Forgiveness from Jesus is always surprising to us.
The Christ who rescues does not wait for you to be clean. He comes to clean you. He does not need your strength. He brings his own.
When you remember your baptism, you're not recalling a ritual. You're standing under a current of divine action that has not ceased to flow since the moment those baptismal waters hit your skin.

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While I was still an over-eager seminarian the professor warned me, “Mr. Riley, this is exciting stuff.
As a new year approaches, a mawkish paranoia sets in. Looking over our shoulders, we add up our good choices, our praises, and our reasons to celebrate.
History was one of dad’s favorite subjects and he shared his knowledge with infectious enthusiasm.
Good preaching does something for you. It delivers to you a Good Samaritan.
This book tells of my long and brutal journey. From married to divorced. From a seminary professor and pastor to a disgraced, bitter truck driver in the oil fields of Texas. From a man at war with God to a child redeemed by grace.
But where love is necessary we pray for our enemies and bless them in the hope that God will repent and convert them to the Gospel.
The Law though it does many things—restrains, exhorts the Christian unto righteousness, punishes—always rightly accuses and condemns sinners of their sin before a righteous, holy, and just God.
When we say, “I’ve screwed up big time. I’ve betrayed my spouse, my family, my friends. I’ve hurt lots of people,” we don’t need to hear, “Yes, you have. You need to make that right, learn to walk the talk, and act like a Christian next time."
When the Holy Spirit is at work in the office of the holy ministry, the man is ridden by the Spirit and so his only concern is for preaching the Gospel, baptizing, absolving, and feeding sinners in the Name of Christ Jesus.
A confessing church is a church more worried about souls than appearances, family lines, or institutional bottom-lines.
I believe it’s no small charge to assert that there’s a massive problem in the majority of America’s pulpits.
Your church is not healthy. If they were healthy, they wouldn’t need someone to heal them.