“The Lord got ahold of him….”

An alarm company representative came by our new house yesterday. In addition to helping us sign up for a security system, she told me a great story.
She said that she ran into an old friend at Walmart (where else?). The husband of her friend stood patiently while his wife finished the conversation – he did [...]

Dead for 12 days!

My dad called last Sunday, at 12:30pm. Dad is 83, and he was crying.
He had been trying to reach a cousin of mine in Littlefield (just outside Lubbock, Texas). After several days he became concerned, called the police and asked them to check on my cousin. They broke into the house and found my cousin [...]

The adventure of moving!

This week was amazing! We closed on our house in the Germantown-Collierville area, physically worked with 4 Men and 2 Trucks, closed on a house in Tupelo, moved everything into two garages, began the repainting of our new house, preached at the American Family Association, led our deacons in two studies on Simple Church, prepared the [...]

New Pictures

Check out the new pics in the phote section

Stress Management

My good friend and graying college roommate, Jim Gantenbein, is a pastor in the Northwest. He hasn’t always been a pastor. He was a music and youth minister for 30 years – then, in a moment of temporary insanity, he thought he heard the call to preach.
He wrote to me…
Sam, now that I [...]

Eloise

I have added a link to a website devoted to Eloise, whom I think is the most beautiful little girl in the world. Of course, the most beautiful grown women in the world are her grandmother, her mother, and her two aunts.
As you will notice, the website information is a couple of months old. [...]

A painful – and needed – look at the local church

Barna is advertising a book written by a former pastor and an atheist who teamed together to visit churches across America – Having had some conversations with skeptics over the past few years (who did visit our church), I was intrigued by the questions they asked. These are both painful and helpful. Here are a [...]

Unchurched population in USA nears 100 million!

The following article is from the Barna organization – and it speaks volumes to me.
Check out my 10 questions at the end of the article
Unchurched Population Nears 100 Million in the U.S.
(Ventura, CA) – Life in America has changed greatly since 1994, with massive changes in technology, global politics, lifestyle choices and family dynamics. [...]

And more on forgiving yourself

One comment on forgiving yourself notes:
Forgiveness is a reality that is frequently misunderstood and misappopriated. Seems we lean one of two ways 1) confession that seeks cheap peace from a troubled conscience without earnest repentance or 2) ascetic confession accompanied by psychological penance that results in a God-cant-forgive-me attitude, which as you have pointed out, [...]

More on forgiving yourself

Some have questioned whether we should  be concerned with forgiving ourselves. Others have noted that the Bible does not speak of forgiving ourselves.
I believe there are several passages that point to the need to forgive oneself. For example…
 I John 3:19-22 speaks of a condemning heart that robs us of confidence with God. The inability or [...]

Too True To Life!

What Bill Bright taught me

In our midweek service, I told the story of one of the most important experiences of my life.
I remember it like it was this morning!
A few years ago, I received a phone call from a member of our church. He asked if I would like to have lunch with Bill Bright. I told him I [...]

What you may not know about muslims and Christians

Check out Joey’s thinking about Muslim and Christian beliefs.

After the Last Tear Falls….

While driving back from Memphis today, I listened again to the Andrew Peterson CD, Love and Thunder. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
For some reason, the last song’s lyrics really got to me. The thought that the future holds
“oceans and oceans of love”
really captured my imagination, and pictured the amazing grace of [...]

Responses to “Forgiving Yourself”

From a brother:
I have never thought about it as being prideful to not confess, just ashamed in my errors.  After thinking about that one for a while I have to agree, I dont confess because I am not supposed to mess up, and I guess I dont want anyone to know that I do.
From a sister
The [...]