Here is a message of Christian love and forgiveness expressed so wonderfully by a 10 year old girl displaced from home by ISIS.
Be inspired.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ige6CcXuMg
Pray for Myriam and her friends and her enemies.
Showing posts with label foregiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foregiveness. Show all posts
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Monday, September 15, 2014
Forgiveness and the Judgement Seat of God
This message was shared with the Renmark West Uniting Church Congregation and The Renmark Town UC on 14/9/14
Passages read in service.
Bible Passages
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Romans 14 New International Version (NIV)
The Weak and the Strong
14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
Sermon
I think I have brought a message on forgiveness here before but I am not sure.
If I have some of this may be a bit repetitive.
It is a theme I try to get across to any who will listen.
Also in our readings today we have a passage about the Judgement Seat of Christ.
What is that all about?
Are we, as Christians, involved in that judgement?
So I am going to draw on both these passages read to us today and try to tie them together a little.
I have revisited a sermon I heard many years ago from a visiting preacher at our Church in Adelaide to help me in this message.
So a little bit about Judgements, a little bit about salvation and a little bit about forgiveness today.
When I say little bit it just means I don't have a lot of time today to enlarge on those themes but they are very important parts of the being Christian and living the Christian life.
Firstly I will touch on the judgement side of things.
And the first thing I would like to say is that our salvation is based on the grace of God, not our good works.
The Bible tells us that quite clearly our salvation is based on grace not works lest any man should boast.
There are steps quite clearly outlined in the Bible that enable us to come to Salvation by grace and we should makes sure we know those steps and have followed them.
If anyone here today feels that they don't really understand or know if they are saved I am happy to talk with you after the service or during the week even on the phone. You also have your Pastor to consult as well of course and any other elders in the church.
So as far as Judgements are concerned there are several mentioned in the Bible.
Some in the past and some yet to come.
Adam and Eve were Judged, the nation of Israel was judged,the Tower of Babel brought about a judgment where people were scattered and languages were confused,
in the days of Noah a judgement was carried out,the earth was flooded.
Sodom and Gomorrah were judged.
There is a future Judgement of Nations,
there is a great white throne judgement for unbelievers,
there is a judgement of the devil to come although he has already been defeated on the Cross.
This passage today is speaking about us.
The judgement of believers.
We heard the following read earlier.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
This Judgement seat of Christ, is not about our Salvation, this about what have we done with the gifts God has given us.
It has nothing to do with any so called rank we might have in the Church.
We may be people who have cleaned the kitchen taken part in committees, church councils, counted the money, been pastors or elders or counsellors etc. These are all things we humanly rank in order of importance but not so with God.
It is about how we have served God!
Was it so we could be patted on the back or out of genuine sense of service and humility before our God?
In 1 Corinthians 3:11–15 we read this
11 For no one can lay a ufoundation other vthan that which is laid, wwhich is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 xeach one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed yby fire, and zthe fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, ahe will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, bbut only as through fire.
This is really talking about the Judgement for believers.The Judgement seat of Christ.
Notice that Gold and Silver and Precious stones is refined by fire or testing if you like.
The wood hay and stubble is consumed by fire and has no substance.
The wood, hay and stubble are the things we might have done ion our lives,having an appearance of Godliness, but really only for our own standing.
So someone might pat us on the back.
But notice this. "15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, bbut only as through fire."
We will suffer loss, but we will be saved!
We will not have much to wear at they marriage Supper of the Lamb.
To give you some idea of what that loss may look like or feel like I am going to read a poem by a lady called Martha Snell Nicholson.
It goes like this.
"When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ And He shows me His plan for me, The Plan of my life as it might have been Had He had His way, and I see
How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there, And I would not yield my will -- Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes, Grief, though He loves me still?
He would have me rich, and I stand there poor, Stripped of all but His grace, While memory runs like a hunted thing Down the paths I cannot retrace.
Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break With the tears that I cannot shed; I shall cover my face with my empty hands, I shall bow my uncrowned head..
Lord of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Thy hand; Take me and break me, mould me to The pattern Thou hast planned!"
Powerful words aren't they.
We should be reminded at this point we cannot undo things we have said and many things we have done, but we can press forward in the years that are left to us as wiser people and practice more of God's grace..
We have to leave the things we can't fix in Jesus hands.
We have to let Jesus mould us and break us to the point it is no longer we that live but Christ who lives in me.
Now taking up the verses we had before about forgiveness.
"32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
When you read this you might think that if I don't forgive my brother or anyone else, I might lose my salvation.
But salvation is not by works and this is a work that we have been found wanting in.
As outlined in the passage above about standing before God at the Judgement seat, I believe that this unforgiveness does not cause our salvation to be forfeited.
