A third problem we have with forgiveness is that we tend to think of forgiveness as being about our feelings.  "I don't think I can forgive him, it's still too painful." Shift your thinking.  Forgiveness is more about what you DO toward a person (or don't do) than it is about how you feel about … Continue reading Difficulties with Forgiveness 3

A second thing that makes forgiveness difficult for us in the West is that many parts of our culture emphasize stoicism.  We bury our feelings, especially our negative feelings.  Or we allow them to "turn us to the Dark Side," using them to motivate us by feeding anger and fear.  Neither of these responses is … Continue reading Difficulties with Forgiveness 2

There is a twisted part of us that enjoys the aftermath of people sinning against us.  The thing that we enjoy is that being the victim carries with it an appearance of empowerment.  It gives us license for self-righteous anger, and self-righteousness is a powerful drug. (Believe it or not, Nietzsche said some very perceptive … Continue reading Difficulties with Forgiveness 1

Here are my sermon notes for The Value of Forgiveness, from Matthew 18.21-35. Notice five things about forgiveness: Forgiveness is reciprocal (23-28: "So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him,... And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But that same servant, as he … Continue reading Sermon: The Value of Forgiveness

Reading Romans Backward: at Jesus Creed, McKnight has been teasing this new book for several weeks, with the intriguing reference to reading Romans from back to front.  Now he is exposing some of the content, and it sounds like a must-read. Readings of Romans are notoriously front-loaded (i.e., focused only on the perceived theology of … Continue reading McKnight on Reading Romans Backward

We (Biblijski institut) just hosted Dr. Jeff Snell, preaching professor from Johnson University, for a seminar.  He did an EXCELLENT job.  This guy is a REALLY good professor. (And he's not just a professor; he's been preaching in churches throughout his career.  He preached for Kristova Crkva this past Sunday, and his sermon was excellent … Continue reading Preaching Seminar at Biblijski institut

So is "experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit," or numerical growth, or prosperity a sure sign that God is pleased? I think not.  God is not an algebra equation.  You can't just plug in values, x + y = z, and solve for blessings.  God's favor is more complicated than that.  And God's purposes are … Continue reading Triumphalism, pt 2

I was in a pastors meeting several years ago where one of the pastors was complaining about how difficult it was to grow his church numerically. A second pastor, whose church happened to be growing quickly at the time, spoke up: "The reason you're not growing is because you're not doing what God wants you … Continue reading Triumphalism & the Holy Spirit