“‘(Insert the name of the person who wronged you), I want to resolve a matter of unforgiveness toward you. You have wronged me, but I don’t want to be handicapped by this hurt for the rest of my life. What you did to me was (describe the exact incident). When you did that, it made me feel (describe how you felt, not what you thought at the time). You were wrong and I was hurt by your actions. But, (insert the offender’s name), right now I forgive you. I release you from any obligation you have toward me because of what you have done. Just as Christ has forgiven me, I now forgive you.’ Now, pray and thank the Lord for the grace He gives you to forgive others. Ask Him to bring healing to your emotions and to fill you with a greater sense of His love for you. Complete this time by affirming that you have forgiven others at this very moment. Will your feelings instantly change? Maybe not. But that’s okay. As you remind yourself of the truth that you have forgiven those who wronged you, your feelings will gradually change. You may still find that feelings of anger or resentment arise within you at times. That’s normal. When they do, remind yourself of the truth that you have forgiven. It doesn’t mean you didn’t forgive just because you may still have negative feelings at times. Simply acknowledge your feelings and then walk in the truth. Forgiveness is a choice and you made that choice. Don’t allow the enemy to bring you back into the slavery of unforgiveness again. Through forgiveness you have been set free. So enjoy your freedom! ‘If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed’ John 8:36″

THIS IS A GREAT BASIC ARICLE ON FORGIVING THOSE WHO CHOSE NOT TO ACCEPT THAT GOD TOOK AWAY OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE SINS AND HURT US. I PRAY OUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, CLIENTS, SCHOOLS, AND WORLD ARE OPEN TO J.C’S GRACE.

” If the spirit of Picasso rested within you, a great desire to paint would continually motivate you toward the canvass. The knowledge of who was within you would be all the motivation you needed. The good news of grace is that Jesus Christ is in you.”

This is a powerful visionary article on the way the J.C’s Spirit of grace/truth transforms us. May it be so for me, my family, friends, clients, and world.

“. If the world only understood the truth about the love of Father, so many more would come to Him in faith. Sadly, their understanding is often a distorted caricature of who He really is. One reason it is so important to understand and accept your Father’s love is because we all eventually become like the whatever we imagine God to be. People trapped in legalism see God as a judgmental, cosmic eye-in-the-sky who is watching and waiting for them to mess up in the way they live. They imagine that how they behave is what matters most to Him. Consequently, that’s the kind of person they become in the way they relate to other people. They become harsh parents, demanding friends, dictator-type pastors, etc. “

I pray we understand and accept God’s unconditional love for us/our family/friends/clients/world as well.

“Have you ever noticed our tendency to push ourselves into the starring role of the stories told in the Bible? For instance, consider the story of ‘the good Samaritan.’ Most sermons I’ve ever heard about that text makes the main application be that ‘we shouldn’t be like the lawyer or the priest who passed by the wounded man without helping him. We should be like the good Samaritan.’ In reality, that’s not the meaning of the story. It’s not a moral lesson that the Bible is trying to teach us here. Through that story, Jesus was teaching us about Himself. The main lesson isn’t that we are to help the pitiful, helpless man. It’s that we are the pitiful, helpless man. Jesus is the Good Samaritan who found us after legalism and devout religion didn’t lift a finger to help us.”

I pray the Spirit teaches us that it is all about Jesus as Saviour and not us.

“‘I know that God has forgiven me, but I just can’t forgive myself,’ someone recently said to me after describing a recent period of time in his life when he had made the choice to repeatedly commit the same sin again and again. As Christians always do, he had finally reached the place where he couldn’t stand the thought of living like that for the rest of this life. So he cried out to his Deliverer and the cycle of sin was broken. The foolish behavior was now a thing of the past, but he couldn’t disconnect from it mentally and emotionally. A sense of guilt and self-condemnation was draining him of his energy, enthusiasm and joy. He wasn’t still committing the sin, but was as miserable as he had been when he was. ‘So you do believe that God has forgiven you?’ I asked. ‘Yes,’ he answered, ‘but I can’t forgive myself for what I’ve done. I’ve been a Christian long enough to know better.’ After we had talked awhile and nothing I said seemed to be sinking in, I finally asked him, ‘Do you think you’re better than God?’ ‘What do you mean?’ he asked. ‘I mean that if the blood of Christ is sufficient for God to look at you and say, ‘Forgiven,’ what will it take for you to forgive yourself? If the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for this sin you committed isn’t enough for you, what will it take? You’ve set a standard for yourself that is obviously higher than the one God has set.’”

This is a great encouragement to allow children the grace for God to change them! There is no need for guilt/drivenness. May it be so for the world.

“My parent’s generation had known what is was like to be without food. Consequently, somewhere deep inside them a voice must have said, ‘I will never be caught without enough food to eat again.’ Thus, the massive inventory of canned goods. Come what may in life, there would be food in the cabinets. I think that’s how many of us face most areas of our lives. We have faced circumstances at times that created a sense of loss or need within us. Because the situation was painful, somewhere deep inside us, we said, ‘This won’t ever happen to me again.’ So we hoarded what we have and shut the cabinet door. We went into the self-protection mode. Some were hurt by a friend and have now closed the door on vulnerability. They’ll never trust another person as a true friend. Others have had a marriage go sour. Today, they won’t completely open up to their mate because of fear. If they give everything, they risk losing everything again. Some were burned at church. Now, they have lumped all churches in the same hypocritical pile and won’t become an integral part of a church fellowship. The hurts differ, but the response is common. Shut the door of my heart and don’t risk losing what I have or being hurt. After all, if it happened once, . . . What ‘great depression’ have you experienced in life? What commodity did you feel you had taken from you when you needed it most? Was it trust? Love? Friendship? What have you lost? As a result have you tried to stuff those things deep inside you that you don’t want to ever lose again? Are you fearful to take them out? Have you resolved that you’ll never find yourself in that kind of situation again?”