It does however, if we don't forgive from the heart,cut us off from fellowship with God,from having our prayers answered, from knowing freedom that only Christ can give.
We can walk around pretending we are happy and have it together, but if we harbor resentment and unforgiveness, we know in our inner being we are only fooling ourselves.
I would like to remind us all here that to forgive is an act of the will.
It is not a situation where I don't feel any love for that person therefore I cannot forgive..
It is an act of the will where we declare our unconditional forgiveness because that is what our Lord and Saviour has done for us.
We can be really helped in all of these things we should be doing as Christians by the fact that God never asks us to do anything that we cannot do through Christ who strengthens us.
Many words of the Bible sit in judgement on us because we cannot possibly meet the standards set out.
We say the Christian life is too hard and all theses things are the ideal way we should live but we can't possibly attain them.
BUT,
we can!
How then?
The commands and demands God makes upon us are not to us at all.
They are made to the life of Jesus in us.
If we latch on to this and make it genuinely real in our lives,
then the life God demands of us becomes surprising easy.
Most Christians receive very little teaching or instruction on
this wonderful aspect of Christian living.
It is "CHRIST IN YOU"
Jesus living His life through us.
This is the secret of living the Christian life.
If we are Christians the living Christ is in us.
He can empower us if we make Him Lord, not just our Saviour
A verse to finish to remind us of God's amazing grace.
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death.
At this point I read to the Congregation from a devotional book by Frank Hunting. A piece called "The Answer". I will add this later this week.
Passages read in service.
Bible Passages
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Romans 14 New International Version (NIV)
The Weak and the Strong
14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
Sermon
I think I have brought a message on forgiveness here before but I am not sure.
If I have some of this may be a bit repetitive.
It is a theme I try to get across to any who will listen.
Also in our readings today we have a passage about the Judgement Seat of Christ.
What is that all about?
Are we, as Christians, involved in that judgement?
So I am going to draw on both these passages read to us today and try to tie them together a little.
I have revisited a sermon I heard many years ago from a visiting preacher at our Church in Adelaide to help me in this message.
So a little bit about Judgements, a little bit about salvation and a little bit about forgiveness today.
When I say little bit it just means I don't have a lot of time today to enlarge on those themes but they are very important parts of the being Christian and living the Christian life.
Firstly I will touch on the judgement side of things.
And the first thing I would like to say is that our salvation is based on the grace of God, not our good works.
The Bible tells us that quite clearly our salvation is based on grace not works lest any man should boast.
There are steps quite clearly outlined in the Bible that enable us to come to Salvation by grace and we should makes sure we know those steps and have followed them.
If anyone here today feels that they don't really understand or know if they are saved I am happy to talk with you after the service or during the week even on the phone. You also have your Pastor to consult as well of course and any other elders in the church.
So as far as Judgements are concerned there are several mentioned in the Bible.
Some in the past and some yet to come.
Adam and Eve were Judged, the nation of Israel was judged,the Tower of Babel brought about a judgment where people were scattered and languages were confused,
in the days of Noah a judgement was carried out,the earth was flooded.
Sodom and Gomorrah were judged.
There is a future Judgement of Nations,
there is a great white throne judgement for unbelievers,
there is a judgement of the devil to come although he has already been defeated on the Cross.
This passage today is speaking about us.
The judgement of believers.
We heard the following read earlier.
10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
This Judgement seat of Christ, is not about our Salvation, this about what have we done with the gifts God has given us.
It has nothing to do with any so called rank we might have in the Church.
We may be people who have cleaned the kitchen taken part in committees, church councils, counted the money, been pastors or elders or counsellors etc. These are all things we humanly rank in order of importance but not so with God.
It is about how we have served God!
Was it so we could be patted on the back or out of genuine sense of service and humility before our God?
In 1 Corinthians 3:11–15 we read this
11 For no one can lay a ufoundation other vthan that which is laid, wwhich is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 xeach one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed yby fire, and zthe fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, ahe will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, bbut only as through fire.
This is really talking about the Judgement for believers.The Judgement seat of Christ.
Notice that Gold and Silver and Precious stones is refined by fire or testing if you like.
The wood hay and stubble is consumed by fire and has no substance.
The wood, hay and stubble are the things we might have done ion our lives,having an appearance of Godliness, but really only for our own standing.
So someone might pat us on the back.
But notice this. "15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, bbut only as through fire."
We will suffer loss, but we will be saved!
We will not have much to wear at they marriage Supper of the Lamb.
To give you some idea of what that loss may look like or feel like I am going to read a poem by a lady called Martha Snell Nicholson.
It goes like this.
