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Over-indulgence and America go together like, well, America and apple pie-eating contests!

We do not seem to be able to find proper balance, do we?  I suspect the "all or nothing" mentality is at least partly responsible for what we are currently seeing in the political race for the White House.  We like fast cars, big trucks, and loud-mouthed braggarts.  If an 8 ounce steak is good, a 16 ounce is always better.  One scoop or two?  Is that a real question anymore?

We Americans over-indulge in so many ways and our economy loves it and feeds it.

• Four hours of video games a day?  Over-indulgence.
• Seventy hours at the office each week?  Over-indulgence.
• Fifteen minutes of porn on your lunch break?  Over-indulgence.
• A few beers every single night to "calm down?"  Over-indulgence.
• Thousands of dollars on hobbies and vacations?  Over-indulgence.
• Two hours or more on Facebook each day?  Over-indulgence.
• Vegging out in front of the TV for the last three hours of every day?  Over-indulgence.

And the list goes on seemingly indefinitely!  We are so out of whack.  In dire need of simplicity.  We've forgotten that sometimes less is more, but at other times more is not enough.  The Lord's wisdom comes crashing into our over-indulged, over-worked, over-stressed world:

Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags (Proverbs 23:20-21).  

Turns out, all this over-indulgence leaves us empty in the end.  But Jesus gives us the corrective:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Matt 5:6).

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [basic life necessities] will be added to you (Matt 6:33).

Oh Lord, help us over-indulge in You and You only.  Give us a hunger for You that outstrips our appetites for all other people, places, and things.  Forgive us for filling our lives with cotton candy.  Forgive us for being drunk and gluttonous on so many temporal things.  Restore to us the balance we desperately need.  Tip our scales in favor of righteousness, time in Your Word, prayer, service, discipleship and worship.  Amen.  

The woman of folly is boisterous, simple and knows nothing.  She sits at the doorway of her house on a seat by the high places of the city, calling to those who pass by, who are making their paths straight: 'Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.'  And to him who lacks understanding she says, 'Stolen water is sweet; and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.'  But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol (Proverbs 9:13-18).

Early in the Book of God's Wisdom, which we call Proverbs, we are introduced to Two Ladies.  Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly.  Both ladies call out to passersby from high places (Prov 8:1-2; 9:14-15).  Both ladies cry out to the "simple," which is the way fools or naive men lacking wisdom are referred to in Proverbs (Prov 8:4-5; 9:16).  Both ladies have a house or home and have prepared a dinner (Prov. 9:1-6; 13-17).

But notice what appears to be a a few significant differences.

• Lady Wisdom cries out to the simple to urge them to "understand wisdom" (8:5).  Lady Folly cries out to those "who are making their paths straight" and encourages them in their naivety / foolishness (8:15-16).
• Lady Wisdom speaks "noble things" and "right things" (8:6).  Lady Folly is herself a fool, lacking in wisdom (8:13).  She's got nothing noble or right to offer!
• Lady Wisdom prepares a true feast of rich meat and wine (9:2).  Lady Folly offers "stolen water" and "secret bread" (9:17).

I do not pretend to know with 100% accuracy what "stolen water" and "secret bread" really is, but I can make some educated guesses based on the wisdom given in the Book of Proverbs.  Lady Folly is lazy.  She takes what is not hers, unwilling to work for it, then offers it tantalizingly to others!  She appears to offer life-giving water, but in the end it is stolen, its true source is unknown.  Perhaps she drew it from a poisoned well?  Her table cannot be put on full public display because it has shameful bread on it, things that one would not be willing to imbibe openly.

Just how many facets of our culture and society fit under this umbrella of "stolen water" and secret bread?"

Socialism?  Steal from some people to give it to others.  And this is done forcibly by the government!

Pornography?  Steal all dignity from women, degrade them and encourage them to degrade themselves all to allow fools to drink that poison water.  The "bread" of pornography is very secret!  It offers up stolen pleasure, which was never meant to be ours in the first place.