This is a great article which describes what happens when a person who has been hurt in turn hurts another. I pray J.C’s Spirit will teach the us, our families, friends, clients, schools, and world to be vlulnerable again in life. God show us other’s hearts/hurts so we will not feel a hint of judgement.

“Every blessing in Christ Jesus is already mine. (See Ephesians 1:3) By faith, I will enter in to the grace-filled walk that you have prepared for me. (See Romans 5:2) I am everything you say I am. (See1 Corinthians 15:10) I can do everything you have called me to do. (See Philippians 4:13) I can have all that you have called me to have. (See Psalm 84:11) My days will only grow brighter.(See Proverbs 4:18) Your favor is upon me and will never leave me.(See Lamentations 3:22-23) Nothing that comes my way can harm me. (See Isaiah 54:17) You orchestrate my circumstances so that everything works out for my good. (See Romans 8:28)  Without wavering, I will hold tightly to the hope I say I have, because You can be trusted to keep your Promise. (See Hebrews 3:23)”

This is beautiful! I pray Jesus’ Spirit teaches/reminds/lives these promises through us, our families, friends, schools, clients, and world every moment!

“hen we feel nothing, God’s grace shines brightest. It’s one thing to trust Him when everything is going our way, but when circumstances close in on us, trusting Him is evidence of supernatural grace flowing through us. Do you find yourself not feeling the ‘joy of the Lord’ the way you want? If so, be assured you’re at a place where the current of grace can run deeper and wider than usual in you. Whether you feel His presence or not, just trust Him. Be assured that He knows the path you are walking and He is quietly walking it with you. Cling to Jesus and know that the Sun will shine again for one simple reason – Great is His faithfulness.  ”

I pray the spirit would teach us/the world the comfort of His grace in our painful times.

“Joyfully embrace every day and live with the certainty that your Father’s heart is set on you and on the purpose of thrilling you with His love. Let Him love the bondage of adulthood from your heart until it is filled only with a childlike attitude that trusts Him and embraces the world with enthusiasm.”

This is a great article that highlights the faith we are to have like some aspects children possess. May it be so that we, our family, friends, clients, and the world allow THE SPIRIT to facilitate it rather than try to get the understanding ourselves.

“Do you say too much, too often? If so, pray for God’s grace to flow through your actions in such a way as to cause you to know when to say nothing and then enable you to do it. Sometimes grace never looks better than when it enable us to simply shut-up.  ”

This is a great article! After being frustrated with not being able to communicate and completely know the truth of Jesus taking away our/the world’s sin now, I told God. He said I do not have to say anything, IT IS JUST HIS SPIRIT!!! “Well then Spirit teach and enable me/other believers to sense when to Shut Up!!!”

“You and your husband will then get stuck in an argument pattern…you will pursue him to get him to admit he is wrong and you are right, he will instead defend himself to get you to admit you are wrong and he is right. Eventually you will each emotionally disconnect. You get ‘gridlocked’ over the issue.  If you keep arguing this way, you won’t resolve anything, you will just have a list of ‘hot topics’ that trigger a very strong and powerful pattern of arguing. And to you he will become an aloof, uninvolved, independent, uncaring roommate. To him you will become a nagging, negative wife he has to put up with. This will not lead to an emotionally connected marriage.”

The last of this article offers excellent suggestions to offer just mutual understanding and expected outcomes. May it be so for us and the world.

“Sometimes Christians think that we all need to be like the Apostle Paul – strong, determined, trail-blazers in expanding the kingdom. The church does need folks like that, but don’t minimize the powerful effect of the Barnabas type Christians in the church. You might start churches, like Paul did, or you might touch somebody who turned aside like Barnabas did. Don’t fall into the error of thinking that you have to act outside your basic personality and temperament type. God can use you with the personality you have right now, without changing anything about that aspect of your makeup. Do you relate to Paul’s approach to life? Then go for it. But don’t be too harsh on those who are more comfortable with the Barnabas approach. The Pauls of the church may reach cities, but the Barnabases will impact lives too, one person at a time.  ”

This is an an excellent article encouraging acceptance, believing in others and encouraging those who doubt to include them! I pray we are always open to give 2nd chances to one another/ourselves. May it be so for us our family, friends, clients, schools, and the world.

A set of resources definitely worth noting.

All but Richard Rohr are relationship focused New Covenant theologians. (Rohr is more of a mystic in search of experience but he does, to some level, get grace.)

Steve McVey is very good and I’m rather fond of hijacking his quotes — but needs to be read carefully as he still has some thinking about sin that needs transformation…

This guy should also be added to the list — thanks Kathy!

” I didn’t know that I had already died with Christ and was able to cease from my own works, living instead out of His finished work. The idea of being called by Christ to a place of rest often contradicts the default setting of contemporary Christian thought. We live in a society where people go on vacation with their cell phones, Palm Pilots and laptop computers. To rest in Christ is a concept which often requires a radical paradigm shift for many people. To rest in Christ, trusting Him to express His life through us, sounds lazy and negligent after having lived in the wilderness of legalism for such a long time. Many mistakenly think of rest as some sort of passivity, which it is not. Resting in Christ simply means trusting Him to be our Life-Source, depending upon Him to empower our actions with His strength and direction.”

This is a really clear article on what it means to rest in Christ, that he took away our/the sins of the world and let His love show. May it be so for us/the world.

The power of Eternality:

The man/woman who stands with no fear of death is the most dangerous being alive. The entirety of the system of this world rides on the ability to take a life from another. When death ceases to terrify, control is lost.

The power of Absolution:

This world — especially the Christian side of it — stands in the constant fear of guilt. It stands with heads hung in shame while playing roles designed to prove to those who hold this weeks rating scale that they do, indeed, measure up. The teachings of Jesus have been so bastardized and bent by the keepers of religious power that it actually seems reasonable when that-which-formerly-was is again brought as a means of enforcing the awareness of our guiltiness and pinned on Jesus. But, we didn’t get a Bandaid for our sins — we, with Christ, died to them — and were raised to a new life that doesn’t relate to them. Our heads can never again hang low — because the standard which judged us (The law) can never again condemn us — no matter what.

