38 results for tag: forgiveness

December 2023

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Greg Albrecht: Not What Religion Expects – pg. 2 Kenneth Tanner: One-Sided God – pg. 6 Brad Jersak God in Our Image – pg. 7

Forgiven to Forgive

"Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive,..." (C. S. Lewis). Yet Jesus said we're to forgive seventy times seven. What was he saying? https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0064.mp3

Forgiveness — A New Beginning

In WWII both Corrie ten Boom's father and sister died in concentration camps.  Just two years after the war one of the most cruel guards from the Ravensbruck concentration camp asked Corrie for forgiveness.  She forgave him.  Could you?  Greg talks about the healing power of forgiveness. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/PTR0053.mp3

Have You Forgiven God? – by Greg Albrecht

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."—Isaiah 55:8-9 A few years ago I officiated at a funeral service for someone I had never known. I interviewed people who had known the deceased, and in the process I found out some dark and disturbing things. What do you say at a funeral when you can't find anyone who ever knew the person who has anything good to say about them? What can you say at a memorial service when surviving friends and relatives are having a difficult time forgiving God ...

Forgiveness is Scandalous Again – Brad Jersak

The Scandal...  Over several years, I have been tracking the results of a rolling survey by a Christian teacher, Dan White Jr. Although we've never met, I would call him an online friend. As Dan visits faith communities across America, he invites Christians to follow Jesus. But wait, isn't following Jesus the very definition of a Christian? You would hope so, but Dan's survey explores that question. Throughout his journeys, he presents active claimants of the "Christian" label with passages from Jesus' own "Sermon on the Mount" (from Matthew 5-7). Then Dan surveys the reaction of Christians to the very words of Jesus Christ, ...

Giving and FOR-Giving

God's forgiveness means that we have been forgiven once and for all. Once we have received his forgiveness, there is no need for us to feel un-forgiven until we formally ask God to forgive us again. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR452.mp3

Christ Followers Cannot Not Forgive

C.S. Lewis insisted "If God forgives we must forgive. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than him." A Christ follower in whom Jesus lives cannot not forgive. https://www.ptm.org/mp3/FreeDwnld/RCWR447.mp3

Forgiveness Is a Journey

Mother's Day is a perfect time to focus on forgiveness! Forgiveness is a day by day journey with and in Christ. It's a life-long process, an attitude, a way of life we lead that is produced in and through us by our risen Lord.

Forgiveness – The Rubber Hits the Road!

C.S. Lewis once observed that everyone thinks forgiveness is a good idea until they have someone to forgive. That's when the rubber hits the road.

Confessions of a Write-Off by Brad Jersak

I was a write-off - I know, I know. We don't like to descend into the dehumanizing "worm theology" of those degrading faith traditions that spout our "total depravity." I firmly believe we're all precious children of our heavenly Father and no matter how disordered, we still bear the image of God. By using the term "write-off," I'm not talking about our identity in Christ. I'm describing my subjective experience... how I have often felt in times when the human condition gets the best of me. In those periods of cloudy introspection, it's easy enough to conclude, like David (in Psalm 22), "I'm a worm and not a man." It's not a statement of reality but ...

Forgiving Others Because God Has Forgiven Us

Join Greg as he explains that God's forgiveness is not conditional on our forgiveness of others, as many believe. God's forgiveness goes far beyond the absence of a penalty - God's forgiveness is his presence.

Q&R with Brad – “Why pray for forgiveness if we’re already forgiven?”

Question: The sin issue is cropping up again. I lose my temper.  I get stressed out.  I am short with my family... but I have gotten to the point where I feel as though Christ once and forever dealt with sin (alienation, darkness) at the Cross and my constantly asking Christ directly for forgiveness (again and again) for the same sins seems hopelessly pointless. Response: The reason why I regularly pray, "forgive us our trespasses," is first of all, because Jesus taught us to do so. He quite literally says, "When you pray, pray this: Our Father,..." And while some folks dismiss this prayer as "pre-cross" and "old covenant" ...

February 2023

CLICK HERE to read now (PDF Format) Greg Albrecht: How Sorry Are We? – pg. 2 Ed Dunn: Our Choice of Words – pg. 5 Brad Jersak: Zaccheus Makes Amends – pg. 6

Praying the Lord’s Prayer in Violent Times – Brad Jersak

You've noticed that we're living in very violent times. At home, abroad ... to the point of exhaustion, hopelessness and/or numbness. I see no reprieve in sight and every reason to expect further escalation. I find myself in daily need of prayers that guard my heart and mind from both despair and the vengeance fantasies of repressed rage.    In that context, I have begun to pray the Lord's Prayer in a focused way on a daily basis with some new (to me) understanding about Christ's strategy in ordering the phrases in series as he does. Here is the part that seems super-relevant to us all right now:   Forgive us our ...

The Freedom to Forgive – by Ed Dunn

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17, NIV). Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you – Jean Paul Sartre Freedom lies in being bold – Robert Frost I’ve been thinking about the words Freedom and Forgiveness a lot of late, considering how the two words may both work together and support one another. You see, two close friends of mine have recently had a falling out. These two close friends have had a falling out over a common source of strong opinion and emotional tension these days. Unfortunately, hurtful words have been exchanged and harmful events have ...