Laziness?  Proverbs has much to say on it!  The desire to pursue or achieve life and pleasure without putting our own hands to the plow.  I saw a documentary sometime last year that chronicled the growing number of young men in America who just want to play video games, smoke dope and enjoy their checks from the government (i.e., stolen money).

But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Beware!  Stolen water and secret bread never deliver on their promises.  Once you step inside Lady Folly's front door, that door slams and you're trapped at a table full of haunting skeletons.  

Oh, if we could only hear their screams, voices from hell, before we set foot in that door.  Oh, if God would mercifully tune our ears only to that of Lady Wisdom.  For her house is really the Lord's house.  And at His right hand are "pleasures forevermore" (Ps 16:11).

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is "The Three Stooges."  Curly, Larry and Moe are still the original and best of the comedic actors specializing in "physical comedy."

Funny?  Yes!  Hilarious!

Wise?  Uh, no.  They're called stooges for a reason folks!

When frustrated with one another, Curly or Moe would often utter the now famous line: "Oh, a wise guy eh?"  What followed was usually a bash to the skull with a hammer, a finger to the eye, or a swift kick in the pants!

But all kidding aside, the world and the church desperately need more "wise guys."  Men of wisdom.  This month I invited the men of our church to join me in reading a Chapter in the Proverbs each day.  31 days of March.  31 Chapters in Proverbs, God's book of wisdom.  What's not to love?  So, at least once a week this month I will pull out a nugget from this book and expound on it briefly.  May we all grow wiser by the word and grace of God.

"My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent" (Prov 1:10).  

My son - we first note that the Book of Proverbs is written from a Dad to a son (see 1:8; 2:1; 3:1; 4:1, 10, 20; 5:1; 6:20; 7:1).  The church has suffered long in our land from a lack of father-to-son discipleship.  Men have too often abandoned their sons / children, either literally or functionally.  Workaholism and video-gamitis are taking a toll.

What a blessing it was for one of the men in our church to tell me he was reading these chapters with his sons every night this month!  That's the spirit!  Rise up O men of God!  Have done with lesser things.  Open your Bibles and read and delight and discuss with your sons / children.  The Church is surely an important partner with you in this task.  But you dare not leave it to the Church alone.  There is no surrogate, no substitute for Dad teaching his family the Word of God.  You work so hard, men, to put food on the tables.  I commend you.  Praise God for your work ethic.  But please, please, work just as hard to set before your families each day The Bread of Life.

If sinners entice you - we dare not add to God's Word, but here we might just add a side-comment that we might as well say, "When sinners entice you."  And that's really the sense of the wording here anyway, isn't it?  Solomon knows the enticement is coming.  He just wants his son to be armed, sober, on alert.

How desperately we need to warn our sons of all the enticements of this world!  Dads, we must push past our comfort zones to talk transparently, boldly, and often with our sons / children concerning sexual temptations, perversions, pornography, relationships / friendships, drugs, music, movies, corruption in business and government, and the list goes on and on.  This world and Satan will never stop their enticements until Jesus makes all things new. Sin so often looks alluring (remember Genesis 3:6).  The Bible even says sin is pleasurable for a season.  We had better be up front about the allurements assaulting us day-by-day.  People, places, things.  They can all become sinful enticements, because our flesh is weak and fallen and set on sin (Rom 8:5-8).

Do not consent - wisdom speaking here!  Do you and your sons know how to fight sin God's way?  Is your son /child saved?  Is he in Christ?  A lover of Jesus and His Word?  A hungry learner and follower of Jesus?  A son who embraces the critical sanctifying role of the church family in his life?  If not, get busy saturating that boy in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as often as humanly possible!  Stop wasting time on lesser things!  His soul is at stake and he will never be able to "not consent" to sin until he is first found in Christ.

Now, if by God's glorious grace, your son is in Christ, let me return to my original question: Do you and your sons / children know how to fight sin God's way?  Are you fighting God's way?  If your answer to either question is "no," please contact a pastor or elder brother in Christ right away and ask that man to teach you the way of holiness and to walk alongside you in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:24).  Soon enough we'll come to Proverbs 27:17.  Might as well get started now brothers!  