The power of Love:

So many people live in the fear that if they ever gave God control of their lives, He’d bring out massive pain and torment (and a few plagues from Egypt too) to finally hurt them enough to change them. Yet, Jesus made it very clear that to see His heart was to see the Father. It’s a heart that will never lead through shame, fear, guilt, condemnation, coercion, punishment, torment or wrath. It’s a gentle heart that works quietly inside — when we are ready — to call us to life.

The power of Life:

Almost every aspect of our world is focused upon dying. We have drugs — they keep us emotionally dead. We have TV and entertainment to keep us distracted until we die. We have disassociative meditative techniques that are used to attain the peace of the grave while living. We run from shame, fear, guilt and the paralysis that comes from feeling trapped and bound and this drives that seeking of death. Through canceling all of that, the Gospel not only reawakens the desire to live, it legitimated the call to live and unlocked the creative energy to drive such.

The power of Freedom:

Wanna know why our bricks and mortar churches are emptying by the droves? People heard that Jesus came to set them free — and something deep within them intuitively knows that a list of rules isn’t what He had in mind. The message of the Gospel isn’t less rules — it’s TOTAL freedom. “When a man finally grasps grace, he suddenly finds himself standing, naked and trembling, in such a wide open space that he can do naught else but reach up for a hand to hold — for a guide to lead him through.” Anon

The power of Intimacy:

We can reach up for that hand to hold and that guide who will lead us through. It’s safe now. The cross is critical to this for it proved that not only is God good — but it proved that who He is IS GOOD. The human race unleashed the very worst it had to offer on the one being in the universe who could have annihilated them with a thought — and He loved them so much He let them kill Him and then came back to love them even more. To love ME even more…

The power of Faith:

Faith isn’t belief — faith is Christ in you, the hope of Glory. The Christian life has nothing to do with trying harder or trying period. It’s about surrender to that new life which has been created in you to enough of a degree that you can stop trying and literally get the hell out of the way. It’s about a surrender to a wisdom so much greater then our own that the foundations of this sick and corrupt system of control we call life begin to get blown up — not just for yourself, but also for those you love.

The power of Holy Anger:

Jesus made one thing very clear: He didn’t come to make nice — He came to start a war. The religious leaders of the day didn’t kill, “Gentle Jesus meek and mild.” They killed a guy who they could plainly see was destroying everything about their system of religious power — not trying to start the Progressive Conservative/Republican party. Then, He turned to the disenfranchised, the broken, the humiliated, the poor, the shameful, the powerless and promised them a power greater then the world had ever seen — just before he invited them to join up and open fire.

The power of Humanness:

Look around the world — every major religion out there sees human beings as basically screwed up and disgusting. It then offers it’s prescription to fix them — if people will only tow their line. The Gospel sees people as made in the image of God and, though once broken, as currently perfect without them doing anything to fix themselves. (That’s God’s job.) He came not to destroy them — but to reverse that which was broken about them once and for all. He came to make them fully human and fully alive.

The power of Transformation:

The foundational job of the gospel is to tear back the veils that keep people from seeing the beauty and dignity of the current reality of their lives. Read that again — not to fix people, for that job is already done. The primary weapon we are given is truth — the ability to tear back the lies that have the ones we love trapped in a set of falsehoods that reduce them to that which formerly was (dead) and drive them towards a set of broken strategies which will never fulfill the deepest longings of their hearts.

The power of Passion:

The magical core of the Gospel is the call to the deepest desires of our hearts. If God made those hearts and planted those deep longings within them, then those deep longings have to be His will for our lives. All of the above was NOT done because God wants to finally get you to the point of being a well-trained-seal who will do some religious dance when told. He did all of the above so you could finally reach inside and discover that deepest place of your heart where He planted the vision He created for you to become — and then full-tilt LIVE IT OUT.

The Gospel is not seen in ethics. The Gospel is first seen when a human heart, transformed so that it both is able to hear the voice of God and longs to do so, begins to reach out for the hand of a loving father and, when finding that hand, begins to take the risk to step out and live.

The Gospel achieves it’s true 10,000 candle-power brilliance when that heart reaches out and loves, it stops and cries, it gives to another, it stands in defiance of the night, it attacks with fury, it rescues the broken, it binds up the wounded, it touches that paintbrush to canvas, it places finger to string or key, it speaks with fire and precision, it screams with the fury of Almighty God at the thought of one of His precious children living with even one chain, it kisses with passion and then it makes love with with all of the erotic intensity that only a heart set free can even risk.

It’s the captivating and irresistible master plan of liberty the God of the universe, exploding out of the passionate longings of His heart, wrote for you.

“What are we to do when we believe a hurricane is coming into our lives? We do what Remaila said. We make our preparations. We do so by making sure that everything in life is grounded in the love and sovereignty of the One we profess loves us too much to do us any harm. We give all that we are and all that we have to Him. We recognize that this world is temporary and choose not to allow ourselves to draw our identity from it. We hold a loose grip on everything and everybody, realizing that only God determines what we can hold on to throughout our lives. Then we entrust ourselves to God. We affirm by faith (not feelings) that He is in control – that nothing can or will happen in our lives which is beyond the bounds of His authority or the scope of His love for us. We trust Him. It’s that simple. We don’t always understand. We just trust. We don’t always feel like He is loving us through our circumstances. We just trust. We entrust ourselves to the love of One who promised to never leave or forsake us. We lash ourselves to Romans 8:28 and refuse to let go. The storms may rage. The winds may blow. The waves may surge. But we know that our security is in the love of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. Do you see clouds on the horizon of your own life? Don’t be afraid. The Bible says that those clouds are ‘the dust of His feet’ (Nahum 1:3). As storms approach, simply make your preparations and then entrust yourself to God.”