"When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ And He shows me His plan for me, The Plan of my life as it might have been Had He had His way, and I see
How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there, And I would not yield my will -- Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes, Grief, though He loves me still?
He would have me rich, and I stand there poor, Stripped of all but His grace, While memory runs like a hunted thing Down the paths I cannot retrace.
Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break With the tears that I cannot shed; I shall cover my face with my empty hands, I shall bow my uncrowned head..
Lord of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Thy hand; Take me and break me, mould me to The pattern Thou hast planned!"
Powerful words aren't they.
We should be reminded at this point we cannot undo things we have said and many things we have done, but we can press forward in the years that are left to us as wiser people and practice more of God's grace..
We have to leave the things we can't fix in Jesus hands.
We have to let Jesus mould us and break us to the point it is no longer we that live but Christ who lives in me.
Now taking up the verses we had before about forgiveness.
"32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
When you read this you might think that if I don't forgive my brother or anyone else, I might lose my salvation.
But salvation is not by works and this is a work that we have been found wanting in.
As outlined in the passage above about standing before God at the Judgement seat, I believe that this unforgiveness does not cause our salvation to be forfeited.
It does however, if we don't forgive from the heart,cut us off from fellowship with God,from having our prayers answered, from knowing freedom that only Christ can give.
We can walk around pretending we are happy and have it together, but if we harbor resentment and unforgiveness, we know in our inner being we are only fooling ourselves.
I would like to remind us all here that to forgive is an act of the will.
It is not a situation where I don't feel any love for that person therefore I cannot forgive..
It is an act of the will where we declare our unconditional forgiveness because that is what our Lord and Saviour has done for us.
We can be really helped in all of these things we should be doing as Christians by the fact that God never asks us to do anything that we cannot do through Christ who strengthens us.
Many words of the Bible sit in judgement on us because we cannot possibly meet the standards set out.
We say the Christian life is too hard and all theses things are the ideal way we should live but we can't possibly attain them.
BUT,
we can!
How then?
The commands and demands God makes upon us are not to us at all.
They are made to the life of Jesus in us.
If we latch on to this and make it genuinely real in our lives,
then the life God demands of us becomes surprising easy.
Most Christians receive very little teaching or instruction on
this wonderful aspect of Christian living.
It is "CHRIST IN YOU"
Jesus living His life through us.
This is the secret of living the Christian life.
If we are Christians the living Christ is in us.
He can empower us if we make Him Lord, not just our Saviour
A verse to finish to remind us of God's amazing grace.
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death.
At this point I read to the Congregation from a devotional book by Frank Hunting. A piece called "The Answer". I will add this later this week.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
What price,forgiveness?
I follow a blog by an Anglican minister ,Daniel Owen, who lives in Ireland.
In his Good Friday sermon just gone he starts off with an amazing story of a man being pardoned by his victim's mother.
Daniel's sermon you can read in full if you follow the link below.
Also you will find the link on the story just mentioned.
It is wonderful the young man was pardoned but how sad that so called "blood" money was required to obtain his release and forgiveness.
Each of us in this age of Grace have the wonderful privilege that Jesus offers us forgiveness of Sin, eternal life and so much more through his death and resurrection and the shedding of His blood.
http://imprintsoflight.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/sermon-for-good-friday-2014/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27070087
In his Good Friday sermon just gone he starts off with an amazing story of a man being pardoned by his victim's mother.
Daniel's sermon you can read in full if you follow the link below.
Also you will find the link on the story just mentioned.
It is wonderful the young man was pardoned but how sad that so called "blood" money was required to obtain his release and forgiveness.
Each of us in this age of Grace have the wonderful privilege that Jesus offers us forgiveness of Sin, eternal life and so much more through his death and resurrection and the shedding of His blood.
http://imprintsoflight.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/sermon-for-good-friday-2014/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27070087
Monday, March 4, 2013
Reconciliation-Why it matters.
Reconciliation!
What a word that promises so much but seldom is carried out or witnessed.
Jesus is the great reconciler.
He alone gives us the power to be reconciled with the un-reconcileable.
Reconciliation has to go arm in arm with forgiveness.
We must not wait to feel forgiveness.
It is an act of the will.
It is not an emotion we feel.
It is something Jesus demands of us who call ourselves Christians.
If forgiveness was offerred and reconciliation sort after the world would be a vastly different place.
How much bitterness and suffering comes from those two words "Irreconcileable differences"
Take some steps today.
Make it right!
Make yourself right with God and the one who has wronged you.
Use the link below for some help on this.
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00:00:00%2B10:30&updated-max=2010-01-01T00:00:00%2B10:30&max-results=2
What a word that promises so much but seldom is carried out or witnessed.
Jesus is the great reconciler.
He alone gives us the power to be reconciled with the un-reconcileable.
