Forgiveness – Page 2

Digging in Deeper: Ephesians 4:31-32

January 17, 2025Leave a comment

“Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I remember a day when cartoons were just for kids and they were mostly silly. In the early 90s, though, cartoons began to mature some. They were still designed for kids, but they started telling more nuanced and complex stories. Actually, they started telling stories period. No longer could you just watch one episode and not wonder or worry about anything else. They became episodic. And they were good. Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series which later combined to become The Justice League and eventually Justice League: Unlimited, Spider-Man, X-Men, Gargoyles, and more like them changed the way a whole generation of kids – including me – watched and thought about cartoons. Today animation has become a vehicle for mature and in-depth storytelling that takes viewers on a grand adventure while exploring large and important themes. And I’m not just talking about anime which I have just never taken to liking. One of the more recent entries into the genre is the Netflix series, Arcane. Let’s talk about what works, what doesn’t, and why, once again, the Gospel lies at its heart.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 34:1-4

October 3, 2024October 3, 20241 Comment

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be prepared by morning. Come up Mount Sinai in the morning and stand before me on the mountaintop. No one may go up with you; in fact, no one should be seen anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and herds are not to graze in front of that mountain. Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had to start over? Sometimes, in order to make forward progress, you have to start over. You have to go back to where you began and treat everything you’ve done before like it never happened. This isn’t easy to do. It takes a lot of both humility and courage. But when things aren’t going the way they should, a good reset can get them back on the right track; the track they should have been on all along. As we get into chapter 34 here, Moses and Israel get to start over. Let’s reflect a bit on how incredible this was, and why what we have in Jesus is better.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 33:1-6

September 24, 202463 Comments

“The Lord spoke to Moses: ‘Go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your offspring. I will send an angel ahead of you and will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.’ When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn’t put on their jewelry. For the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites: You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’ So the Israelites remained stripped of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever wounded a relationship? The odds are pretty good that you have. We all seem to possess a remarkable ability to hurt the people around us even when we don’t mean to. In such situations, being forgiven is a wonderfully freeing thing. That extension of God’s grace is incredible to experience. But forgiveness is no the same as restoring the relationship. That takes something more. That takes repentance. And while forgiveness is a very good thing, an invitation into repentance is even better. Let’s talk about what we see happening in this next part of our story.

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Morning Musing: Colossians 3:12-13

September 13, 2024September 18, 2024Leave a comment

“Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever been stuck? There are all kinds of ways to be stuck. We can be stuck in traffic. We can be stuck on a math problem. We can be stuck on a vehicle repair. We can be stuck on a writing assignment. We can be stuck on a word puzzle. Being stuck isn’t much fun, especially when we can’t immediately see how to get ourselves unstuck. As frustrating as all of those different forms of being stuck can be, there’s another that can be even harder to experience. We can be relationally stuck. Getting stuck in the context of a relationship can feel like it puts our entire life on hold. Even being relationally stuck, though, can come from a number of different sources such that getting unstuck can feel almost impossible. Today, let’s talk about a way to help us move forward when we’re relationally stuck that works in almost every situation.

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Digging in Deeper: Colossians 3:12-13

July 13, 2024July 26, 2024Leave a comment

Yesterday was a family day, and family comes first. So, with a rare Saturday post, here’s the final post for this week. One of the great things about the Gospel story is that it lies at the heart of nearly all of the stories we tell. That’s why I am able to write up reviews of so many different series and movies from the standpoint of their Gospel connection. Sometimes you have to look a little harder than others, but it’s nearly always there. Looking for these connections allows us to engage with the stories we tell through the lens of what is true. The latest opportunity I’ve had to do this is with the latest entry in the Despicable Me series. Let’s talk about Despicable Me 4.

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