“The sins we do not forget, God does not remember.”
All in Forgiveness
I’m excited to announce that my book Jesus + Nothing = Everything is being republished and will be available this fall. Just over three years ago, the book was taken out of print by the original publisher because I violated the morality clause in my contract and the rights were returned to me. I never thought it would ever be…
Nearly a year ago, my wife and I moved 1,200 miles from Willis, Texas to Fort Myers, Florida so that we could attend Living Faith Church. We longed to be in a church where we would hear the gospel every week and receive the care we needed and craved. The sweet, small community of Living Faith has become our family…
My friend Jacob Smith once suggested that all human beings are three bad days in a row from becoming a tabloid headline, and most of us are already on day two. At a time when our worst private moments, most shameful secrets, and deepest character flaws can be easily found out and publicly exposed for the whole world…
A Presbyterian pastor told of a conversation with a man in his congregation; “You preachers talk a lot about giving, but when you get right down to it, it all comes down to Basin Theology.” The pastor asked, “Basin Theology, what’s that?” The man replied, “Remember what Pilate did when he had the chance to acquit Jesus?”
For more years than I care to remember, a stalker has cast her shadow over my life. She trails me to work, spies on me at home, skulks nearby when I go out on the town. Never is she far away, and never does she slack in her pursuit. She’s a different breed of stalker, however, so reporting her to the police…
This past Sunday I had the privilege of preaching at the New Mount Olive Baptist Church in my hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Mount Olive is a large, historic African American church which has been faithfully serving the greater Fort Lauderdale area since its founding in 1918. It was the first time I had spoken in…
At a dinner one evening, my friend Dr. Rod Rosenbladt told me a true story of how he’d wrecked his car when he was sixteen years old. Rod had been drinking, and in fact, he and his friends were all drunk. After the accident, Rod called his dad, and the first thing his dad asked him was, “Are you all right?” Rod assured him that he…
My historical hero Martin Luther once said that “To be convinced in our hearts that we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God by grace alone is the hardest thing.” It’s the hardest thing because we are strings attached people living in a strings attached world with other strings attached people. Everything is conditional…
Remember Riley Cooper? In 2013, Cooper, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, used a racial slur (yes, that racial slur) while claiming that he wanted to fight all of the Black people at a Kenny Chesney concert. Cooper is White. And the entire tirade was caught on video. Cooper apologized—immediately…
Christmas is supposed to be “…the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” But for many of us, it’s the most painful. It’s that time of year when budgets break; when you’re reminded of how dysfunctional your family is; when you miss the people you love who have either died or left you. Maybe you’re still single, and Christmas is a…
Did you hear about the guy with the toothache on the Titanic? Or the couple who were bickering about their relationship in their cabin? Or the grieving widow and her children? Or the guy who was drunk and in despair about his addiction? Little did these people know, as they made their way across the Atlantic Ocean in 1912…
We all suffer. Pain is unavoidable. It’s not a question of “if” but “when.” It can take the form of a sudden catastrophe, such as the news of a brain tumor or an affair or the death of a child. Or it can be something more ordinary like a strained relationship that never seems to get easier, dragging on in a kind of dull ache…
Believe it or not, when people ask me which book of the Bible they should read first, I often answer, “Ecclesiastes.” It is unlike any other. Smack dab in the middle of the Old Testament sits a bombshell of diagnostic brilliance, capable of cutting through our avoidances and suppressions, and returning us to reality…
Last weekend I had the privilege of spending a few days in Salt Lake City at the kind and gracious invitation of South Mountain Community Church. To celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, they asked me to come out and talk about grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone in light of…
The great magician, Harry Houdini, was a famous escape artist. Known for his uncanny ability to free himself from: handcuffs, ropes, chains, straight jackets, locked trunks, and just about anything else. He often issued challenges for people to try to confine him, but he could always find a way…
If you’ve made a mess of your life (like I have), then you probably struggle with a lot of guilt, shame, and regret (like I do). And if you’re a parent (like I am) and the mess you’ve made has hurt your kids (like mine did), then the guilt, shame, and regret you probably feel is often paralyzing (like mine is)…
During a radio interview a few years ago, my interviewer told me the following story which gets to the heart of how love produces what the law demands, but cannot deliver. One summer this man (the interviewer) was a camp counselor, and one of his responsibilities was to go around with another counselor and check…
My friend Rod Rosenbladt told me a story about a middle-aged woman who needed help from her pastor. She went to her pastor and said, “Pastor, I had an abortion a number of years ago?” “OK,” the Pastor replied. “Well, I need to talk to you about the man I’ve since married.” “Alright,” replied the Pastor…