THIS IS A GREAT ARTICLE SO WE DO NOT try to handle crisis/conflicts in our own strength. It show what that means. However it still can come across that way if we are not JUST OPEN to his truth/trust.

“If you believe that you or your partner are bad or wrong for your feelings, behavior, or point of view, then you will not be able to let go of judgment. You will move toward compassion when you understand and accept that each of you has very good reasons for your feelings, behavior, and point of view. Try compassionately accepting yourself and your partner and see what happens!”

Although I do not agree with some of the wording of some points, this article offers some basic great points to facilitate openness. GOD GAVE US OUR FREEDOM, BY JESUS TAKING AWAY OUR/THE SINS OF THE WORLD TO SEE THINGS OUR WAY. HE DOESN’T ENFORCE HIS VIEW ON US, ESPECIALLY IN CONFLICT. WE CAN ASK HIM. MAY IT BE SO FOR OUR WORLD.

“Do you need wisdom? That’s Him. Do you need righteousness? That’s Him. Holiness? That’s Him, too. Do you need sanctification, guidance, strength? It’s all Him. What do you need today? His name is IAM. I AM what? Anything you need. All the fullness of I AM is in Jesus. ‘For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him’ (Col.1:19). All the fullness of Jesus is in you. Don’t pray for what you already have. Just appropriate the sufficiency of the Christ who is living in you. You don’t have to struggle or beg for what you think you need. You already have it. Just let Jesus be Jesus in and through you. “

This is an excellent article on just resting in the grace of understanding/knowing that we have everything of Christ in us now. May it be so.

“Teens are crying out to know, ‘Who am I? Do I have value? Am I lovable?’ Don’t undermine a person’s basic identity by striking a blow at who they are. Deal instead with the behavior. ‘You lied to me and that stands in contradiction to everything I know to be true about you!’ is a better response than calling your child a liar. 2. Allow your teen to see the authenticity of your own relationship to Christ.”

This is a great article defining a relationship with Christ. May it be so for us, our family, friends, clients, our kids schools, and the world. However it still has a focus on sin that Jesus dealt with on the cross so it needn’t be a focus. It does allude to looking at the need/feeling that caused it.

“When you find it difficult to get along with somebody, there are a few things you might do which could help you navigate through stressful moments. 1. Pray a quick prayer for the person. Ask Jesus to express love to them through you. When we react to the bad mood of others with a negative response, we have allowed them to control us. Why let somebody else cause you to get in a bad mood? You can choose to express love to them and not allow the circumstance to rob you of your own joy. 2. Remember that people who are hard to get along with almost always have conflict going on within themselves. A sales clerk in a store once acted like a jerk to me. My first impulse was to react the same way (I can act like a jerk with the best of them), but instead I paused, looked at the lady and sincerely asked, ‘Are you having a bad day?’ To my amazement, she began to pour out the details of her personal life that were causing trouble for her. I was so glad that I hadn’t acted on my first impulse. Her demeanor instantly softened when I asked that question. (The question I asked could be asked in an accusatory way and add to the problem.) It was one of those ‘God-moments’ when He allowed me to see the importance of responding in love and not reacting impulsively. 3. Recognize the fact that the problem may be within you and not the other person. There have been times when I’ve found myself irritated several times by other people before it finally dawned on me – ‘They aren’t doing anything wrong. I’m just in a bad mood today!’ Maybe the quality in another person that irritates you isn’t a bad quality. Maybe that person reminds you of somebody else that you’ve had trouble with in your past. Or maybe you’re just in a bad mood yourself. When you find yourself feeling irritable toward somebody else, ask the Holy Spirit this question, ‘Lord, is it me?’ You might be surprised to find out that the problem isn’t with the other person at all. Paul determined to look beyond human characteristics and see Jesus in every Christian. Mother Teresa was once asked about her work with the lepers – ‘Do you imagine that it is Jesus ministering to them when you serve them?’ ‘No,’ she answered. ‘When I look at them, I see the face of Jesus.’”

This is a good simple article on allowing Jesus/love/His peace respond through us. The are some parts where it is a little confused. I don’t think we are controlled by another, but it can feel like it at times. Either we are new creations because we are open to the fact that Jesus took the sin of the world away or we are not at this time. May it be so for our family, friends, clients, and the world.

“Don’t allow the circumstances of your life to be what you use to determine how your Father feels about you. Circumstances can’t tell you that. If you want to know how He feels toward you, look beyond the temporal situations of life and see the cross. At the cross, you will find an expression of His divine love for you. He loves you so much that He paid the highest price to ensure that you were His for all eternity. Sometimes He shouts His love in large letters. At others times, he gently whispers His love in the recesses of our hearts. In whatever ways He chooses to speak into your life, you can be assured that you are loved. He does care . . . and nothing is ever going to change that. Listen for Him to speak to you this week and you will hear the words, ‘I love you.’ “

This is a fantastic article of encouragement when crisises happen in our lives which cause us to feel that God doesn’t love us. I pray we are all reminded by His grace at every moment that Jesus death/risenness on the cross is all we will every need to believe/experience it.

Some quotes just stand on their own.

