“Just as a nebulous confession will result in a nebulous sense of forgiveness, a nuanced confession will result in a nuanced sense of forgiveness. If you don’t get to the root issue, you’ll be confessing the same symptoms over and over again.”- Mark Batterson “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never […]
“To confess our sins — especially together in community — is an act of solidarity. It’s a practice reminding us that we are all on equal footing, all in need of grace; that we have all sinned and have been sinned against; that we are in the same broken family.”- Rich Villodas “Now the whole […]
“Can you imagine flying a jet without a parachute? Many do. Eternal insecurity extracts joy from many people. Only Christ guarantees a safe landing. . . . No one but Jesus ‘buckles you in.’ You may slip — indeed you will — but you will not fail. Hence the invitation to believe in him.”- Max […]
“Confession breaks the cycle of chaos inside of me. Forgiveness breaks the cycle of chaos between us.”- Lysa TerKeurst As Lysa TerKeurst concludes Chapter 14 of Forgiving What We Can’t Forget, she examines the differences between feeling and living. Specifically, Lysa lists feeling versus living – angry, offended, skeptical, wronged, resentful. Certainly, Jesus knew we’d […]
“It’s at the this point of confession and repentance that God gives us a new name. . . . Many of us forget this important step in our walk with God. We want our past to be over and done with, but God wants to give us a new name to live out of as […]
” . . . minds often remain closed to truth until hearts have been opened by compassion. There is certainly a place for logical, left-brained explanations of faith. But compassion is the ultimate apologetic. There is no defense against it.”- Mark Batterson “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in […]
“We cannot control everything our children experience, but we can influence how they process what life sends their way. We can teach them to guard against the inevitable firestorms of life. . . . Intentionally, or unintentionally, on purpose or by accident, we build into our children or take away.”- Andy Stanley In Chapter 19 […]
“Jesus . . . says our relationship with God hinges on our relationship with other people — the two are inseparable . . . . The truth is, you cannot resolve your differences with God if you’re unwilling to resolve you differences with other people around you. You cannot be in fellowship with the Father […]
“We have developed a collective allergy to the application of the word sin to our lives. After all, nobody really makes mistakes anymore. There’s always a scapegoat. . . . It’s definitely not you.”- Carey Nieuwhof Carey Nieuwhof concludes Chapter 5 of Didn’t See It Coming as he talks about the demise of two vital […]
“As I see it, we have two options: an alter ego or an altar ego. Having an alter ego means pretending to be who we’re not, and it’s absolutely exhausting. The other option is to put our ego on the altar and find our full identity in Christ.”- Mark Batterson Mark Batterson continues Chapter 9 […]
“No one becomes real without getting close, without being loved. And love, like grace, sneaks up on us mostly when we’re unaware.”- John Ortberg “This is real love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”- 1 John 4:10 (NLT) […]
“One of the ways relational intimacy develops in times of shared prayer is through confession. The first thing we ought to confess is our sin of not confessing our sins to one another.”- Jared C. Wilson “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”- James […]