One man tells the story of his family’s evening with Todd Bentley.
HT: Tim Challies
Monthly Archive for July, 2008
Page 3 of 4
Individualistic Americans, including many Evangelicals, would do well to reflect on this illustration.
Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai taught: There is a story about men who were sitting on a ship, one of them lifted up a borer and began boring a hole beneath his seat. His companions said to him: ‘What are you sitting and doing?’ He replied to them: ‘What concern is it of yours, I am drilling under my seat?’ They said to him: ‘But the water will come up and flood the ship for all of us.’
~Lev. R. 4.6.[1]
[1] Quoted in Joel S. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible, ed. David J.A. Clines and Philip R. Davies, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series, vol. 196 (Sheffield, U.K.: Sheffield Press, 1995).
The NY Times published an interview with one of the hostages recently freed in Columbia (HT: Crunchy Con). She is transparent and vulnerable in describing how she is seeking to unpack forgiveness. The article reads:
She wants to bear witness and testify, “but it has to come in the right moment,” she said, her eyes
tearing. Only a week after liberation, “I need time,” said Ms. Betancourt, who was abducted while campaigning for president.
“It’s not easy to talk about things that are still hurting. And probably it will hurt all my life, I don’t know. The only thing I’ve settled in my mind is that I want to forgive, and forgiveness comes with forgetting. So I have to do two things. I have to forget in order to find peace in my soul, and be able to forgive. But at the same time, once I’ve forgiven and forgotten, I will have to bring back memories. Probably they will be filtered by the time, so they won’t come with all the pain I feel right now.”
I cannot imagine the complexity of the deep wounds Ingrid Betancourt now carries. I immediately come back to the thesis of my book, “Only Christ and his Word can help unpack such baggage.”
Even reading these two short paragraphs from the NY Times, you can see that she is straining to find the parameters of Christian forgiveness.
She knows that she doesn’t want to be defined by bitterness and vindictiveness.
She knows that justice is necessary and wants to testify at some point.
She knows that one kind of forgetting is necessary – - but, there is a kind of remembering that must take place, too.
It is an addressing situations such as this that we find the wonderful depth and balance of the Word of God. The Bible teaches that true forgiveness does not come at the expense of justice. It is ours to offer grace to all, and not to take revenge. But, we can rest assured that God will make sure of justice. Vengeance belongs to Him. . . I spend a lot of time on this in my book.
So, once again, my prayer is, that Unpacking Forgiveness will help people understand the biblical response to situations like this, as well as how we should respond to the trivial sleights we face every day in life.
For now – - I point again to this brief post.
Read Tullian’s thoughts regarding Tony Snow’s death. When Tullian says that Tony spent the day with his grandfather, he is referring to Billy Graham.
Ever suffer from depression? Ever get sucked into emotional quicksand. Telling yourself to snap out of it, or trying reason up out of the muck only makes it worse?
Abraham Lincoln once said about his depression.
“I am now the most miserable man living,” . . . “If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. . . Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell . . . To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better.”
Great pastors have been swamped by depression too. Charles Spurgeon was one of the greatest preachers ever. But, his church leaders once informed his congregation:
“You are anxious to hear about our poor pastor – - he is very bad. Very bad I say, not from any injuries or bruises he has received, but from the extreme tension on his nerves and his great anxiety. So bad is he that we were fearful for his mind this morning. . . .”
Spurgeon said that he could not think himself out of his depression. He said that his thoughts were like knives shredding his heart into pieces.
And, King David wrote about depression. In Psalm 69 David said it was like being in deep filthy mud where there is no foothold
. . . . . Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters. . . My eyes fail, looking for my God (Psalm 69:1-3).”
Listen. If you are feeling depressed – - really blue – - really down, then this spot is for you. Friend, you are not alone, not the only one who feels so down. The Bible and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ have answers, not only about where you will spend eternity, but about where you are emotionally today.
I am Chris Brauns from the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley. If you had a hard time even getting out of bed this morning. Listen to some good Christian music, read some Psalms, and get Christ and Word centered help. Our web site is www.theredbrickchurch.org.
The pictures on 22 Words (click here) confirm that the best inferno in memory of the Revolution was in Minnesota.
But, then it’s hard on trash cans.
Paul Tripp has a new book out on Psalm 51, Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy
I can’t remember when I first stumbled across the Pollywog Creek blog. But, it’s become one of my favorites. It’s worth it for the pictures alone.
I do remember one evening when I was especially tired from ministry and I saw a picture of a painted bunting and was especially encouraged.
Which is to say that I am humbled by Patricia’s post (click here) anticipating the release of my book. If you read her post, and then read my comment, you will see some of my heart for Unpacking Forgiveness.
Even if you are not a preacher, hopefully you love great preaching. This is some highly interesting material and some great thinking on preaching.
HT: Preach the Word
You may or may not be aware that my wife’s maiden name is “Limbaugh.” During my brief time around the family there have been a couple of theories circulate about whether or not we are related to El-Rushbo. I think the current theory is that he is most likely a distant relative.
In any case, here is an interesting article from a reporter who was even allowed to visit his heavily fortified bunker. Click here.
Mega-dittos to some of his conservatism – - though not to an opulent lifestyle, hyper-individualism, or disrespectful attitude towards authority. . .
HT: CrunchyCon
