Tag: forgiveness
What Message is Your Church Sending to Hurting People?
Posted on October 13, 2015 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
Last week was a little chaotic for me. During the whirlwind week, which involved a last minute flight to St. Louis, I had the chance to spend some time talking with a man that shares a very similar story as mine. By “similar story” I mean a man that spent many years in full-time vocational church ministry and is now doing something else.
But, the similarities in our stories did not end with our transition from vocational ministry to secular work. What became apparent is that we both found ourselves making similar observations about the church and our own theology. Let me share an example.
I was talking with a friend some weeks back and said “for all the talk the church does about grace and forgiveness, there seems to be very little offered.” My comment came after many people called for pastors and church leaders caught in the Ashley Madison hack to be removed from their positions (some even calling for them to be removed from church membership). This struck me as so odd. I recalled Peter denying he even knew Jesus and yet Jesus never once thought about stripping his Apostleship.
The overtone of responses by many Christians to this event left me wondering what our communities and religious skeptics thought of us when we decided it was a good idea to shoot our wounded. Fast forward to one of the first conversations I had with my new friend in St. Louis. I asked him why he was no longer in vocational ministry. He offered several reasons but included in his answer that he has been less than excited by the lack of grace and forgiveness in the local church.
Matt Chandler Tackles Abortion With Tough Love and Strong Words
Posted on February 26, 2015 in Life by Nathan Cherry
I’ll confess to being a cautious critic against modern pastors. The implosion of the modern church is largely in part due to a failure on the part of our pastors. A failure to preach and teach boldly from the Bible without being concerned whether the message is popular or “tickles the ears.”
One of my greatest grievances against many pastors is their refusal to properly, biblically, clearly address the moral issues facing people today. One of the most critical is that of abortion.
The average pastor won’t even say the word abortion from the pulpit this year. Any sermon where addressing abortion from a biblical perspective would be appropriate will be glossed over with subtle hints and flowery phrases. But you will not hear hardly a single sermon from an American pulpit during which the pastor declares “abortion is murder.”
This sad reality is compounded when pastors say things like “if you’ve terminated a pregnancy, I don’t want you to feel bad.” Or the equally cringe-worthy excuse for not even broaching the subject: “we focus on the Gospel.” Apparently there’s a whole group of pastors that don’t even know that abortion (murder) is in fact a Gospel issue. Perhaps that’s because abortion advocates have done such a good job of painting the issue as a men vs. women or Republican vs. Democrat issue. The truth is that this is not a political or gender issue, this is a biblical moral issue with deep roots in the Gospel. You cannot support destroying the image of God in another human being and call yourself a Christian. Yep, it’s really that simple. That’s how abortion is tied to the Gospel.
VIDEO: Actor Jim Caviezel Delivers Powerful Message
Posted on May 17, 2014 in Life, Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
I am a huge Jim Caviezel fan. My first exposure to him was his role as Jesus in Mel Gibson’s epic movie “The Passion of the Christ.” Since that movie took the world by storm I have been a fan of Caviezel for his willingness to stand boldly for his faith in Hollywood.
Even though Caviezel knew that it could be a death sentence for his career as an actor, he felt called to make the movie and was obedient to that call. Since that time Caviezel has been an outspoken voice for faith in a town not know for any faith at all.
In this video Jim Caviezel shares on everything from how he got the role as Jesus in The Passion to his latest project recording an audio Bible. And while I wish someone else was doing the interview – this particular guy is a little too light-hearted for the message being shared, the message shared by Jim Caviezal in this video is a much needed one.
Should This “Jesus Tattoo” Advertisement Be Banned?
Posted on February 7, 2014 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
The Blaze reports: “A Texas man is suing a local school district after officials refused to display his Christian advertisement featuring a tattooed Jesus during high school football games. David L. Miller’s lawsuit against the Lubbock Independent School District in Lubbock, Texas, comes after he alleges that officials denied his digital billboard advertising the website www.JesusTattoo.org in October.”
Should the advertisement, featuring the image below, be banned or refused simply because it is religious in nature? Isn’t that the definition of religious discrimination prohibited in the Constitution?
The video below the image is an incredible reminder of what Jesus for each person. He willingly took the sins of every person that is willing to ask forgiveness and seek redemption. Watch the video and share it with others that need this amazing message of forgiveness. If the video doesn’t appear automatically, please refresh your browser.