Category Archives: Forgiveness

The Mountain

August 9, 2025 By in Forgiveness, Repentance, Woundedness 1 Comment

Tell the mountain to be moved and cast into the sea?

So many times we hear the faith preachers tell us that if we have enough faith then we can cast any mountain into the sea and everything will be good.

But what if that was not what the Lord was only implying in Mark 11:22-23?

Maybe the emphasis instead should be placed on Mark 11:25:

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Forgiveness is one of the keys to unleashing God’s power in your life.

Unforgiveness, however, is like living in a strong box that we constantly push against and keeps us in bondage.

What if “the mountain,” therefore, is our accumulated hurts, bitterness, rejection, or feelings of abandonment and despair over wrongs we might legitimately have suffered?

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Fellowship

March 4, 2021 By in Confession, Fellowship, Forgiveness Leave a comment

What is fellowship?

Koinonia is the Greek word most closely related to New Testament fellowship. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament defines it as “fellowship, association, community, communion or joint participation.” Koinonia embraces the idea of a close knit community where people are invested in one another.

Christian fellowship usually occurs in a small group where people can openly share their thoughts, insights and concerns with one another. Fellowship could be an “official” meeting at a set time and place or it could be two friends eating lunch together.

True fellowship, however, involves being willing to be transparent.

Transparency – oh, that can be hard.

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The Power of the Gospel

July 8, 2015 By in Confession, Discipleship, Forgiveness, Jail, Redemption, Repentance 1 Comment

I went to the jail yesterday with another brother named John to be with one of the indigenous churches we helped start there.

When we arrived, John felt the Lord’s prompting to ask if anyone was struggling with anything and wanted some one-on-one help. A young man raised his hand and I met with him alone while John remained with the larger group of about twenty inmates.

God and Man

As we talked, that young man openly confessed and released to the Lord years of hurts and regrets he had suffered. The pain he carried from the abuse he suffered as a boy contributed to addictions and emotional enslavement, which had been destroying his life. As he began to expose and gave them to the Lord, Jesus met him in a very personal way.

Then, without prompting, he started talking about all the stupid sins he had committed in reaction to the wrongs he had suffered at the hands of others. He began crying and asked how to be free from the guilt and weight of his own wrongs.

I find that’s often the case: When we forgive others for their wrongs against us, we often experience genuine conviction as we clearly see for the first time the significance of our own sins.

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Repentance

July 24, 2013 By in Courage, Forgiveness, Repentance 3 Comments

In the New Testament, repentance means to change the way that we think and act. Without the Lord, this would be impossible. However, when we bring, and then surrender, our thoughts, beliefs and actions to the Lord, He replaces them with peace, truth and hope. True repentance brings transformation.

gardenI love to work in my garden. Have you ever dug a large hole in hard clay to plant a bush? I think repentance requires many of the same steps.

When I dig the hole, I expend a tremendous amount of energy. Being willing to openly expose my sins and faults to the Lord also requires much effort.

Sometimes my feet hurt from stomping down on the shovel as I try to break through the hard soil. Likewise, there have been times when my body, soul and spirit ache as I struggle and my heart can feel like heavy, solid clay.

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Real Grace

May 29, 2013 By in Confession, Forgiveness, Grace, Grace Movement, Repentance, Sin 6 Comments

Facebook seems to be a hot bed for the new distorted view of “grace”.

taking-up-your-crossThe other day someone posted that through grace, God finds our sin acceptable. He thus no longer “deals” with sin in our lives – and we are free of sin – because it no long exists.

According to their “logic”, sin ceases to an issue in our lives because it ceases to be considered sin by God.

That neat theological sleight of hand was followed by lots of “likes” and “amens”.

To deny the reality of sin and its bondage – and to say God doesn’t deal with sin in our lives or that we are free of sin – is an abuse of grace.

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Pastoral Counseling

April 12, 2013 By in Confession, Counseling, Forgiveness, Healing, Repentance 2 Comments

Several ministries are offering a free class in Pastoral Counseling on Wednesday evenings in Prince William County, Virginia, beginning April 17, 2013, from 7:00 to 9:30 pm.

The class is open to all members of the Body of Christ from local churches (not just “pastors”!), and likely will run about twelve weeks.

To give some idea of the type of counseling we will be teaching others to do, I’ve reprinted below a blog about one session I had with a deeply troubled man last year.