Reconciliation has to go arm in arm with forgiveness.
We must not wait to feel forgiveness.
It is an act of the will.
It is not an emotion we feel.
It is something Jesus demands of us who call ourselves Christians.
If forgiveness was offerred and reconciliation sort after the world would be a vastly different place.
How much bitterness and suffering comes from those two words "Irreconcileable differences"
Take some steps today.
Make it right!
Make yourself right with God and the one who has wronged you.
Use the link below for some help on this.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Forgiveness again?
A common thread you will see on this blog is the need to forgive.
I have been prompted to write because of articles I have come across about Meagan Kunert on the internet. A young woman who started a wedding photography business and cheated using other people's photos and blogs and posts and information to promote herself.
She was caught out and is now attempting to recover from her demeanors.
It seems an organisation called People of The Second Chance (POTSC) reached out to her with compassion and grace.
Here is link to Meagan's confession on the POTSC website.
http://www.potsc.com/potsc/how-i-ruined-my-career/
Many of course are quick to condemn what Meagan did.
It was bad!
But I am reminded of verses in the Bible like:
"Judge not lest ye yourself also be judged!"
"He who is without sin cast the first stone."
"All have sinned, all fall short of the glory of God."
" Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
I applaud POTSC for what they are trying to do.
I started to read some of the personal testimonies on their website.
I was taken by one who's Pastor Husband cheated on her.
She chose to forgive her Huband, and the telling thing in her story is that she realised after no response from the other person involved, after she herself had offered forgiveness to her, that she needed to forgive from the heart not just because that's what is expected of Christians.
See Trisha Davis' story below.
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4473676857916103027#editor/target=post;postID=4707499569134340934
I would re direct my readers to the earlier post on the Cross of Christ.
None of us, if we are Christians, have a right to withhold forgiveness and we cut ourselves off from knowing the fullness of God's Salvation if we don't forgive from the heart.
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/09/cross-of-christ.html
I have had my own brushes with not forgiving and the stress that has brought me and others and of course we can all easily recognise where others are at fault in this but it's what we do that is paramount.
What would Jesus do?
I have been prompted to write because of articles I have come across about Meagan Kunert on the internet. A young woman who started a wedding photography business and cheated using other people's photos and blogs and posts and information to promote herself.
She was caught out and is now attempting to recover from her demeanors.
It seems an organisation called People of The Second Chance (POTSC) reached out to her with compassion and grace.
Here is link to Meagan's confession on the POTSC website.
http://www.potsc.com/potsc/how-i-ruined-my-career/
Many of course are quick to condemn what Meagan did.
It was bad!
But I am reminded of verses in the Bible like:
"Judge not lest ye yourself also be judged!"
"He who is without sin cast the first stone."
"All have sinned, all fall short of the glory of God."
" Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
I applaud POTSC for what they are trying to do.
I started to read some of the personal testimonies on their website.
I was taken by one who's Pastor Husband cheated on her.
She chose to forgive her Huband, and the telling thing in her story is that she realised after no response from the other person involved, after she herself had offered forgiveness to her, that she needed to forgive from the heart not just because that's what is expected of Christians.
See Trisha Davis' story below.
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4473676857916103027#editor/target=post;postID=4707499569134340934
I would re direct my readers to the earlier post on the Cross of Christ.
None of us, if we are Christians, have a right to withhold forgiveness and we cut ourselves off from knowing the fullness of God's Salvation if we don't forgive from the heart.
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/09/cross-of-christ.html
I have had my own brushes with not forgiving and the stress that has brought me and others and of course we can all easily recognise where others are at fault in this but it's what we do that is paramount.
What would Jesus do?
Thursday, June 9, 2011
USING YOUR CAMERA FOR GOD
USING YOUR CAMERA FOR GOD
By Geoff Thompson
When I first started using a camera it was because I was living in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia with my lovely new wife.This was in 1971.
We lived there for the first 6 months of our marriage and it was a tropical paradise.I was being introduced to God and the Church for the first time as I had promised my wife, who had become a Christian before me, that I would go to Church with her but would not get sucked into her new beliefs but I believed in doing things together in our marriage.Well I did have an experience of God in Darwin in that I was blown away by His creation and the beauty of the Northern Territory. I had a very old camera of my Dad’s that he had carried with him in the air force and it was on this that I first started learning about f stops and shutter speeds.
I tried to capture the beauty I saw with limited success using Kodak slide film rated at 25 asa(iso).
My Dad, Glen Thompson, was my first tutor in photography who encouraged me into photography because as a young 13 year old teenager I was gun happy and used to shoot birds in the backyard with an air rifle.
He said I should start shooting birds with a camera and watching them as a hobby which I still do today.
Dad used to photograph, print and enlarge his own photographs in a home made darkroom.
He made his own enlargers using “bourne vita” tins. A popular chocolate malt drink like Milo in the 1940’s and 50’s.
Coming back to Adelaide I graduated to a Yashica Minister D 35mm rangefinder and then a beloved Pentax Spotmatic 2 that I still have and many more Pentaxes since then and Minolta and Canon and Nikon cameras plus a Praktica. The collection of old cameras has grown over the years.
I had also understood the Gospel after sitting in Church for three years and running out of arguments against God and Jesus.
I saw in my wedding photography an opportunity for Christian service on a couples’ special day rather than as a money making venture. That’s probably why I have never made a living out of it. I have tried to remember to pray for these couples in their marriages.
I also saw capturing happy family memories as a positive thing and I have developed a photographic memory as every thing I remember about our family life is practically in my mind as a still photo or a home movie or video.
I also have been a convinced creationist ie the Biblical version of creation ,for a long time and have always seen my other than people photography as an opportunity to capture the miracles of Creation be it Birds, Animals, Flowers , Landscape, Seascape etc.
And then of course to share that beauty with others.
I have always been wary of photography and especially the new digital technology as an opportunity to be led away from noble and wholesome ideas.
As Christians we are still susceptible to the downward pull of the flesh if we don’t believe what we pray in the Lord’s prayer.
“Lead us not into temptation”
“Deliver us from Evil”
When shooting film in days gone by you were not normally able to take photos of dubious content as there were laws about such things as they were processed in film labs. Now digital means the only restraints are a person’s beliefs and values.
There is much harm done through pornography and the lamer excuse for people to pursue their purient interests by calling their photography fine art or boudoir. And also just to make a quick buck.
I see much good being done by photographic journalists and admire the ideals of those who genuinely want to bring to the world images of injustice through their camera lens and also good news stories of the triumphs and miracle stories of human beings when facing adversity.
An excellent example,probably the best I have seen regarding using a camera for God is the recent documentary film called “as we forgive”. Just google it. It is available also from Christian bookstores.
It is am amazing story of the Rwanda genocide where neighbours were slaughtered by their neighbours and former friends in one of the most terrible and quick mass genocides the world has seen.
Learn the power of forgiveness as 2 women come face to face with their families” murderers and learn how forgiveness brings themselves peace and a future and also that of the murderers, and true reconciliation occurs.
A lesson for the whole world in what is possible through forgiveness which is so central to the Cross of Jesus..
I believe young people today embarking on a photographic career or even as serious or non serious hobby should stop and think about why they are taking a photograph. For Christians I think that a good rule would be if Jesus were here with me assisting on this photo shoot would He be completely in agreeance with what I am doing or would He reprimand me.
In other words am I glorifying Him in my behaviour .That should be our aim as Christians in all our endeavours.
I noticed on the internet recently a heading from a Christian photographer recently titled.”Take up your camera and follow me”
I thought this was quite clever but the danger is that the camera becomes a big focus and can become an idol.
It would better have been said, I think, as the scripture invokes: “Take up your cross daily and follow me!” you might then add: “and maybe bring along your camera.”
I believe there are amazing opportunities in our world today to use our cameras in God’s service and hope to one day run a workshop on this in Adelaide where I live.
Geoff Thompson
Below is a link to someone who has put these ideas into action.
Look at his video on face book.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Cross of Christ
THE CROSS OF CHRIST
Transcript of the above taped sermon by Frank Hunting
At the Church of Christ Grote St. Adelaide 1970's
You would have to admit that for many of us who are Christians,The Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is an historical event.
Something that happened 2000 years ago.
We know the details, we know that He battled it out in Gethsemane, we know that there was a trumped up trial.
We know that He was made to bear His Cross, we know that he was crucified between two robbers.
And we know too, that whilst He was hanging there ,on the Cross He was dying for our sins.
We’re very clear about that. And our understanding, is pretty right as far as it goes. Now the operative words are those last words.
Our understanding might be quite right, nothing to complain about, nothing to find fault with, “as far as it goes.”
But this looking at the cross of Jesus historically, and it is the only way that many Christians look at it.
You challenge me and you say how do I know this?
Well I know it!
I know it by the way some Christians live!
I know it by the way they speak!
I know it by the way they are so ready to condemn!
Other people!
By our living, men and women know that however accurate, however right we are, concerning the historical events around the cross of Jesus, it’s obvious by what we are ,that we, personally, have never knelt before His Cross, and looked up into His face as He was dying there.
The cross of Jesus begins for most of us to have a profound effect upon us the day or the time we take ourselves, and what we are, and we kneel before his cross as he hangs there.
