Forgiveness, Justice, and the Long Ball...

Hello Fellow Earthlings!,

Today Michael Vick (Quarterback of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons...the guy can throw it Way Far) plead guilty and apologized for his part in a dogfighting operation. The crowd that waited for him outside the courthouse was made up of supporters cheering for him and PETA activists booing him. Some of the supporters were holding up signs indicating that God forgives.

I definitely agree with this. God DOES forgive…over and over and over again. That’s sort of the whole deal with grace. It is a free gift – totally unearned. God will forgive us just as many times as we screw up and ask for forgiveness. But there are a couple of caveats to keep in mind:

ONE. Just because God will forgive you is not an excuse for not trying to become a better person. I believe that God is pleased with our progress but never content with where we are. We are always called to strive to be better. What makes this bearable is the assurance that God loves us and will be there to pick us up and dust us off when we fail in our attempts to be better people. To pull just one (of many) examples from Scripture, here’s Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.”

TWO. Forgiveness does not condone injustice. There are consequences for our actions. In the Old Testament, King David arranged for the death of a man so that he could be with the man’s wife (check out 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12 for the details)…and did some other not so nice things as well. David repented of these sins (i.e., apologized), and God still loved him, but he still had to face the consequences of those actions.

So, long story short (too late!). Do I think that Michael Vick should be forgiven for what he’s done? Yes. Do I think he should go to jail for what he’s done? Absolutely.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Let me know what you think.

Our next Friday night activity will be on September 28^th, and we’ll be meeting at Nicholas and Jenn’s new house (directions and address to be supplied later via email!). On the docket is a night of games and discussion. Bring your questions – about religion, life, our world, etc. This will give us a chance to have fun and go a bit deeper at the same time. I’ll bring a topic or two to chew over, but I encourage you to bring your comments/questions/struggles. As always, you can find this event on our calendar page (link on the bar to your right à).

Be well my friends!

Peace,

Kevin

Jots and Tittles!

Hello My Friends!,

Well, the summer is lurching and listing towards a close. I hope that yours has been fun, and that you are ready to either: get back to school, get back to the normal work routine, get back to whatever it is you do when it isn’t summer!

My summer has been busy, challenging, and wonderful. The chaplaincy gig is over (but I’m going to be doing more of it as time goes on), the mission trip to Toronto is done (great stuff), and now I’m finally getting some stuff done around the house that’s been mocking me all summer (like painting the porch roof and fixing the front steps).

The two pics with this post are from our intrepid India explorer, Keely. The one pic is her room, replete with netting to keep out the insects. The other is some of the beauty that exists in India once you leave the cities behind you.

Our next outing is Friday August 24^th and we’ll go mini-golfing. I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure there’s a place on route 22 that we can go golf at. So, we’ll meet at the church at 7pm and then head over.

Also, in the next couple weeks I’m going to try and arrange a service opportunity for us this fall. If you have a request as to what type of service let me know. Otherwise, it’ll probably be at Elijah’s Promise soup kitchen in New Brunswick.

That’s all for now. Be well.

Grace and Peace,

Kevin

PS Curious about the post title? It’s something my Systematic professor used to say…I think it basically just means minutia, details, bits and pieces, etc.