Summer School summary: Forgiveness

We all know the relief of being forgiven by someone we have wronged, and the trials and burdens of bearing a grudge because we refuse to ask forgiveness, or experience the sadness when our request for forgiveness is rejected.

[A note from me: There are two purposes for these summaries. Primarily, for my own benefit; I always get more when I revise. Secondly, I wanted to give a taste so that others would be inspired to download and dig further. I feel I am failing in the second objective. I want to keep my blog posts short, but as there is so much wonderful stuff in the originals, my summaries appear superficial and dull. Please see this as a weakness of my presentation, rather than a lack in the talks themselves. They are both encouraging and meaty! So off I go:]

Forgiveness begins in the heart of God and once accepted by us (by repenting and receiving Christ) it must be repeated in our relationships (strength is given by the Holy Spirit). Peter then goes on to show systematically how forgiveness ties in with other themes in the bible.

The Lord’s prayer teaches us to say: “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” We can ask for pardon! Yet, it is challenging, since we must also forgive those who have wronged us. This challenge is further amplified by Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15, “for if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Forgiveness has a vertical and horizontal dimension; both are vital. The latter, forgiving others, brings its own blessings but not to the same extent that forgiveness from God can bring.

All sin is against God: – against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight (51:4). When David wrote this he was not implying that he had not sinned against Bathsheba, Uriah, his other wives, their children and the nation. He had, and although forgiven, his family and nation never recovered. But he had to come clean, he had to throw himself upon God’s mercy first and foremost.

Knowing this is life transforming for us: we experience His merciful hand in the future (hence 51:9-12), God hears our prayer (Psalm 66:18), we can deal with guilt (Hebrews 10:19-24), we can avoid both self-righteousness and despair [I say 'Hallelujah', God has proved this in my life...guilt just makes you either pretend you are together, or just lose heart and spiral into hopelessness. Forgiveness brings hope.]

Listed are some wonderful metaphors for our cleansed lives. See: Psalm 32:1-2, Psalm 103:12, Isaiah 1:18, Micah 7:19, Acts 3:19-20, Romans 5:1

Our response to God’s forgiveness is to forgive others. This challenge is memorably etched in our minds by the parable of the merciful servant in 18:22-35. Forgiveness, like thanksgiving, is a command not an optional extra for Christians.

The art of forgiving is nurtured as we obey Jesus and pray for our enemies. Quote: It is psychologically impossible to hate the people we are praying for.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 The notes include wonderful teaching on the purpose of the Ephesian verses, the benefits to ourselves and our fellowships and families, the effects of unresolved anger and strategies to overcome bitterness.

Forgiveness received from God is liberating, and from others, life-giving. Its display is stunning. We are given boundless opportunities to emulate God’s mercy thereby proving our own forgiveness in Christ and giving others an earthly glimpse of Divine grace.

Recommended Book: Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem

All the Summer School summaries in one place

Diane’s picture

Diane sent me this photo today. It’s special between us. She knows why! Thanks buddy.

Summer School summary: Thankfulness

Read and be encouraged by a summary of the Bishop’s notes. (Then download them and read them at length):

We aren’t naturally thankful. Dostoyevsky said, “I believe the best definition of man is the ungrateful biped!” The fact that we must invest a considerable amount of energy in training our children (and let’s be honest, ourselves) to be thankful confirms the accuracy of his observation.

Thankfulness is a response to God. Unthankfulness is sin: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1: 21

Unthankfulness plays a major part in the downward spiral of sin so chillingly (yet realistically) tracked in Romans 1:18-32. (HINT: read it) Thankfulness however, plays an important and powerful role in our growth in obedience and Christlikeness.

Giving thanks to God for both His temporal and spiritual blessings in our lives is not just a nice thing to do – it is the moral will of God. Failure to give Him the thanks due Him is sin. It may seem like a benign sin to us because it doesn’t harm anyone else, but it is an affront and insult to the One who created and sustains us every second of our lives. And if, as Jesus so clearly stated, loving God with all our heart, soul and mind is the great and first commandment, then failure to give thanks to God as a habit of life is a violation of the greatest commandment. (Respectable Sins pp. 81-82)

Many scriptures speak of thankfulness: 1 Chron 16:8, Ps 95:1-2, Eph 5:19-20, 1Thess 5:18 are just some! Music, singing and prayer are good ways to encourage thankfulness. The more we do it, the better we become at it. (Peter’s saying ‘Practice makes permanent’ applies here) Each day we can find many reasons to be thankful to God. Being thankful was very important for the Samaritan leper in Luke 17:11-19. It was the means by which he received the greatest blessing: salvation.