“2007 September GraceVine Grace Is Bigger Than Your Sins by Steve McVey   One of the most amazing aspects of God’s grace is the way it blows sin right off the map of our lives. Make no mistake about it – sin lost the battle with God and is now a non-entity as far as its ability to stop His purposes for the life of the Christian. Are there consequences for our sins? We have all seen that often to be the case. Do our sins disqualify us from being used by God? Not at all. David committed a horrible sin when he slept with Bathsheba, but after they were married and God wanted the temple to be rebuilt it was her son, Solomon, that He used to accomplish that project. Peter flatly denied that he even knew Jesus, but when it came time for the sermon to be preached on the day of Pentecost, he was the man who God used that day. Abraham had his wife Sarah tell a king that she was his sister so that the king wouldn’t kill him to have a chance to take her. Despite his horrible and cowardly sin, God reaffirmed His intention to make him the father of a great nation many times afterwards. The list could go on and on. It’s a strange thing to hear debate in the church today about who God can and can’t use. The fact is that God can use anybody He wants to use. I learned this truth even before I understood the grace walk. Years ago someone asked me about a certain, flamboyant TV evangelist. ‘What do you think of him?’ I was asked. ‘He’s an idiot,’ I responded in my ‘I-haven’t-learned-a-thing-about-grace’ way that was all too common back then. The woman then went on to tell me how God had used that man’s ministry to transform her life. ‘What do you think now?’ she asked. Without hesitation, I answered, ‘I guess God uses idiots!’ While my response was far from graceful, it’s true. God uses idiots. I should know. He used me despite my years of legalistic idiocy. God can use you too. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you might have done something that is so terrible that your Father can’t redeem your past and use your life for His glory. He can use you and He will use you. Jesus came to put away your sin and He fully succeeded at that. (See Hebrews 9:26) We need to stop worshipping our sins by focusing on them and glory in the finished work of the cross. God’s grace is bigger than our sins and He will use our lives for His glory. Let’s just trust Him to do it! “

This is a great article that God can work good for us despite how we act or believe!!! May His sense of control be so for our family, friends, school, churches, and clients. Now it is about feelings not deeds.

Church history demonstrates that believers in every generation become enslaved to a performance basis for earning God’s approval and blessing. In other words, they believe they are right with God because they do the right things. This is a constant temptation for all who desire to please God. [...] I’ll be using the term performance basis interchangeably with the term legalism.

Because performance-based living is so deeply rooted in human nature, the entire world, not just the Christian world, is filled with people who either thrive on it or who are constantly striving to extricate themselves from it. But apart from the applied grace of God – the exact opposite of performance-based living – nothing more than superficial relief is ever realized by anyone, Christian or not.

The really entertaining thing about these guys is their background: They are specialists in bringing people out of cults. They have launched this site to take on fundamentalist Evangelical legalism — using those same skills. (See their first post)

From where I’m sitting, it looks to be about time…

This man has compressed more of what the life of Christ is into a 5 min song then most preachers get in their entire lives.

This song is a prayer set to music — the heart cry of a man who knows the Father for a people who know little of such and everything of rules, status and performance.

“The problem with rededicating ourselves to Christ is self, which is really just another word for the self-sufficiency of the flesh. The essence of religious flesh, as strange as it might seem, is our attempt at trying to live the Christian life. That is what actually prevents us from living the Christian life. In fact, the harder we try, the greater the likelihood that we won’t succeed because victory in the Christian life doesn’t come by trying. It comes by trusting. “

This is a great reminder article we need often it is not what we do, but what Christ does through us. I disagree with, we have to trust/be dependent, but I do think we have to be OPEN to coming to Him, trust, and being dependent. May it be so

Grove City student suspended over gay porn video

Says film income helped pay tuition

Thursday, May 07, 2009

The Associated Press
GROVE CITY, Pa. — A student is appealing his suspension from a Christian college in Mercer County for appearing in gay porn videos using a pseudonym.

Twenty-two-year-old John Gechter, of Philadelphia, was suspended for one year pending appeal from Grove City College after a student saw him last month in a video posted online.

Mr. Gechter is appealing the suspension and says he may sue, claiming that the gay porn job isn’t any of the school’s business, especially since he performed using the name “Vincent DeSalvo.” Mr. Gechter says he used his porn income to pay for his schooling.

School officials say Mr. Gechter is suspended because he was well aware his porn involvement “exhibited behavior contrary to the values” of the school about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Three interesting things here:

The most interesting part of this is still being recognized by precisely nobody… Apparently, the student who was looking at same-sex oriented erotic videos and narc’ed him out — well, s/he’s still a member of the student body…

It seems that, on this week’s edition of the naughty list, the sex acts involved in viewing same-sex erotic materials are not quite naughty enough to qualify as a, “Really bad sin,” — but performing them (at least on film) is. Or maybe, the real issue is just that the public can’t identify which student reported the problem — thus the school can still claim the problem doesn’t exist in their back yard, avoid dealing with it and still retain their carefully crafted public image…

The second interesting fact is that this guy is telling the truth about his financial needs. It seems that, for no better reason then hiding their finances from the government, the school canceled every student’s ability to subsidize an education in the normal (student loan) way.

The third interesting thing is that no one stated considering keeping them both there, admitting that the entire student body is overloaded with broken hearts and working with all of them to heal such…

Fundamentalist logic…

“The LORD’s delight is in those who honor him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:11 For many years, I taught people that the way to honor the Lord was to do what He said – to obey Him. Obedience – that was the most important thing in the Christian life, as I saw it. But the problem was that, no matter how hard I tried and how sincere I was, I couldn’t seem to be consistent in that area. This verse from Psalms shows that the Lord is honored when we put our hope in His unfailing love. It isn’t our obedience, our faith, or even our level of love for Him that honors Him most. It is by learning to rest in His unconditional, unfailing and unchanging love that He is most honored. As we learn to accept His acceptance, the calm that comes over us is amazing. No more do we have to struggle to stay on God’s good side. No longer do we condemn ourselves because we think we aren’t doing enough to keep Him in a good mood toward us. We come to learn that our Father’s love has nothing to do with how good we are, but has everything to do with how good He is. Then, lo and behold, the realization of His unfailing love begins to transform us. We find ourselves being motivated to live a godly lifestyle because we want to behave, not because we think it’s the right thing to do. We become increasingly free to relax and just be ourselves, knowing that He loves us no matter what. The love of God for us will mature us, motivate us and minister to us every day. Life increasingly becomes more and more about Him and not about us. “

This is a great little article on revealing God’s healing/Finished Work by resting in the Father’s unconditional love for us!

