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There is no question that Mark’s behavior is inexcusable. Actions have consequences and he will be dealing with those consequences for a long while. Trust has been broken and will need to be rebuilt. Mark will need to earn back that trust, first and foremost with his family, and also with the people of South Carolina.

The real issue now is one of forgiveness. I am willing to forgive Mark for his actions. We have been deeply disappointed in and even angry at Mark. The Bible says, “In your anger do not sin.” (Psalm 4:4) In this situation, this speaks to the essence of forgiveness and the critical need to channel one’s energy into positive steps that uphold the dignity of marriage and the family, and lead to reconciliation over time. My forgiveness is essential for us both to move on with our lives, with peace, in whatever direction that may take us.

Read the entire statement here.

In Luke 23:34, Jesus is crying out a prayer for God’s people, and asking Him to forgive them.

From the Heart of the Pastor reflects on Luke 23:34:

“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

Have you ever thought about the meaning of true forgiveness?  It means that the one offended treats the offender as though the offense never occurred. You reject the offense and send away its “hurt/sting” so that the offender is free of the imputation and the accompanying ill will.

Have you ever considered the requirement God has placed upon you to forgive?

Refusing to forgive is a sin bearing eternal consequences: For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions (Mt. 6:14f.).  Paul says Christians are marked by their bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.  And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity (Col. 3:13f.).  Christ took upon Himself the nature of those He would save in order that those saved would take on the nature of the One who saved them (Tit. 2:14).

Have you ever addressed the process of forgiving?  You must shed the perceived grievance.  You must surrender your “self” to the extent of Christ’s own yieldedness:

For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.  You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin (Heb. 12:3f.).  Christians are committed to forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead (Phil. 3:13).  Nevertheless, exclusion is easier than expulsion – guard against beginnings.  How is this accomplished?

Have you ever reflected upon the insulators you should have established in your spiritual infrastructure so that you will forgive most quickly before a root of bitterness has sprung up?

• [Love] is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered (I Cor. 13:5).  Love is not quick-tempered and refuses to perceive an injustice by refusing to impute evil motives.  The lover receives all matters in a light most favorable to the offeror.
• Your position is that of the Apostle Paul’s: I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ (Phil. 3:8).  When you disabuse yourself of holding onto perceived rights, you will not refuse forgiveness.
• You capture the mind of Christ and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (I Cor. 2:16; II Cor. 10:5).  What does this mean practically?  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things (Phil. 4:8).

Is this lofty standard of forgiveness achievable?  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13).

Soli Deo Gloria!

You can click here to open/print this devotional from a pdf file.

In light of the opinion issued by the California Supreme Court yesterday and the position the three major candidates are taking on that issue, perhaps the following may allow the direction for our Lord:

“How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Ps. 137:4).

Has our own nation become as foreign soil to those desiring to live godly in Christ Jesus? Has America become as an alien land to the saints of biblical promise? Has the land of the free and the home of the brave given birth to such aberrant cultural leanings that Christians are such prisoners of societal pressures that their new hearts are no longer allowed to openly sing God’s new songs? Has unrighteousness so captivated an entire nation that the righteous have become shy in their proclamation of righteousness?

In an audio by Reverend Iain H. Murray of April 26th, A.D. 2003 entitled John Wesley, Why are we interested in the Methodists?, he reads from a man addressing the national import of a subtle non-applied gospel to those who are perishing:

“Men who are destitute of the gospel are destitute of the only appointed means of salvation; there are no other means of fitting men for heaven; there is no other means of turning them from darkness to light. A community without gospel preaching – there is nothing worth living for in that community. It may be rich in rivers, in ore and luxuriant in soil; it may be watered as the plains of Sodom and as accursed as they. I would not educate a family of children in such a community for all the prairies between the Alleghenies and the Rocky Mountains.

Of what value are lands, rivers and forests if the pearl of great price is not there!”

Material prosperity has displaced spiritual concerns in our great land. Morality has become confused with Christianity. The ancient paths of seasonal prayer, the family governing itself in the way of the Lord and observing the Lord’s Day as God directs has been forfeited (Jer. 6:16). The necessity of Christians coming to a personal conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit taking out the heart of stone and applying the law of God to the hearts of men is no longer deemed an essential in our homes and churches.

Many Americans have become accomplished manipulators of their preferences. They deny certain responsibilities and yet cry for improved positions. Every person is responsible for his own advancement in this world premised upon his birth-talents, the skills he has labored to hone through disciplined living and the blessings that have flowed to him from the Lord. Academics, societal civility, the virtues of the ages and personal improvement suffer severely when a culture condescends to violate James 2:9 by showing partiality to the undeserving at the expense of those who are laboring in the vineyards.

John Winthrop’s Christian political philosophy, following Augustine and Calvin, was not starkly individualistic. The new covenant John Winthrop articulated upon our American shores was radically different from a social contract, because the covenant was not merely an agreement between the citizenry of the settlers, but primarily a commitment to God. The social/cultural/political