Be a wise guy.  For your family.  For your church.  For your world.  For the glory of God alone.

Well, there have been so many.  And then, I fear, there is so much I have not learned yet.  And I say fear because the older I get, the harder the lessons get to learn.  Thank God for grace.

Just went to see the latest Star Wars installment yesterday.  Really enjoyed it.  It picked up on the themes of the "real" Star Wars of my childhood in the 70s and 80s.  Hans Solo and Chewie and Leia returned!  What's not to love?  I really struggled to enjoy the three "back story" episodes.  Seemed somewhat disconnected and truthfully I didn't think any of those three lived up to the "original" three (which for me is Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi).  But this most recent installment was well done and took me back to familiar territory.

Although this whole series of movies is thick with Hindu and New Age theology, it is not my intent to rehash all that here.  Rather, what struck me about this latest and greatest of the ongoing (and perhaps never-ending) saga, is how so many "true fans" insisted on watching all six previous episodes before going to see this one.

Why?

They wanted to brush up on the whole story.  Make sure they got the big picture, so as to know where this most recent piece of the puzzle fits.  And that's the beauty of this whole Star Wars thing.  It's one big story.  Even if I cannot seem to put it all together yet, I'm assured by true fans it's a unified whole.

Hmmm.  Sounds a lot like the Bible to me.  I wonder how many believers in Christ spent hours and hours reading the Star Wars books and watching all six episodes in recent weeks, but they simply will not commit to reading through their Bibles in 2016?  I wonder how many Christian parents encouraged their children to read the Star Wars books and watch all the movies but think it's unreasonable for those same kids to read 4 chapters of God's Word each day in 2016?

I wonder.

God help us!  We're missing the Big Picture.  And it's so much more glorious than Star Wars.  Several times in this latest episode I heard comments about the presence of a Jedi keeping "the force in balance."  That's the best Star Wars offers?  Yin and yang?  Oh friends, I know a unified story-line far better!

Forget balance.  Trash yin and yang.  I want a Warrior-Redeemer-Savior-King and Lord to vanquish all evil and banish it from us forever.  Want to read the Greatest Story Ever Told? Click here are some reading plan options for you:

So....I just recently downloaded a lingo game on my kindle. I flipped through all the screens that gave instructions. I mean i have watched it on tv. So...who needs instructions. Well, four games later, all in the loser column, I read the instructions. Glory. .I have won a few.

Just recently, I was counseling with Pastor Keith when he opened the Bible to read. (We actually do that when we counsel). He went to 1 Thessalonians 5:14 It says this:
"And we urge you brothers..warn those who are idle. Encourage the fainthearted. Help the weak. Be patient with everyone." A set of instructions. A set of instructions so easy but so often overlooked in the area of relationship.

Over the past several weeks, I have had occasion to hear many women making relational connections. This happens everyday. And with the advent of social media, it is even more regular than face to face or phone. That being said the way we relate to one another Should be just as biblical as God expected the young church to be, no matter what medium.

So..what instructions does he give. Warn the idle. Encourage the fainthearted..help the weak. Clearly good communication starts with identifying what is happening in the life of the lady you are communicating with. For example, let's say you see a post on facebook that is talking about a self help book or a pschyatrist doctor or psychic and the post is made by a christian lady. First tendency i have is to shut that down. Warn her about the dangers of that stuff. Tell her to trust in Jesus alone. Say I do that and she resists...tells me she was just looking for hope. What do i know now that 1 Thess. Clearly tells me. I know i need to encourage her. She is fainthearted. There will be a time for that warning but right now I must encourage her. Give her the hope of Jesus who is her only hope. Teach her how to apply the gospel again to her hurt.

What about a momma who posts that she has had it. She is fed up with mothering...wants to do something that matters. How do we address that? Well, sounds like she is pretty fainthearted. .tired..discouraged...beat up. Probably doesn't need me to beat her. I wonder if i could help her. Can I do something to relieve her load because correcting her without any practical help will not ease her burden and will likely add to it. She is weak...fainthearted. She needs practcal hands on help.