“Living in God-given freedom will inevitably bring the scorn of the self-righteous down on you. Jesus stayed in trouble because the way He acted didn’t fit the expectations of the religious crowd who thought it was their duty to police everybody else to make sure they were minding their P’s & Q’s. When He enjoyed a good meal and a glass of wine with friends, they called Jesus ‘a glutton and a drunkard.’ (See Luke 7:34) “

This is a good brief article that talks about the confusion of seeing Jesus took away they sins of the world. Regrettably the world often falls into feelings of self-righteousness which makes it seems that Jesus did not take away all the bad. May it be so that we have his we have his true understanding/confidence/trust/freedom/rest.

“omething profound takes place in the soul of a person when they know they matter; when they know they are prized. It changes them. All questions of tit-for-tat are swept away; there is no longer any room for fear in the relationship. They know they are loved, and it evokes love in return. Someone who is recued has a deep and profound gratitude to the rescuer. ‘You would do this for me?’ But if their rescuer said, ‘I did not do this for you; I did this for me. I did it to prove my greatness. In fact, your complete unworthiness to be rescued is part of my plan to show my greatness.’ Could you imagine the relationship having any sort of future?  ”

This is an incredible Christmas article regarding our true worth even BEFORE Jesus took away our/the sins of the world. It is about relationship/knowing Him not beliefs/religion. May it be so for all of us.

“They do not actually teach people how to be intimate with God, or hear his voice. Intimacy with God is not promoted; most folks don’t know how to find it. We’ve spoken to a number of good people, mature believers who sincerely love God and dearly want to join him in his battle for this world, but who have found church to be an exercise in frustration. The number of these folks continues to grow; it is a very significant trend. These are not simply malcontents, who really just want to sleep in on Sundays. These are sincere followers of Jesus and they want a genuine place of church; they just don’t know where to find it. So they ask us, ‘What do you do?’ Let me first say what we have done – we have been a part of many different church expressions, from liturgical to conservative Bible to charismatic. And we have benefited richly from all of them. God can be found in many different expressions of ‘church.’ Most recently we have found the house church model to be particularly focused on what we believe are a few of the absolute essentials. Read the various urgings toward ‘church’ in the epistles, and ask yourself, ‘How could this take place in an hour on Sunday morning in a group of 500 or 5,000? How can we pray for one another, really? How can we encourage one another, really? Bear one another’s burdens?’ It can be a rich experience to worship with a large group of people, and hear the word of God taught by a gifted teacher. But there is simply no way that the fellowship urged in the Scriptures can be expressed without involvement in a small group.”

This is a good reminder article. May it be so for all of us and the world so we only do what God is in, not try to be Him for all. I pray we do nothing in our own strength to remain in peace.

“emember that there is nothing wrong with the Law of God. God’s Law was given to open the eyes of the self-righteous to their own unrighteousness. The fact is, though, that you and I have been released from the Law (See Romans 7:6) through our death with Christ on the cross. By His grace, we saw our own unrighteousness and, by His grace, we repented of the folly of our sin and turned to Him in faith. At that moment, we were born again and now have no connection to the Law whatsoever. (Read Romans 7:1-6 for the biblical explanation.) If we don’t realize that we have moved out of the bondage of Babylonian captivity, we will still live under the terroristic threats of legalism. But you have been delivered from Babylon. You aren’t under the Law anymore. The religious Al-Qaeda have no rights or authority over you anymore. Your Liberator has set you free “

This is a good brief article on the law vs Jesus. I see repentance as a change in thinking from the Counsellor/Sprit.

“When Jesus said that the Scripture in Isaiah had been fulfilled that very day, He was revealing that He was the personification of the anointing of God. The anointing has come to us in the person of the Anointed One! Because Jesus Christ lives inside you, you have everything you need to do anything that God has planned for you to do! Paul wrote that, In [Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete (Colossians 2:9,10). If Jesus Christ lives in you, everything you need to succeed in life resides within you. You have need of nothing else. God’s grace within you is the anointing you need to accomplish everything He has planned for you. Grace equals enablement! You have miraculous, supernatural, God-given, enablement. That sets you apart from others whose dreams depend on their own ability. The early church grasped this fact and accomplished miraculous results. The same is possible for you. John reminds us, ‘But you have an anointing from the Holy One (1 John 2:20). Notice that he doesn’t say you still need it, but that you have it. He further notes, ‘As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you (2:27). The word here means continue to be present and not depart. In Jesus Christ, you already have all you need to have to do all that you need to do to accomplish God’s plan for your life. Do you understand your ability? Like the anointing of Aaron, you haven‘t been given a small dab of ability. It just isn’t His nature to give sparingly. When He gives, He really pours it on! You are drenched in divine ability to do all that He has planned for you to do.”

We often think we do not see miracles very much anymore. Is it because we are doing things in our own strength rather than allowing Him to work through us? May just the Divine in us show.

“The new Christian who has all along been glorifying Christ through his behavior without even thinking about his behavior now stops focusing on Christ and starts focusing on his behavior. The face of Jesus fades into the background and a list of religious rules emerge as the focal point of the new Christian’s life,”

This is a good brief article on starting in faith as you began. Our continued victory can only be received by faith not by following rules. In marital conflict when feeling powerless/blamed/afraid/shame and needing control. Wait, relax, vent to Jesus, and focus on His control/power/blamelessness/promise to make a way through grace, in us believers. Give truth, after receiving His perspective when it can be heard/let it surface, in us believers.

” know you’re expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he’s gonna keep saying this. So what you’re left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase.”

This is an excellent commentary on the role of conflict/protection in the Good News. Father make it crystal clear to all of us.