The notes then go through several of Paul’s prayers and words which demonstrate the how and why of being thankful. There are many blessing which come to us when we learn this. Some are: we will be less likely to be thrown off balance by good circumstances, or led into bitterness by tough circumstances; thankfulness will serve as the means of overcoming crippling doubts (because we are focussing on the trustworthiness of our Father). Thankfulness plays a pivotal role in Christian ethics and church life (Col 3:1-16) and in family and work and community relationships (3:17-4:6).

Here are some practical suggestions:
a.    Practice turning a verse or truth from your daily Bible reading into a prayer of thanksgiving.
b.    Every Sunday, look for a reason to thank God. It may be a fellow Christian’s faithfulness, it may be the words of a hymn, a truth from Scripture or the sermon. Remember, practice makes permanent.
c.    Every Sunday, look for a reason to thank someone you met with – you might do this personally, by phone or by (e)mail (better if it is handwritten).
d.    Each day, morning and evening, actively thank God for –
•    What He has done to bring you to Himself
•    What you have seen in creation, experienced in dealings with others, or enjoyed in His daily provision.
e.    Collect the words of songs and prayers of thanksgiving that you could use from time to time, especially if the way is lonely or tough for you. Remember, God uses and blesses our initiative, planning and means to help us grow.

This summary is bare bones; if this is speaking to you please bother to get the notes or download and listen to the talk by Peter Brain!

Recommended book:

Jerry Bridges: Respectable Sins – confronting the sins we tolerate (Navpress 2007)

All the Summer School summaries in one place

Four Attitudes that can Transform Your Life

Armidale is a different place in the holidays. It’s quiet. Until uni goes back it will maintain that laidback air. I like.

One of the treats of hanging around during January is the Bishop’s Summer School which he’s run each year now for 4 or 5 years. The title for this year’s school was “Four Attitudes that can Transform Your Life”. Peter’s gift is as an encourager but he doesn’t neglect truth in order to make you feel good.

Here is the introduction. I intend to post a summary of the talks over the next couple of days. (the audio and notes are available on the St Pete’s website)

It has often been said that ‘all truth is God’s truth’, and this should not surprise us, since God has given us two books by which we can discover the best ways to live. The books of Creation and Scripture, whilst not being equal, are complementary. The Bible will always be the final authority and arbiter for Christians, since it is the revelation of God’s mind (Deut 29:29; Psalm 19, 119; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Yet, the creation around us bears eloquent testimony to God’s ordered handiwork (Psalm 19; Romans 1:18-20) and commends (in fact commands – Genesis 1:26) the exercise of our minds in understanding the creation. This will, of course, include how we tick as men and women both physically and psychologically. How we rejoice in the discovery of penicillin and antibiotics, surgery, optometry, palliative care etc. These discoveries are not found from the special revelation of the Bible, but from the general revelation of creation (in the discovery of antibiotics) and the human body (in the development of surgical treatments).

In the matter of the mind the same is true. During the past decade, the ‘positive psychology’ movement, emanating from Dr. Martin Seligmann in the USA, attitudes once neglected and sometimes denigrated, that had their roots in a Biblical world view, have not only been rediscovered, but taught and encouraged in the field of psychology and public mental health and well-being.

Four of these are thanksgiving, forgiveness, contentment and perseverance – the focus of our Summer School during this week.

Part 1: Thankfulness

Part 2: Forgiveness

Part 3: Contentment

Part 4: Perseverance

happy day meme – day eight

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him…overflowing with thankfulness. Col 2: 6-7

Today I feel overwhelmed by the love of God and thankful that he never gives up on us but keeps us keeping on.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

I am also grateful to Bette who tagged me; this has been beneficial to my soul, so thanks!

happy day meme – day seven

Wow, it was busy in town today.. and I am thankful that we got everything we needed done in the food/other-supermarket-stuff dept this afternoon. I’m avoiding going in again till there is nothing left…hopefully way into next week.