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Letting Go

March 3, 2013 By in Bondage, Confession, Forgiveness, Repentance Leave a comment

For most Christians, the greatest struggle is not resisting sin but in being willing to let go of our hurts. More than sin, we allow our hurts to define us, and find it difficult to leave the familiarity of our pain for the unfamiliarity of a truly new life in Christ. Even among Christians, few risk the grace of confession, forgiveness and repentance to become whole and complete in Him.

Really, it’s not that difficult…

Here’s a story of one man’s journey: Getting to Simple.

Les Miserables

December 30, 2012 By in Epiphany, Faith, Forgiveness, Grace, Redemption 4 Comments

Marianne and I have never recommended a movie on our blog, but yesterday we went on a date and saw the new movie, Les Miserables.

Twenty or so years ago I saw the Broadway play in New York, and it was powerful. But the movie is … amazing.

I was hesitant to go to the movie, because I expected the original Christian themes of redemptive grace and forgiveness in Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel to be watered down, if not eliminated. After all, that’s the way of Hollywood. They take culture created by Christians and bastardize it.

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Hyper Grace – Part 2

December 13, 2012 By in Confession, Forgiveness, Grace, Love, Repentance, Truth, Works 6 Comments
Hyper Grace – Part 2

Real people want real answers and real freedom from real issues – not just the tidy platitudes of half truths.

Maybe that’s what has shaped my strong reaction to hyper grace, which is really half grace: It cannot offer real freedom from real issues because it seeks the grace of God’s affirming love and presence, but not the grace of His transforming truth and rule.

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Life or Reaction?

August 27, 2012 By in Abuse, Confession, Forgiveness, Healing, Liberty, Life 3 Comments

So much of our “theology” (and we all have “theology”!) is forged these days by hurts.

The Bible has been used as a club to beat us into conformity, so we reject its plenary authority.

Our need for mercy has been abused, so we latch onto a concept of grace that excludes the Lord’s occasional rebuke and discipline.

We have suffered from authoritarian leadership or a controlling church, so we become autonomous and discount the need for healthy, accountable community.

We realize that some pet doctrines were wrong, so we seek a purely existential Jesus and cringe at objective truth.

In doing so, we are reacting to hurts, wrongs and mistakes – rather than embracing life.

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Finding Freedom From Life’s Hurts

July 9, 2012 By in Confession, Counseling, Forgiveness, Grace, Healing, Pain, Repentance, Truth, Woundedness Leave a comment
Finding Freedom From Life’s Hurts

This is a fifty-five minute teaching I shared with about thirty men, based on hundreds of pastoral counseling sessions where God showed up and brought freedom and healing from deep hurts – including abuse, abandonment and so much more.

My blog is a feeble attempt to upload a lifetime of service to the King of Kings. I believe this audio teaching, however, captures better than anything I’ve written some of the most significant things I’ve learned as I’ve walked with folks to those ugly places of bondage and hurt in their lives. When we get there, and they exposed their hurts and lies to the Lord, He brings His loving, healing truth.

In this talk, I also share some of my own very personal story about my own places of hurt, which I had to expose to Lord so He could then bring wholeness to me.

You may think you know me from my writings, but this captures my heart in ways that a written blog never can.

 
If this resonates with you, I also recommend my related blog, God Shows Up.

The Road to Grace

November 21, 2011 By in Confession, Forgiveness, Grace, Institutional Church, Mercy, Organic Church, Redemption, Repentance 11 Comments

For the institutionally religious, the road to grace is the toughest journey they’ll ever face.

For me, this certainly has been the case. And although the road to grace has been a wonderful journey, there have been many bumps and detours along the way. But slowly, I’m finally starting to find my way forward.

It’s Jesus in me and Jesus through me, so that it becomes possible to have Jesus in us and Jesus through us.

So much of my life over the last five years has been about the Lord reducing me to that simple truth.

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I Saw Satan Fall

October 20, 2011 By in Bondage, Confession, Counseling, Forgiveness, Redemption, Repentance 1 Comment

On Tuesday evening, I understood how Jesus felt when his disciples finally “got it” and reported back, after He sent them out to minister on their own for the first time, that the sick were healed and darkness conquered. In His joy, the Lord said He saw Satan fall from Heaven because of them.

On Tuesday I’m teaching and mentoring a class of students on how to minister in the areas of confession, forgiveness and repentance. After seven weeks of foundation laying, the students this week started doing ministry sessions on their own and – wow! – it was amazing what God did through them that evening.