“it is only when you understand how deeply you are loved that you will be released to pour out agape on others. 1 John 4:19 says ‘we love because He first loved us.’ We don’t just love Him for that reason. We love everybody for that reason. When my grandchildren visit our home and dip their beach pail into the Gulf of Mexico, the pail can’t contain the Gulf so the water spills over the edge on every side. That’s how it is when we have received God’s love. It’s just too much for us, so everybody around us gets wet too. This is where grace becomes practical. When we have fully experienced the loving grace of God, we will faithfully express it. As He is, so are we in this world. Jesus loved. He loved the down-and-outers (the Samaritan woman) and the up-and-outers (Matthew). He loved the unrighteous (Zaccheus) and the self-righteous (Saul of Tarsus). He loved the rogues (Peter) and the religious (Nicodemus.) He loved the horribly immoral (the woman taken in adultery) and the highly moral (the rich young ruler). Jesus just loved. He said, ‘I and my Father are one’ (John 10:30). He shares the same DNA as the One who is love. What else could he do? “

This is an excellent reassurance that unconditional grace will motivate/move us, especially to love as Jesus.

“As Jesus said, the greater our understanding of forgiveness the greater the love. The obstacle that most people have trouble getting past in accepting the reality that all their sins have been forgiven is the idea that future sins could already be dealt with, even before we commit them. I remind you though that when Christ died for our sins, He died for all of them and we hadn’t even been born yet. If Christ could take every sin we would commit upon Himself at the cross before we had committed a single one of them, why couldn’t he forgive them in the same way? He can and He did. Your sins are forgiven. Not just some of them, but all of them. What if every sin of our lifetime is already forgiven? What difference would that make in how we lived from day-to-day? I can tell you the difference: it would free us to take our eyes off ourselves and put them on Christ and on others. It would deliver us from self-consciousness and sin-consciousness. The fact is that our sins have all been forgiven. That won’t cause anybody to run wild. The Apostle Paul answered that objection when he said, ‘If all this about grace is true, does that mean we just sin like crazy because we know it’s all covered by grace?’ He answered his own question, ‘God forbid! How can we live in sin if we have already died to it? Or don’t you understand that every one of us who have been placed into Jesus Christ were with Him when He died? The reality is that when somebody dies, they are free from sin and we died!’ (See Romans 6:1-7) We can relax when it comes to the fear that grace will cause people to sin. It won’t do that. Instead it will cause those who understand the scope of forgiveness to love Jesus more and to take their eyes off themselves and live freely in grace.”

This is an excellent discussion of the looming question, fear of license, and vision for us. May it be so.

“Each member of the Grace Walk team has a passion to share the sufficiency of Jesus Christ, not only for salvation, but for daily living. We have each experienced the bondage of legalism but have been transformed by coming to understand our identity in Christ and what it means to walk in grace. Consequently, He has given us a burning desire to see the body of Christ growing in grace as well.”

This in an excellent introduction to the discussion.

” all our sins have been paid for (see Colossians 2:13-14); why would the Holy Spirit call our attention to them now? Hebrews 10:1-2 says that when we know we are cleansed, we lose consciousness of sins. Make no mistake about it. Your sins have been put away. What the Holy Spirit does when we now sin is to convict/convince us of who we really are. He shows us that we are able to live like the righteous child of God He has made us to be. He motivates us to live like that and, in the process, we will abandon the sin that caused us to stumble in the first place.”

This is an clear explanation of the reason we do not call attention to sin. We let Jesus tell us who we are really are now with Him inside us and the truth.

“Let’s face it – the grace walk so contradicts the way many of us grew up believing was the right approach to the Christian life. It may even contradict what we’ve believed up until this moment. So, when the Holy Spirit ‘starts messing with’ our belief system, it’s a little scary. After all, we’ve lived in the security of our beliefs for a long time and to have somebody come along putting forth views that contradict what we have believed is unsettling. We don’t want to be led astray and besides that, grace is downright scary after living in legalism for a lot of years. It’s scary for one reason: it leaves us totally out of control. We can no longer be in charge of our Christian walk, knowing that when we do this, then that will happen. In other words, we stop being able to control things, including God. And nobody likes that on the front end. “

This is an empathetic article on the fear with the Spirit challenges us about the truth of our beliefs. May He allow us to rest that Jesus is in control. The try harder/rededicate yourself approach doesn’t work, only Jesus/His Finished Work is the answer.

” The sails on the boat can be a metaphor for our lives. The wind (Christ’s Spirit) must fill us in order for us to move forward toward our destination. 2. The tell-tales let you know when the wind is moving across the sail in the most efficient way. The tell-tales in our lives are joy and peace. When Christ animates our lives, these will both ‘line up’ together. 3. Sometimes one tell=tale will be horizontal, showing that the wind is moving across the sail in the best way at that place, while another tell-tale will be jumping around in every direction -showing that part of the sail isn’t getting optimum wind flow across it. It is possible that we are appropriating the sufficiency of Christ in one area of life, yet still may need to submit another area of life to Him. 4. Sanctification is the ongoing work of the spirit (wind) increasingly showing us areas that we still can yield to His control (the tell-tales showing how the wind can be trimmed for maximum efficiency). “

This is an excellent illustration for understanding what it means to do something in our own strength. I pray we sail through life’s challenges.

“I put this online a long time ago, but enough time has passed that I want to use it again. What do you see? This sketch has been around since the late 1800s. It’s a picture of both an old woman and a young woman, depending on your perspective. If you’re having a hard time seeing both — the necklace on the young woman is the old woman’s mouth. Beneath the necklace of the young woman is the old woman’s chin. The ear of the young woman is the old woman’s eye. (If you can’t see it from those descriptions, it’ll take divine revelation for you to see it The Lord spoke to me through this picture a few years ago when I was struggling with a situation that looked very ‘ugly’ to me. He showed me that it wasn’t the picture that needed to change. What needed to change was my perspective. Since that time, the situation that I initially thought was ugly actually turned into something I see now as beautiful. Our Father’s plan is often not to change our circumstances, but to change how we see and respond to those circumstances. “

This is the timeless illustration of the way we can see things according to the physical/flesh/law/sin or the spiritual/love/appearnace of sin/Jesus. I pray we always see ourselves/other/the world according to Christ’s, and His victory from the cross. May God allow us to rest/stand in our righteousness of Him in us and not on our own.

“Christians are those who have become one with God through Jesus Christ. Everything in our lives is intimately associated with Him through our relationship to Him, thus making it sacred. Because Christ lives through you, all that you do becomes sanctified (made holy) because He is the One doing the work through you.”

This is an excellent definition of a Christian! I pray we genuinely show it. It also talks about what sanctification really means to a believer.

“Control freaks – that’s what we all are when we try to be in charge of our own lives. God never intended for us to be in control. Controlling things is His role, not ours. ‘My life is out of control!’ people have tearfully said to me at times in the counseling office. What they really meant was ‘My life is out of my control and I don’t like it!’             Imagine a baby holding a pair of new shoes in his hands. He is playing with them and happy they belong to him. His parent reaches down to take the shoes and put them on the child’s feet. All the child sees is that his shoes are being taken out of his hands. He doesn’t like it. He wants to control them and keep them in his hands, but he will never walk in them that way.             The parent takes the shoes from the hand of the child and the baby begins to cry. He is overwhelmed with anger, confusion and regret that his shoes are being taken from him. He screams. He kicks in protest. He is losing control of the thing he loves and wants to hold. He doesn’t understand what his parent is doing. But the parent understands and does what is necessary to enable the child to walk – whether the child likes it or even understands.             The goal is to enable the child to enjoy the shoes to the fullest by walking in them. The parent knows that if the shoes are used for their designed purpose, the child will truly benefit and not simply be amused by them.             Only a baby thinks the highest pleasure is to hold them in his hands. He doesn’t see the whole picture. So the parent overrules the baby’s wishes and does what is needful. Eventually the child will understand. When he does, he is thrilled, and more important than that, he walks. Do you want to walk? What are you holding onto that you need to release? Let it go. God knows what He is doing.”

This is an excellent article for parenting and dealing with the crisies of life. I pray for this rest and openness to genuinely let go of our way after working through the emotions individually/together with others.

“You don’t need to have a kind of ‘in your face’ grace approach exclaiming your freedom to those who ‘just don’t quite get it’. Now, there may be a time where you do need to take a stand on God’s grace and freedom in the church, but I’m talking everyday life here. The general rule of thumb when it comes to personal relationships with those who do not understand God’s incredible gift of grace for living is simply more ‘grace’. What does that look like? We’re to act ‘in love’, even to the point of refraining from a freedom we think is perfectly fine to protect our relationship with other believers. It’s a humble, accepting and encouraging approach to those who might differ with us. Limiting your freedom on behalf of another is not a compromise of grace but more a sacrifice of love. Allow Christ to love through you…at times, it will be a sacrifice.”

This is a great article on extending grace when we differ about our beliefs.

“God gave us an incredible gift in the human body and brain. Every action, thought, desire is recorded on the human hard drive of the brain. The ‘old self’ or nature is dead (that’s what happens when you get crucified…you don’t typically recover) and you have been raised up a brand new self or nature. Those old desires, habits and behaviors have been recorded and can and will resurface…that broad term ‘flesh’ or old ways of thinking and behaving will set its desire against the Spirit but the truth is, you are ‘dead’ to that stuff! There is no real power to make you act or think in the ‘old way’, in fact, quite the opposite. You have the omnipotent power and Life of Christ in you to think and live a brand new life. “

I agree with the majority of the article I see “choice” as openness to it. Believing is not works. I pray He gives us all His understanding of it.

“With my wisdom firmly placed in Him, I can enjoy fellowship with others who are in Him and who may understand some truth differently than I do. I can desire to know the ‘what’s’ and the ‘why’s’, but be at rest. I can also live perfectly at peace with my lack of knowing. I no longer expect of myself or others to understand all about ‘truths’. Jesus, who I am ‘in’, understands it all. This is what abiding is about. My life does not independently contain all that it needs to live. The truth is in Someone else- Jesus.”

This is an excellent brief article on searching for truth, but also being at rest not knowing until it is revealed to us. May it be so for us.

“he Sermon on the Mount proves that before God we all stand on level ground: murderers and temper-throwers, adulterers and lusters, thieves and coveters. We are all desperate, and that is in fact the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute Ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace.’ It is interesting to me that when referring to his life before Christ, Paul said, ‘as to the Law found blameless’. In describing his life as a believer, he said, ‘For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do but I practice the very evil that I do now wish.’ “

It offers a good compilation of the verses of the real reason for the law.

“d not the death of Christ deal with the root cause of sinful behavior:  sinful hearts?  For me, a pat answer of God’s judgment merely raises many many more questions. We are tempted to be deceived into believing that grace is too light on sin.  However, my heart yearns to testify that it is true grace alone that exposes sin for the subtle dead lie that it is.  Apart from grace, sin is limited to negative-looking behaviors.  Apart from grace, we are tempted to see the need for more of God’s judgment, in addition to the cross.”

This is an excellent article on allowing God’s trust in us because of the 100% sufficiency of Christ as our life. May the Lord replace our fears with the revealing of His security/courage/peace/Finished Work.

“ven though my new mirror did not yet need cleaning, I still tried different things to dress up the frame out of habit. After trying everything to dress up the frame, one day I sought to clean the mirror.  Surely the mirror needed cleaning by now. So, I peered into my mirror, saw my reflection, and reached to clean the surface of the mirror…and to my amazement… …to my utter amazement, the mirror had no surface, nothing to separate me from my reflection, and… …and I…I…I touched the face in the mirror!  It was then when I realized I had touched the very face of Jesus!”