Until we do ,this personally and individually, the Cross of Jesus is mostly and mainly an historical event. A thing that happened 2000 years ago.
But when we kneel before our Saviour’s cross , when we kneel before Him hanging on His cross, it is then it begins to have a profound effect upon us.
As we kneel , and look up into His face, the face of Jesus as He hangs upon His cross , we see someone who utterly died to self, and as we look at Him and as this realisation begins to come home to us ,
I can assure you we are shaken to the very core, and not only are we shaken , but ,
we are scared ,we are frightened to death by that terrible challenge to self.
As we look into His face we begin, and often it’s only a beginning , begin to see how controlled, we are, by self.
We begin to realise how demanding self is.
That I always want to be first!
That I always want to get the biggest!
That one way or another I’ll scheme to get the best!
Give me the chance and I’ll put myself before you!
Driven by self ,all these ugly things as you kneel there, start to come home.
And you know that the Son of God is dealing with you.
When we kneel and look up into the face of Jesus on His cross, we begin to realise what Love really is.
Here ,and it’s unbelievable,
for it’s not a part of our natural selves,
we have none of this in our own natures,
we see Love for men who put Him there in that frightful death,
men like the high priests.
I’ve looked at those fellows ,
I think I know them !
I think I understand them!
I know that you and I are apt to think that a man like Barrabbas,
a murderer,
a man who in an insurrection at the head of a rebellion is prepared to plant bombs,
and do all sorts of things that will injure innocent people,
I know that we are apt to think that he’s a really wicked man.
And so he is.
But a man like Barrabbas is nowhere near,
doesn’t even begin to be as evil as men like the high priests.
Who under the cloak of religion,
hide an implacable hatred !
and literally do sell their souls to the Devil!
In the blindness of their hatred!
But it’s all so smooth ,
so smarmy,
so righteously covered.
AND JESUS LOVED THEM!
HE LOVED THEM, and He died for them.
I think when you and I come across it, one of the hardest things we have to tolerate is self righteousnous amongst Christians!
It’s one of the hardest things to put up with.
But Jesus loved the Pharisees, ------ and He died for them!
And you and I can’t understand that,
unless we have been to that Cross,
and where we’ve knelt, and we begin to know what the love of Christ really is.
As we kneel there, at the Cross, we begin to realise what it means to die to all rights to oneself.
For here as you look up into His face, you’re plagued by a terrible knowledge.
Aah yes it hits you like a sledge hammer right in the face!
That here is a man who has the power to call down from God, from Heaven itself, 12 legions of angels and He can wipe out every man , every person who has anything to do with putting Him there!
And He dies utterly,
to that right!
Utterly!
Waves it completely!
Kneeling there, I begin to remember all the times and all the ways that I have insisted my right, on getting what I thought people had owed me.
And what I thought they ought to do for me.
And there before His Cross I see how hideous that is.
How utterly hideous that it is.
And I think of the times that I stood on my dignity and insisted it be given to me what was my due.
My head goes down in shame.
And if we kneel at His cross long enough, we know, I know, that only Jesus can change this inbuilt determination to have my right to myself.
As we kneel at the cross of our Saviour, if we ever do, we get a completely new dimension, of how total forgiveness has to be.
Some people, we may be prepared to forgive, but others, no!
Not after what they’ve done!
Not after the way they’ve used us!
Not after the way they’ve spoken about me!
No! that’s asking too much!
You ask me to forgive?
Absolutely?
That’s too much!
But I tell you, that if you kneel there at the Cross, you will know, and not only will you know, but you will want that your forgiveness of every person that breathes, or has breathed, that’s come across your path, that forgiveness to be total!
And from the depths!
You can’t look up into His face, on His Cross , and not want it otherwise.
As we kneel at the Cross, at the Cross of Jesus and look up into His face, we learn something about prayer.
Among other things we learn that evil men need our prayers.
Did you hear that one?
Evil men need our prayers!
We learn that men doing evil,
men being incredibly cruel,
that men hell bent on doing wrong things,
to us maybe!
need our prayers, my prayers.
Of course they need the right kind of prayer.
Full of love.
Full of forgiveness.
Devoid of all bitterness.
That God, may be able to answer our prayers.
If someone is your enemy,
if someone is maligning your character,
if someone is having a go at you,
if someone is mis-representing you,
accusing you of things you never did,
and things that you are not responsible for,
of course as you look into the face of Jesus,
you must pray for those people.
But! Let me warn you,
don’t pray for those folk,
unless you have, or are kneeling at His cross,
and you’re looking up into His face,
because if you pray for such people as I’ve just mentioned,
before you’ve been to the Cross,
you will pray with hurt in your soul,
you will pray with hardness and not love.
