Taken by itself and out of context, it strikes me that this, one of our most beloved lines, is also one of the most profoundly stupid of American quotes.

Building on Tim Challies post from yesterday (in which he interacted with a chapter in Unpacking Forgiveness) Molly Friesen adds some great thoughts today on when to overlook an offense.  Read her post here.

If there is ever a second edition of Unpacking Forgiveness, I will improve the chapter on when to get over it, by incorporating some of Molly’s thoughts. For now, you can just read her post.

Read it here.

My mom grew up with an unfortunate extreme.

But, I doubt that many people listening today are too rigid with the Lord’s Day.

As a matter of fact, we have gone into the opposite ditch. For many, church attendance has become an elective behavior that we do if our health is perfect and it happens to fit into our recreational schedules.

My friends, we are treating church attendance on the Lord’s Day far too casually. True: attending church does not merit or earn us salvation. We are saved only on the basis of grace. And, there are legitimate reasons for missing church services.

But, God never intended that His people would sporadically attend church when it fit into their schedule. The Bible specifically commands us to not forsake being together with His people.

You do not want to miss the incredible blessings of being consistently with God’s people. It is not worth it. If you are not consistently attending church, you are giving up way too much.

I enjoyed reading the comments (and, I often don’t when reading blogs!)

Click here and read the suggestions.

I wonder if there is someone listening now who feels ongoing guilt over the decision to have an abortion. Maybe for you it’s a secret sin. Even your family doesn’t know about the pregnancy. Deep down, you think you can never be forgiven.

If that is where you are at, you feel continually guilty about an abortion or some other sin, let me be your pastor for just a few seconds. The book of Hebrews describes the supremacy of the priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10 focuses on the sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. Verse :13 reads

“because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.(Heb 10:14).”

If you believe in Jesus, then he has paid the penalty for your sin once and for all. Even if you chose to have an abortion.

But, remember, you are forgiven only if you truly turn in repentance from your sin, and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you are haunted by something in your past, be assured that there is hope because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Talk to the pastor of a Bible believing, Christ-centered church, soon.

I thought this whole chapter was excellent and challenging, but I wanted to close with what I thought was a particularly key point. Brauns points out that pride “is not limited to arrogance or cockiness; it is not just an inflated opinion of oneself. Pride is any way of putting self into the central focus” (81, emphasis mine). He then goes on to list some of the more subtle, insidious ways that pride manifests itself in our lives. See if you can claim to not get “trapped” somewhere (or everywhere!) in this list . . .

Read the rest here.