How do I know when to admonish then? Look and listen. Listen for patterns of behaviour. Are they consistently sinkng in this particular way without remorse? Are they proud and arrogant in their sin? If you can honestly answer yes to these two questions...you may want to approach with warning. I suggest you go prepared to share the bible with them. The Bible is a two edged sword and pierces all the way to the marrow. Perhaps if we would use it in correction more...we would be heard more.

Another thing to check before you admonish or warn is simply asking if that lady is in accountability with another christian already. If she is..trust the Holy Spirit to work through her and wait.

Another cautiin is this...if you are in the habit of only obeying that first instruction of warning the idle but you never encourage and never help...you are out of balance. When I say this to women I hear back.." well, God just made me that way. I say what I mean. I am ditect and forthright. God understands that." I hear this and similar statements as reasons why women are hurting other women with harsh correction. Think on this...Galatians says to say all things with gentleness. No exceptions or excuses. Do you correct with gentleness? Would God ask you to do sonething he would not empower you to do? Speak truth..by all means. But do it in love and gentleness. And walk this in balance. Correction should be a very small part of everyday relationship. Encouragement and help are the main bulk of how we should be communicating with each other.

The last but most importabt thing i must say is this: to correct before you pray is sinful. The only perfect person is God. He is the only one with no agenda...no heart issues...no selfishness. To correct without praying first suggests that you do not need God or his wisdom. You do not need him to search your own heart or to clean the log out of your own eye first. That is pride and pride.. ladies..goes before a fall. If you are correcting each other without praying..do not be surprised when relationships fail. I am guilty of this. So guilty. And it causes so much harm. I beg you seek God's face BEFORE you admonish.

So...admonish the idle...encourage the fainthearted...help the weak and BE PATIENT WITH EVERYONE. i have much praying to do about how i relate. Thank God for amazing grace.

R. C. Sproul has been teaching sound theology to the Church for many decades.  I have been using his St. Andrew's Commentary on Acts from time to time this year to help me prepare sermons.  Today, I came across this section in his commentary, which I quote / paste at length below without further comment.  Read it and you'll know why!

Government and Christian Practice

I believe I am supposed to submit to the civil magistrates even when I disagree with them, so while I will not endorse a candidate, I will try to influence my congregation on how to vote. The Word of God has much to say that is instructive for how we vote. First, we have to understand what a vote is. The word vote comes from the Latin votum, which means “will.” We have an opportunity in our country to express our will by casting our vote in favor of what we want to see happen in the government. In a very real though invisible sense, the ballot is a bullet. Anytime you cast your vote, you are asking that certain policies and laws be enacted, backed, and enforced by the full magnitude of the power of civil government. We are to be careful and thoughtful in the process. The purpose of voting is not what we can get from the government for ourselves. We are to vote for what is right, not for our personal gain.

Today there is no shame in someone’s saying, “I’m voting my pocketbook.” However, in order for the government to put money in people’s pocketbooks, that money first has to be taken from other citizens in order for them to receive it. The government does not produce anything; in other words, the government cannot give to someone what it does not first take away from someone else. When you vote for your own largesse, you are asking the government to use all its force to take from your brother and sister their private property and give it to you.

Several years ago I lodged in Mississippi at a hotel that was hosting a convention of the Mississippi Pork Producers Association. Affixed to walls and bulletin boards all over the hotel were large pie graphs that showed how Mississippi pork producers were using government subsidies in their private business. Far and away the largest segment in the pie depicted monies used to promote and advertise pork as the meat of choice. The pork producers would have little success if they were to ask producers of beef to turn over a portion of their market share, so they ask the government to take money from the profits of the cattlemen and others of us and give it to them. The request is perfectly legal, but it is also immoral and unethical to ask the government for a special subsidy for private enterprise. It is sin, but it is the American way. Washington is filled with lobby groups that do this every day. The lobbyists ask for legislation not for what is right or good for the welfare of the nation but for their vested interests. Voting your vested interests as a Christian is a sin. I plead with you not to join in this activity.