You will be remembering what they’ve done!
And not looking in to the face of Jesus,
you will have a sneaking desire for God to deal with them!
As they really deserve!
And you may be praying out of duty!
Because you are commanded too, and not out of love.
And your prayer won’t get further than the ceiling of the room you’re praying in.
As you kneel at the cross of Jesus,
you know here is someone who is willing to suffer terrible injustice,
and He utters no word to justify himself.
They have twisted His words, they have trumped up untrue charges.
All justice in the world died that day when they put Jesus on the Cross!
And only injustice reigned supreme!
and He never uttered a word!
To justify Himself!
How often have you and I been busy,
very careful,
oh yes I’ve been it,
to justify myself.
To make sure they get the right impression about me,
I don’t care if they get the right impression about you,
I’ve got to see to it that you’ve got the right impression about me!
“Lord!” on his knees and with tears falling on the paper on which he was
writing,
said the great Augustine,
“Lord deliver me from this curse of always wanting to justify myself!”
I know why he wrote that prayer, he was kneeling at the cross and
looking up into the face of Jesus.
Would you say with me, would you say with me, and I hope you can say
it , without any criticism or condemnation in your heart, perhaps after a
talk like this, a sermon like this you won’t be able to have that, but would
you say with me that you don’t know a Church in the land, this lovely
land of ours where that Church, that little group of people , that
congregation, does not need to get itself to the foot of the cross of Jesus.
Can you think of one Church that doesn’t need to do that?
Do you think with me,
if we as individuals,
of this church,
individuals of this congregation,
if we got ourselves up , and took ourselves to kneel at
the foot of the cross of our Lord and Saviour ,
and looked into His face,
would you agree with me that a profound and wonderful change would
come to us.
Transcript of the above taped sermon by Frank Hunting
At the Church of Christ Grote St. Adelaide 1970's
You would have to admit that for many of us who are Christians,The Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is an historical event.
Something that happened 2000 years ago.
We know the details, we know that He battled it out in Gethsemane, we know that there was a trumped up trial.
We know that He was made to bear His Cross, we know that he was crucified between two robbers.
And we know too, that whilst He was hanging there ,on the Cross He was dying for our sins.
We’re very clear about that. And our understanding, is pretty right as far as it goes. Now the operative words are those last words.
Our understanding might be quite right, nothing to complain about, nothing to find fault with, “as far as it goes.”
But this looking at the cross of Jesus historically, and it is the only way that many Christians look at it.
You challenge me and you say how do I know this?
Well I know it!
I know it by the way some Christians live!
I know it by the way they speak!
I know it by the way they are so ready to condemn!
Other people!
By our living, men and women know that however accurate, however right we are, concerning the historical events around the cross of Jesus, it’s obvious by what we are ,that we, personally, have never knelt before His Cross, and looked up into His face as He was dying there.
The cross of Jesus begins for most of us to have a profound effect upon us the day or the time we take ourselves, and what we are, and we kneel before his cross as he hangs there.
Until we do ,this personally and individually, the Cross of Jesus is mostly and mainly an historical event. A thing that happened 2000 years ago.
But when we kneel before our Saviour’s cross , when we kneel before Him hanging on His cross, it is then it begins to have a profound effect upon us.
As we kneel , and look up into His face, the face of Jesus as He hangs upon His cross , we see someone who utterly died to self, and as we look at Him and as this realisation begins to come home to us ,
I can assure you we are shaken to the very core, and not only are we shaken , but ,
we are scared ,we are frightened to death by that terrible challenge to self.
As we look into His face we begin, and often it’s only a beginning , begin to see how controlled, we are, by self.
We begin to realise how demanding self is.
That I always want to be first!
That I always want to get the biggest!
That one way or another I’ll scheme to get the best!
Give me the chance and I’ll put myself before you!
Driven by self ,all these ugly things as you kneel there, start to come home.
And you know that the Son of God is dealing with you.
When we kneel and look up into the face of Jesus on His cross, we begin to realise what Love really is.
Here ,and it’s unbelievable,
for it’s not a part of our natural selves,
we have none of this in our own natures,
we see Love for men who put Him there in that frightful death,
men like the high priests.
I’ve looked at those fellows ,
I think I know them !
I think I understand them!
I know that you and I are apt to think that a man like Barrabbas,
a murderer,
a man who in an insurrection at the head of a rebellion is prepared to plant bombs,
and do all sorts of things that will injure innocent people,
I know that we are apt to think that he’s a really wicked man.
And so he is.
But a man like Barrabbas is nowhere near,
doesn’t even begin to be as evil as men like the high priests.
Who under the cloak of religion,
hide an implacable hatred !
and literally do sell their souls to the Devil!
