Category: Forgiveness

It is a complicated grief.

Grief hurts. It surprises even years after the loss. You might think you have “dealt with that” only to discover feelings ambush you at some surprise moment. Our culture does not do grief well. Churches can be especially bad on this number. This is particularly true as it comes to the grief associated with a … Continue reading “It is a complicated grief.”

Pastor Associated By Faithful Spouses

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. -2 Timothy 4:2, NIV To be helped, we need to be open to receiving. Maybe the Christian community turned on you when you decided to divorce your cheater or your cheater decided to divorce you? Maybe your cheater … Continue reading “Pastor Associated By Faithful Spouses”

Thought Experiment: What if Hosea was an evangelical pastor?

“Plead with your mother, plead—     for she is not my wife,     and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face,     and her adultery from between her breasts, … For their mother has played the whore;     she who conceived them has acted shamefully.” -Hosea 2:2, 5a, NRSV Join me in … Continue reading “Thought Experiment: What if Hosea was an evangelical pastor?”

Sorry is nice but restitution or amends is a true sorry

Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” -Luke 19:8, NLT Sorry is a beginning. A true sorry is one backed by actions demonstrating an effort to … Continue reading “Sorry is nice but restitution or amends is a true sorry”

No forgiveness or salvation without repentance per Jesus

“4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” -Luke 13:4-5, KJV Repentance is clearly assumed as necessary before forgiveness and salvation according to Jesus’ … Continue reading “No forgiveness or salvation without repentance per Jesus”

Returning victims to the perpetrators of their soul rape!

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” … Continue reading “Returning victims to the perpetrators of their soul rape!”

Repentance, Forgiveness, and Jonah

“The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here–but you refuse to repent.” -Matthew 12:41, NLT Does repentance seem necessary for forgiveness (and salvation) according to these words from Jesus … Continue reading “Repentance, Forgiveness, and Jonah”

Denial is not forgiveness

“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” – John 3:20, NKJV Silence about infidelity is the same thing as avoiding the light.  It says the person does not what his or her wicked deeds exposed. They have not truly embraced repentance and … Continue reading “Denial is not forgiveness”

Adultery, Trauma, and Forgiveness

Yesterday, I came across an interesting article about forgiveness and trauma care from a mental health provider, Anastasia Pollock, LCMHC. It is entitled: “Why I Don’t Use the Word ‘Forgiveness’ in Trauma Therapy” Pollock writes, As soon as I say, “You don’t have to forgive,” the person usually breathes a sigh of relief. Once we … Continue reading “Adultery, Trauma, and Forgiveness”