Karen  and the boys came to decorate gingerbread houses this morning. I am thankful for friends and lively ones at that!

The houses: the boys’ during production and ours (Elizabeth decorated, I did the gingerbread!) Fun? Yes!

happy day meme – day six

Just a reminder: this is a meme where I’ve been asked to post each day for eight days about why I am thankful.

Well, today I want to praise God that we belong to a church which believes in the authority of the Bible. And for men who honestly preach the truth. Tonight Peter preached on the cost of discipleship and the price of disobeying God. (Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer is the book I am currently reading and I’ve been wanting to post some quotes but have been just too busy…will do soon I hope)

Here’s one quote Peter mentioned in his sermon: The scandal of the church is that the Christ event is no longer life-changing, it has become life-enhancing. Archbishop John Sentamu. Another: When Christ calls a man He bids him come and die. Bonhoeffer

Help us Lord to become disciples willing to lay aside all for you and follow your call whatever and where ever that means.

happy day meme – day five

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James 1:19-20

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Cor 5: 18

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father… James 1:17

Today is Saturday. It is a day to be thankful to God for showing me the truth of the three verses above. We live in the reconciliation of Christ. He allows us to put aside anxiety and resentment, trust him and enjoy the good gifts he gives us. Here are some snippets from my day:

- Earlyish in the day anxiety threatened to overtake someone I love. It led said person to snap and snarl. The reaction of other person was to react in like manner. Through the grace of God and prayer anxiety was diffused, restoring peace and preserving relationships.

- Today I made a double spread scrapbook layout (for Fran’s Armidale album) and I LIKE IT!

- Frances came home with us last night and is staying THE WHOLE weekend!

- Bette, Fran and I sat at my new (thanks Anna) desk and talked and crafted for ages. If  you know how infrequently we do anything like this, you’ll know how special it was.

- All six of us went off to Cory and Rob’s annual Christmas get together which is always fun and funny. Alan did a great concert item which worked! Cory’s Christmas enthusiasm always switches me into Christmas mode and tomorrow we will go for a walk to get a tree, put out our decorations and make gingerbread in preparation for Monday, when Karen and the boys are coming over to make gingerbread houses.

- Phil and Fiona had a great engagement party too

happy day meme – day four

I am very thankful to be home.

happy day meme – day three

Ok. Day 3 of being thankful. Here I am in Sydney in the noise and the heat and the hussle and the bussle. This is what I am thankful for:

- I am thankful because this morning I realised that being thankful is something I can choose to do. Now that sounds ridiculously glib but bear me out…I woke with many reasons to be grumpy; it was way too early, very noisy, it was HOT and I had a very severe headache which I’d had for days, then when I finally drifted off to sleep again, Alan rang to say hi. (as I said, I’m in Sydney and by myself) Again, you may say ‘glib, just get over it’ but for months now it seems sadness, negativity and blah have been my constant friends/enemies.  So as I lay there fully realising I could be grumpy or choose not to be, I suddenly *knew* I could do it. Somehow, I’d got into the mindset that to be thankful I had to be happy about everything. But this is wrong. And I became thankful, though nothing changed.

Just so you know some of the other things about my day…I will tell you. These made me happy (and thankful)

- I watched as my big boy changed his little girl. When she squawked I heard him tell her firmly but lovingly that he was the daddy and there’ll be some things he does because he knows best, that she mightn’t like it, but well, he knows best. Now that is a sensible dad if you ask me. And he’s only been in the job for 3 months!

- I went to a doctor whom I liked and I think will be helpful to me.

- Carly took Diane and me to Newtown. We went to a button shop. Now I’m not mad, like some, about crafty/arty stuff but this place was inspiring…and I bought some buttons and beads and things…

- Diane and I sat in a cafe in Newtown [get this: no kids, no husbands, just Diane and me] for 2 hours. We had a delicious dinner and talked about everything and were, well, just happy.

- Carly is making Christmas cookies while we’ve been discussing deep, probing and serious theological and philosophical questions. Nothing merely hypothetical but real questions arising from some of the more sobering experiences we have shared…because (I’ve just realised) we’ve known each other long enough now to have shared real life. We aren’t strangers who are ‘just related’ anymore. I love my daughter-in-law.