Several years ago, I had dinner with the chairman of the Senate Financing Committee. During our conversation, I asked the senator why he wasn’t attending to various issues that clearly needed to be dealt with at the time. He agreed that the issues I put before him were all important concerns but said he could not address them during an election year. So I said, “Senator, is there anybody in Washington who is thinking about the next generation instead of the next election?”

Alexis de Tocqueville said that there are two things that can destroy America. First, America can be destroyed by the rich and powerful who buy their way into office and use their wealth and power to exploit the poor. Second, America can be destroyed when people discover that they can vote for personal largesse. Either of those will destroy a nation and turn it into the tyranny of the majority. When economics are politicized, when people are encouraged to vote their pocketbooks rather than their conscience, national destruction will follow.

I heard one candidate in a presidential race say again and again that he planned to create a tax relief program for 98 percent of Americans. What about that other 2 percent? Are they to be robbed for the financial gain of the 98 percent? That is not God’s way. The Israelite tithe was established on a level playing field. Everybody was required to pay the same percentage; there was no graduated or progressive income tax in Israel. Nobody can play politics with the tithe. Some paid one hundred times more than another, but all paid the same percentage. He would not allow somebody to vote a tax on his neighbor that was not a tax on himself. If you vote for a 98 percent tax reduction, you are simultaneously voting for a 2 percent tax increase on others, an increase that you likely do not have to pay. That is not justice. That is not equitable. It is legalized theft, and we do it every day.

For years in England William Wilberforce lost vote after vote year in and year out when he pled with parliament for the abolition of slavery, but slavery was so connected to the economic welfare of England that his cries of protest went unheeded. He kept arguing and pleading and calling upon Parliament to stop the ungodly activity of man stealing. Finally England’s conscience was moved and slavery was abolished. Slavery is the second worst ethical issue ever to divide the United States of America. Even more serious than slavery is the governmental sanction on the wanton destruction of 1.5 million unborn human beings every year in this nation. My book about abortion, A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue, went quickly out of print. Ligonier has provided educational materials for churches, but pastors won’t use them for fear it will divide their congregation. I say, “So what? Let it divide the congregation. We’re talking about the sanctity of life here.”

The Didache, one the most important extracanonical books of the early church, didn’t shrink from calling abortion what it is—murder—and said the church must never be involved in it. Today it has become part of the acceptable fabric of America, and nobody is crying foul. The church is not asking at this point for the state to become the church when we tell the state to stop sanctioning this holocaust. The church is asking the state to be the state, because the primary reason for the existence of the state in the first place is to protect, maintain, and sustain the sanctity of human life. When a state ceases to do that, it has become not only pagan but barbarian.

The primary issues in the presidential elections of today are involvement with the Middle East, terrorism, and the economy. Abortion is way down at the bottom of the list. Personally, I could not sleep if I ever cast a ballot for a candidate who supported abortion on demand. That trumps every other ethical issue of our time. I plead with you as Christians that when you walk into the voting booth, don’t leave your Christianity in the parking lot. Let your mind be informed by the Word of God. I have been studying theology all my life, and if I know anything about the character of God, I know that God hates abortion. There are other ways to deal with unwanted pregnancies than the physical destruction of the unborn. So I hope you vote your conscience, not your vested interest or your pocketbook. I hope you will vote for righteousness and justice as your conscience is informed by the Word of God. Until or unless we do that, God will give us leaders after our own hearts, which is a scary thing.

—St. Andrew's Expositional Commentary

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing" (1 Peter 4:12-13).

Representative Randy Forbes (R - Va) leads the Congressional Prayer Caucus.  He has started a new initiative called "Faith-It-Forward."  You can learn more here.

While I am not questioning the Congressman's motive, and while I intend to do all I can through legal channels to protect 1st Amendment rights of all Americans, I find this particular effort both sad and amusing.

This is an attempt to gather all the stories of religious folks doing good in their world, as well as an effort to show off certain religious people who have proven quite successful in their occupational fields.  The bottom line, per Mr. Forbes, is "We need to change the narrative."  Forbes believes the narrative of religion (and it's obvious he has especially in mind Christianity) has been warped by mainstream media and those who oppose us.  In that he is surely correct.  But where he errs is in thinking we can somehow change people's minds by plastering how "good" we are all over Facebook!  And he errs in thinking we should expect the world to get our story right!

