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Forgiving Each Other
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32 NIV) bold and italics mine I know resentment and forgiveness don’t mix. If anything, resentment leads to bitterness. And guess what? Bitterness loves to mess up our hearts. I don't know about you, but it does very strange things to me. God did not hardwire me to walk around carrying heavy grudges or unbearable burdens. Eventually, they will take a toll on my life. Others around me will suffer the consequences of my ungracious heart. What if forgiving feels like an impossibility? How can we know we’ve forgiven…
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Before we throw stones at the Duggars…and some advice from a CPS pro
It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for the Duggars and their 19 Kids and Counting reality TV show. A few days ago a celebrity gossip tabloid reported that twelve years ago Josh, the oldest child, fondled five young girls, several of them his sisters. He was fourteen at the time. The tabloid took the police report public and the web has exploded with condemnation. Parents Jim Bob and Michelle have been publicly shamed for calling it a “very bad mistake” and covering it up. Last night CNN’s Don Lemon and his guests slammed them for dealing with Josh through a religious lens of sin and…
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Restore to Me
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” Psalm 51:10–12 (NLT). Italics mine I wish I could say it’s easy for me to go to God whenever I mess up. It’s not. Instead I want to do something—anything so I can feel good about myself before approaching God. This should satisfy God. That should make it all better. He’s not mad at me anymore. Throughout the Psalms, we see the intimate relationship…