Jeremiah 3:15-17 - The blog of pastor.ctj

A letter to a friend who was in some distress a couple of years ago, unable to forgive themselves. How many of us find ourselves in that situation at some point in life... Hey Xxxx, just so you know from the outset, it’s 2 am, and I am writing with my Pastor hat on (figurative), and a nice glass of Shiraz (actual)… ☺ According to Wikipedia: Forgiveness is typically defined as the process of concluding resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, difference or mistake, and/or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as: ' To grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offence or debt'. Forgiveness may be considered simply in terms of the person who forgives including forgiving themselves , in terms of the person forgiven and/or in terms of the relationship between the forgiver and the person forgiven. In some contexts, forgiveness may be granted without any expectation o...

 I was asked by a sister why I am biased towards so-called 'Calvinism': I grew up in the United Methodist Church, stayed there until I was 23 and then spent 17 years in a non-denominational quasi-charismatic Evangelical church. I then wandered a bit before settling in at what was at the beginning (at least in name) a teen pregnancy program. It was there that I received the remainder of my pre-Pastoral preparatory training. A dear friend & brother in Christ introduced me to Reformed Theology,  a.k.a. the Doctrines of Grace,  a.k.a. Calvinism in 2007, shortly before we were to start the Fellowship. It completely renovated my thinking, changed my view of God to the Biblical one and in the process radically changed my life. Hence my bias. ... In retrospect I was ready then, ripe as it were for the introduction to Reformed Theology, because having lived through the death of my Son in 2001, and the resultant pain and struggle with my faith and practice, I had foun...

Note:   This piece came out of a debate that I was having on Facebook with a dear brother who is of the Arminian/Wesleyan/point of view... As I see it, the core problem here,  as always, is the sovereignty issue. Either we believe that salvation is a sovereign act of a sovereign God , or we believe that God’s will and salvific action is somehow secondary, or subordinate to man’s. So many believe that in fact God can only offer, in hopes that man will respond, but since they do not want to go quite that far, they’ll say that He, knowing that you would choose Him, chose you first. This is how most people try to rationalize Romans 8, and the doctrine of predestination. But it is, if you think about it carefully, quite silly actually. We ascribe complete sovereignty and omnipotence to God up until we get to man’s will. This appears to be God’s Kryptonite. He has the power to create and hang the stars, but cannot determine whether or not I’ll get sa...

A video that blessed me when I first saw it, and I believe that it will bless you too:

This piece was written in July of 2006. Anyone who has ever done any kind of customer service will recognize the scenario... phones.. phone rings shards of broken glass hit my ears. try to be polite she is yelling, ...oh no... want to say 'Go away',  instead say "How may I help you?" with a smile. What did you say your name was? want to say 'You weren't listening because your behind was screaming.' say "Cyril, C-Y-R-I-L" "PHIL? ok PHIL... You people need to..." teeth clench... I close my eyes and begin to fade, the cruise ship docks and I am in Bermuda, going to my cousin's house near the beach. Just as I relax, I hear her, like a growling dog. but my peace is restored. I am nice and polite.  I give her the 15 second answer to her 10 second question (surrounded by 5 minutes of griping). "Thanks Phil, you've been a great help." I wipe the blood from my ears... phone rings sha...

'True Love' Preached June 24th 2012  at Norwalk United Methodist Church Norwalk, CT ____________________________________ It is common in the Study of the Bible, to always ask these questions when you read a passage: Who is talking, Who are they talking to? What is the writer’s purpose? What I find today however, is that too few of us make a study of the Bible, and are happy instead to draw from the opinions and feelings of others. The disastrous prosperity Gospel is but one example… But the scripture makes it clear that we are to study… Paul’s admonition to Timothy immediately comes to mind as does YHWH’s order to Joshua. And the scripture also tells us what it is for… At the End of the 20th Chapter of John’s Gospel he tells us why He wrote his. He says John 20:30-31 (HCSB) Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, th...