Sure, Jesus did say, "Let your light shine among men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matt 5:16).  But two things stand out here:

1. Jesus surely did not mean His followers were to conduct publicity or marketing campaigns to show off their holy living!  It should be noted that in the same sermon, Jesus also told His followers, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven" (Matt 6:1).  Jesus went on to warn us of making a show of our prayers or generosity - the very thing this campaign is seeking to do!
2. Jesus' main concern is that God receive all the glory for any good done by His people.  So, Christians are to live in such a way that any praise is immediately and by default deflected upwards to God alone.

These are increasingly perilous times for the Christian Church and followers of Jesus.  I get that.  I am concerned by that, believe me.  I'm not keen on doing jail time for preaching God's Word, nor do I enjoy the ongoing erosion of our Constitutional freedoms and rights as Americans.  I am praying God will help us and turn our nation back towards the ideals that Founded the United States of America.

But here's what I think we Christians have forgotten: America is an anomaly.  The freedom of religion we have enjoyed for a few hundred years has never been the norm.  Jesus promised to build His Church, not America!  And build the Church He has, with or without governmental endorsement.  Don't take my word for it.  Ask the brothers and sisters in China.  In Sudan. In North Korea.  In Syria.  In Myanmar.  In 1st century Rome.

So, dear American believers in Christ, be not shaken or surprised!  R. Kent Hughes once wrote, "Those God royally elects, He ruthlessly perfects."  God is perfecting His Bride.  Christ is purifying us, O Church.  Give Him glory!  As Peter urged persecuted believers in his day, "keep on rejoicing."

And do not forget that our identity and success has never been tied to the world's "narrative."  Indeed, the true narrative of the Church has been one of blood, sweat and cross-bearing.  Why would we expect anything less?  We do follow a crucified and risen Lord, don't we?  We need not worry about trying to make the world like us.  They never have.  They never will.  Read Jesus' words in John 16:18-27 again.

It's not us they primarily hate.  It's Jesus.  The world is still trying to crucify Him.  But it is our joyful job to just keep begging as Christ's ambassadors that sinners "be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:20).  And as those sinners, by God's saving grace, are reconciled, we shall once again be reminded that our Savior said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew 6:12

The nation and perhaps the world has been watching Charleston, SC this week.  A deranged and heart-dark young man murdered 9 worshipers in cold blood while they prayed together in a church building.  Perhaps this deluded racist hoped to spark more riots?  Cause even more bloodshed?  Wreak even more havoc in the aftermath?

Well, if he wanted these things, he picked the wrong venue.  He may well have gotten riots if he shot up a downtown nightclub or bar.  But he chose a Christian church.  A place where people learn Christ.

Those precious followers of Christ whose loved ones are being buried this week gathered in the courtroom recently to address the murderer.  One by one they announced love and forgiveness.  Not hate and bitterness.

While I do not want to disparage these brothers and sisters in Christ in any way, I do want to take the opportunity to remind the flock I pastor that despite best intentions, publicly announcing your forgiveness to an unrepentant person is not always the wisest or most biblical course of action.  Why?  How could forgiving someone be wrong?  I didn't say forgiving someone is wrong.  I said publicly announcing it may not be wise.  Let me explain.

I find the lack of understanding among Christians concerning forgiveness is wide-spread.  So, let me try and summarize the basics concerning biblical forgiveness, noting that I am indebted to my seminary counseling professor, Dr. Stuart Scott, for many of these insights:

• Forgiveness in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, is viewed in two ways.  One, there is the heart attitude of forgiveness.  This type of forgiveness deals with our own hearts, and bids us release the offender to the sovereign hand of God.  This forgiveness says, “I will not hold this sin against you, nor will I allow your sin to make me bitter, or to make me harbor anger towards God or you.  I will guard my own heart before God and release you to Him.”  We can do this kind of forgiveness without ever telling the offender and without the offender ever repenting and asking for our forgiveness.  [Indeed it’s not really recommended to tell the person you’ve forgiven them in this sense if they’ve never repented, because it makes them think they’re now “off the hook” in the repentance department.]
• Followers of Christ are absolutely obligated and commanded to give this kind of forgiveness, whether or not the offender ever repents.  If we do not forgive from our hearts, releasing the person to God and refusing to allow bitterness to control us, then Jesus plainly states we are none of His (Matt 6:14-15).
• The second way forgiveness is presented in the NT is a pardoning transaction that reconciles the offended and the offender.  The first type of forgiveness deals with our own heart attitudes, but this type deals with an actual transaction whereby the two people or parties are brought together again on friendly terms.  This requires repentance on the part of the offender.  This is clearly the type of forgiveness Jesus had in mind in passages like Matthew 18:21-22 and Luke 17:1-4.  This is also the forgiveness God extends to us when we repent and turn to Jesus in faith (Mark 1:15).  O blessed reconciliation wrought for us by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross (Rom 5:6-11).  We were God’s enemies, but His grace has brought us near Him (Eph 2:11-22).  Praise God!  He forgives repentant sinners!
• So, forgiveness in the Bible is in two senses: one is vertical (between the offended and God), the other is horizontal (between the offended and the offender).  And both glorify God in Christ!

The crux of the matter is best captured in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt 18:23-35).  Without belaboring the point, we may easily summarize the truth in this way: “The Forgiven Forgive!”  An unforgiving spirit (vertical) or an outright withholding of forgiveness in the face of obvious repentance (horizontal) are sure signs that genuine salvation in Christ has simply not taken root in your heart.

Just as we are called to love as Jesus loves, so too we are commanded to “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:32).  That’s a verse we recite many times a week in our house!

So, while the spirit of those saints in Charleston is commendable, they may have been a bit wiser to have simply told the criminal, "May God forgive you and have mercy on your soul."  This is a bit different and a more biblical approach than just saying, "I forgive you" when the person has shown zero remorse.

Jesus hung a cross and demonstrated both kinds of forgiveness.  Looking on His tormentors in pity, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  Jesus did not look at them and say, "It's alright.  I forgive you."  But Jesus did forgive a repentant criminal hanging beside him!  He told that man, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise!"

We do well to look to the example of our sinless Savior in these matters.  Only then will we be able to "forgive one other, even as God in Christ has forgiven you."

And yes, we pray for a sweeping revival across this land of true, biblical forgiveness.  First from God to repentant sinners as He draws them to faith in Christ.  And second from persons to persons, starting within the church, and flowing out into the streets and farms of this nation.  Soli Deo Gloria!  

What's the difference in a typical male college student these days and a college president?

Well, besides an actual college degree and probably a Masters and/or Doctoral degree, the answer is quite simply:

Work Ethic.  

Check out this short article from Eastern Kentucky University regarding a deal made on Twitter between a student and the EKU President:

http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/EKU-president-shovels-students-driveway-as-part-of-Twitter-deal-292310071.html

If I were this student's Dad or Mom, I would be ashamed.  While some may say this was just "all in fun," I think it speaks to a far deeper issue among young men today.

Laziness.

Why is that young, healthy college-aged man not shoveling his own driveway, as well as offering to shovel a few elderly neighbors' drives too?  I wonder how that young man spent the day while his university president shoveled his snow?  I'm sure he was studying hard and being highly productive.

Forgive my sarcasm.  I do not know this young man.  But I do know what is happening among young men in America is disturbing.  Fatherlessness plays a huge role.  Absentee fathers play a big role.  But even still, at some point, men have to stand on their own two feet and "man up."

Go to the ant, O sluggard.  Observe her ways and be wise, which having no chief or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest.  How long will you lie down, O sluggard?  When will you arise from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of hands to rest - Your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like an armed man (Proverbs 6:6-11).

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14).

Church, we've got to love young men enough to call out their sinful laziness and maybe even put a size 10 against their backsides from time to time.  If we do not, who will shovel snow and keep this country and her families and churches and communities and businesses running strong?