In the blindness of their hatred!
But it’s all so smooth ,
so smarmy,
so righteously covered.
AND JESUS LOVED THEM!
HE LOVED THEM, and He died for them.
I think when you and I come across it, one of the hardest things we have to tolerate is self righteousnous amongst Christians!
It’s one of the hardest things to put up with.
But Jesus loved the Pharisees, ------ and He died for them!
And you and I can’t understand that,
unless we have been to that Cross,
and where we’ve knelt, and we begin to know what the love of Christ really is.
As we kneel there, at the Cross, we begin to realise what it means to die to all rights to oneself.
For here as you look up into His face, you’re plagued by a terrible knowledge.
Aah yes it hits you like a sledge hammer right in the face!
That here is a man who has the power to call down from God, from Heaven itself, 12 legions of angels and He can wipe out every man , every person who has anything to do with putting Him there!
And He dies utterly,
to that right!
Utterly!
Waves it completely!
Kneeling there, I begin to remember all the times and all the ways that I have insisted my right, on getting what I thought people had owed me.
And what I thought they ought to do for me.
And there before His Cross I see how hideous that is.
How utterly hideous that it is.
And I think of the times that I stood on my dignity and insisted it be given to me what was my due.
My head goes down in shame.
And if we kneel at His cross long enough, we know, I know, that only Jesus can change this inbuilt determination to have my right to myself.
As we kneel at the cross of our Saviour, if we ever do, we get a completely new dimension, of how total forgiveness has to be.
Some people, we may be prepared to forgive, but others, no!
Not after what they’ve done!
Not after the way they’ve used us!
Not after the way they’ve spoken about me!
No! that’s asking too much!
You ask me to forgive?
Absolutely?
That’s too much!
But I tell you, that if you kneel there at the Cross, you will know, and not only will you know, but you will want that your forgiveness of every person that breathes, or has breathed, that’s come across your path, that forgiveness to be total!
And from the depths!
You can’t look up into His face, on His Cross , and not want it otherwise.
As we kneel at the Cross, at the Cross of Jesus and look up into His face, we learn something about prayer.
Among other things we learn that evil men need our prayers.
Did you hear that one?
Evil men need our prayers!
We learn that men doing evil,
men being incredibly cruel,
that men hell bent on doing wrong things,
to us maybe!
need our prayers, my prayers.
Of course they need the right kind of prayer.
Full of love.
Full of forgiveness.
Devoid of all bitterness.
That God, may be able to answer our prayers.
If someone is your enemy,
if someone is maligning your character,
if someone is having a go at you,
if someone is mis-representing you,
accusing you of things you never did,
and things that you are not responsible for,
of course as you look into the face of Jesus,
you must pray for those people.
But! Let me warn you,
don’t pray for those folk,
unless you have, or are kneeling at His cross,
and you’re looking up into His face,
because if you pray for such people as I’ve just mentioned,
before you’ve been to the Cross,
you will pray with hurt in your soul,
you will pray with hardness and not love.
You will be remembering what they’ve done!
And not looking in to the face of Jesus,
you will have a sneaking desire for God to deal with them!
As they really deserve!
And you may be praying out of duty!
Because you are commanded too, and not out of love.
And your prayer won’t get further than the ceiling of the room you’re praying in.
As you kneel at the cross of Jesus,
you know here is someone who is willing to suffer terrible injustice,
and He utters no word to justify himself.
They have twisted His words, they have trumped up untrue charges.
All justice in the world died that day when they put Jesus on the Cross!
And only injustice reigned supreme!
and He never uttered a word!
To justify Himself!
How often have you and I been busy,
very careful,
oh yes I’ve been it,
to justify myself.
To make sure they get the right impression about me,
I don’t care if they get the right impression about you,
I’ve got to see to it that you’ve got the right impression about me!
“Lord!” on his knees and with tears falling on the paper on which he was
writing,
said the great Augustine,
“Lord deliver me from this curse of always wanting to justify myself!”
I know why he wrote that prayer, he was kneeling at the cross and
looking up into the face of Jesus.
Would you say with me, would you say with me, and I hope you can say
it , without any criticism or condemnation in your heart, perhaps after a
talk like this, a sermon like this you won’t be able to have that, but would
you say with me that you don’t know a Church in the land, this lovely
land of ours where that Church, that little group of people , that
congregation, does not need to get itself to the foot of the cross of Jesus.
Can you think of one Church that doesn’t need to do that?
Do you think with me,
if we as individuals,
of this church,
individuals of this congregation,
if we got ourselves up , and took ourselves to kneel at
the foot of the cross of our Lord and Saviour ,
and looked into His face,
would you agree with me that a profound and wonderful change would
come to us.
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