"Forgiving"

 

“Forgiving”

 

About four years ago Karen and I attended a ballet performance of “The Hiding Place”. It depicted the story of Corrie ten Boom, who with her family built a secret room in their house in Haarlem, Holland to shield six Jewish people from the Nazis during World War II. In early 1944 they were arrested and Corrie and her sister Betsie were eventually sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp, an imprisonment from which only Corrie survived. (Those hidden were never discovered.) In December of 1944 Corrie was released due to a “clerical error” (I’d prefer to call it the hand of God). After the war ended she traveled to many parts of the world and wrote several books describing her experiences and how her faith brought her through. Her impact is still being felt long after her Homegoing in 1983.

The highlight of the drama showed Corrie’s attending a peace conference in 1967 at which she came face-to-face with “The Snake”, a vicious female guard who was largely responsible for Betsie’s death. What would Corrie do? In the Holy Spirit’s strength (not her own) she reached out and embraced her former enemy. Corrie’s forgiveness led to “The Snake’s” finding forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ, My question: What would I have done in this situation?

The Greek word translated “forgive” is a compound one literally meaning “send away from”. Interestingly the noun form appears 17 times but the verb occurs 145 times, suggesting it’s primarily an action, not an academic concept by which we intentionally release another from an offense against us. From the cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). As Stephen, the first known Christian martyr was dying he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60). Our Lord told His disciples, “If (another believer) sins against you, rebuke (him or her); and if (he or she) repents, forgive….” (Luke 17:3, NKJV) and “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37). The Apostle Paul states the reason for our acts of forgiveness: “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13) and “Be ready to forgive others as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32, Phillips). (Emphasis added in each case.)

The only part of our Lord’s “Model Prayer” (Matthew 6:9-13) upon which He expands is “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Verse 12). In Verses 14-15 He warns, “For if you forgive (people) when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive (people) their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Emphasis added). Ouch! In other words, to be forgiven I must be forgiving. May this be my daily prayer and heart attitude towards others.

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"A Tale of Two Auditors"

 

“A Tale of Two Auditors”

 

One of the leaders in our Manchester church was a CPA who specialized in municipal audits. These are done periodically to make sure public funds are being utilized properly. (If there was a news report that someone was in trouble for cooking government books there was a reasonable chance that he was the one who found the discrepancy.)  Businesses, charitable institutions and churches would also do well to verify the accuracy of their financial records to meet responsibilities to investors and contributors, not to mention government regulators.

While my friend was an auditor whose work called for accountability of clients there’s another type of auditor: those who enroll in courses but who have no obligation to do assignments or take exams—they just want to accumulate information in areas of personal interest. Often this leads to being long on facts but short on putting them to use in daily life.

Sometimes we as believers are like those who sit in a classroom, take in a lot of knowledge but fail to put it into practice. Our Lord’s brother addressed this when he wrote, “Do not merely listen to the word…Do what it says.” (James 1:22, emphasis added). In other words, it’s inconsistent of me to “audit” Scripture but fail to live it out. Warren Wiersbe (one of my favorite authors) said in a radio broadcast, “…It is easy to think we are “spiritual” because we listen to one preacher after another, take notes, mark our Bibles, but never practice what we learn.” (Author’s emphasis). While God expects us as His people to learn His truth (“…Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”—2 Peter 3:18) its overall purpose is to shape and mature us in our faith (“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the {people} of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”—2 Timothy 3:16-17, emphasis added).

Someone has observed that life’s crises are God’s practical exams. Will I pass? The type of auditor I am will go a long way towards answering this question.

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"Taking a Bold Step"

 

“Taking a Bold Step”

 

While driving through Lakeland earlier this summer I was listening to Chicago Pastor Mark Jobe’s radio program “Bold Steps”. He told of a retired Christian businessman who came to him several years ago to ask for help for the church he’d been part of for several decades. The once-thriving church had dwindled to about 30 people, almost all senior citizens. As their discussion continued Pastor Mark offered to assist under one condition: that the church alter its ministry style to meet the needs of its changing surroundings. The members agreed and the results were phenomenal—younger families began attending, people were coming to know Christ and the staid old church experienced a new enthusiasm. After observing what God was doing the man who’d spoken to Pastor Mark said to him, “I love seeing the nursery being used again, Sunday School rooms filled with children and families worshipping together, but I hate the music! But,” he continued, “I can listen to the hymns I love on my way to and from church.” He and other long-time attenders had taken a bold step by putting their own preferences aside and God honored their willingness to change. (As a side note, this gentleman and I served on our Church Association’s Board together in the 1990’s and I saw him then as a man of great faith and commitment.)

While serving in New Hampshire our church, which had split in the late 1980’s, was reunited in 1992. With this miracle of God’s grace came changes in our approach to ministry. As new people became part of the fellowship a dear older couple (both now with the Lord) came to me and said, “The church may not be doing things the way we’d like but if it brings younger people to hear about Jesus we’re all for it.” And God blessed them and others like them who were willing to take bold steps to reach out with His love.

As we read through Acts we see many bold steps taken as the new church took Jesus’ parting command in Acts 1:8 seriously (“…You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”). At least thirteen times Dr. Luke states that the believers were “together”, suggesting they were willing to put personal desires aside and fulfill Paul’s later admonition, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4).

Am I/Are we willing to take such bold steps to obey Jesus’ Great Commission?

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan

"Being Remembered"

 

“Being Remembered”

 

One of the stops on our 2017 tour of Italy was The Vatican, including a visit to the Sistine Chapel. The famed ceiling, depicting humanity’s need for salvation which God offers through Christ, was painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. Later (from 1536 to 1541) he added a fresco on the altar wall called “The Last Judgment” showing Christ’s Second Coming and God’s final judgment of mankind. During the process the Papal Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, disapproved of the work so, likely in revenge, the artist used da Cesena’s likeness for Minos, the judge of the underworld. Furious, da Cesena went to Pope Paul III to have him order Michelangelo to remove his image but the Pope refused to do so. So da Cesena’s criticism will be remembered for as long as the building stands.

The past spring our Men’s Bible Study explored 3 John. Three men are mentioned in this brief letter, On a positive note were Gaius who is commended for his “…faithfulness to the truth….” (Verse 3) and Demetrius who was “…well spoken of by everyone….” (Verse 12). In between the Apostle warns his readers about Diotrephes “…who loves to be first, (and) will have nothing to do with us…I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. He also stops those who want to (welcome fellow believers) and puts them out of the church.” (Verses 9-10). How could such a self-centered individual become the “church boss”? Maybe he was a third generation member of a key family, a “spiritual bully” or the leading giver who thought his money talked. Whatever the reason, his name is in print in the Scripture forever (“Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”—Psalm 119:89) as a warning about putting ungodly people into church leadership.

As I reflected on how these four men are described I asked myself, “How will I be remembered?” Jesus commended the woman who anointed Him with expensive perfume just before His death by saying, “…What she has done will…be told in memory of her.” (Mark 14:9). And Paul cited Timothy’s grandmother and mother for being examples of faith to him (2 Timothy 1:5). By God’s grace, when I’m gone may I have lived up to Jon Mohr’s song (adapted):

“O may all who come behind (me) find me faithful;

May the fire of (my) devotion light their way.

May the footprints that (I) leave Lead them to believe

And the (life I lived) inspire them to obey.”

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan