriously. But doesn’t the Bible, Paul and even Jesus himself refer to people as fools and foolish? So, what exactly is… Continue reading Skin Deep? Anger and Murder
When pastoral questions might be linked (A further response to Beth Moore)
I want to come back to Beth Moore’s questions. Now we assumed that the two questions were hypothetical and that they were about two distinct scenarios. However, suppose that they weren’t. Of course, only Beth Moore knows the answer to that. Certainly I get the feel that they are at least based on her wealth… Continue reading When pastoral questions might be linked (A further response to Beth Moore)
Forgiveness, reconciliation, restored trust and domestic abuse
In my article yesterday, I talked about learning to trust again after forgiveness and reconciliation. I argued that this was possible by choosing to remember the good things about a person as well as God’s grace to them and us and to choose to not remember their weakness, sin and the pain caused. In a… Continue reading Forgiveness, reconciliation, restored trust and domestic abuse
Forgiveness, reconciliation, trust and what you choose to remember
Forgiveness does not always lead to reconciliation. It is possible to say “I forgive you” but rebuilding broken trust is difficult, takes time and may not be possible. This may leave us feeling hopeless, helpless and despairing. What hope is there for the married couple where there has been a breakdown in the relationship, they’ve… Continue reading Forgiveness, reconciliation, trust and what you choose to remember
Lockdown -an opportunity to relearn how we do forgiveness and reconciliation
Lockdown -an opportunity to relearn how we do forgiveness and reconciliation In Sunday’s Zoom talk I talked about moving from submitting to the ruler of this world to submitting to Christ. One aspect of this was that we should move from holding onto bitterness and hate to learning to show compassion and forgiveness. This led… Continue reading Lockdown -an opportunity to relearn how we do forgiveness and reconciliation
Forgiveness
During the Coronavirus lock down, Sarah and I have been running a facebook Live event called Afternoon Tea each day. We’ve covered all sorts of big topics including bullying, suffering and forgiveness. In this article I want to jot down some of the thoughts we shared this afternoon. This isn’t a structured article – more… Continue reading Forgiveness
Faithroots 