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Christian Counseling Class

August 29, 2011 By in Christian, Confession, Counseling, Forgiveness, Healing, Ministry, Repentance Leave a comment

I will be teaching a semester-long Christian counseling class beginning next Tuesday, September 6th, through early December. We will be meeting every Tuesday evening at my home just south of Manassas, Virginia, from 7:00 to 9:15 pm.

The course is being offered through Emmanuel Christian Institute, in conjunction with Fulcrum Ministries, for a very modest $200 (this fee goes to ECI for much appreciated administrative support, not me!).

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Transparent

April 17, 2010 By in Confession, Faith, Forgiveness, Healing, Jail, Prayer, Repentance 1 Comment

My spiritual DNA — the way God put me together — makes me instinctively encourage others to give away what God has given them. Sharing God’s blessings is a key component to spiritual growth, I’ve found.

I often teach and minister in a faith-based dorm at the local jail. Rather than me “leading” this Friday, however, I took a seat among them and let the men bless each other by sharing what God is showing them and doing in their lives.

Some rose to sing songs they wrote to the Lord, some read and commented on short passages of scripture that had become alive to them, while others gave testimony to how God is now healing and making them whole men.

One brother read a poem he wrote about dealing with the issues of his heart and finding healing through confession, repentance and forgiveness. I’ve seen tremendous peace and maturity emerge over the last couple of months as he’s been totally transparent with the Lord — even though it’s sometimes hard and painful to expose those secret and hidden places to Him.

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Whole Health

March 5, 2010 By in Confession, Counseling, Faith, Forgiveness, Healing, Repentance 2 Comments

The more pastoral counseling I do, the more I realize how often people deal with life’s traumas, hurts and disappointments by suppressing either their mind, their heart, or their spirit – and thus some vital aspect of who God created them to be.

integrated_wholeFor example, instead of being healthy, integrated people, they numb out or otherwise retreat exclusively into the realm of their minds – i.e., their analytical logic and reason – to the exclusion of their heart and their spirit.

They are alive, but hardly living – as they deny themselves the catharsis of honest emotions and the wonder of new-found belief.

For others, their heart is the oppressor as they subjugate their mind and spirit to their feelings and sensibilities.

Some even allow their spirit to squelch their minds and hearts by super-spiritualizing everything, and treating reason and emotions as irredeemably corrupt.

I now realize that God created our mind, heart and spirit to be equally vital aspects of the whole, complete individuals He wants us to be.

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Repentance, Forgiveness and the Kingdom of God

February 13, 2010 By in Confession, Counseling, Forgiveness, Healing, Kingdom of God, Ministry, Repentance 2 Comments

Recorded before a group of men in the local jail, this 55 minute audio teaching explains how we find peace and freedom when we allow God, through authentic Biblical confession, repentance and forgiveness, to change what we think, believe and perceive. That, in turn, allows us to know the righteousness, peace and joy that comes from finding and doing His will — which is what the Kingdom of God is all about.

This teaching arises from hundreds of intense pastoral counseling sessions through Fulcrum Ministries. In those sessions, I’ve seen how God uses Biblically authentic confession, repentance and forgiveness to bring quick resolution and lasting freedom from the lies, hurts and deceptions we carry from life’s circumstances — including routine disappointments to extreme situations like sexual abuse, occult ritual practices, childhood abandonment and many other life-crippling situations.

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Regeneration

November 2, 2009 By in Absolutes, Conversion, Evangelical, Faith, Forgiveness, Grace, Repentance, Sin 1 Comment

A friend posted this short video on Facebook and it’s too precious, timely and relevant to pass up. As you listen, may God mercifully and lovingly wound you in order to heal you.

It’s by Paul Washer, who I first mentioned in a blog back in March (see God Is Not Passive). His burden for the Church touched my heart then, and continues to do so now.

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Fellowship and Light

June 1, 2009 By in Church, Faith, Forgiveness, Grace, Healing, Impropriety, Leadership, Repentance, Truth 1 Comment

Self Delusion

Self Delusion

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:5-9 (KJV)

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Conversion

April 11, 2009 By in Christian, Conversion, Forgiveness, Repentance, Tears 7 Comments

It’s interesting how God sometimes returns us to our spiritual roots, even while we are pressing forward in the faith.

Forty-three years ago on Resurrection Sunday, 1966, I became a Christian at eight years of age in response to a sermon preached by George Batson.

George was then a young Assemblies of God pastor starting his first church in Annapolis, Maryland, and my parents were among the first members of his young congregation.
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