Let begin this very transparent status by saying that I do not condone or endorse sin of any kind, but I love every sinner or struggler! To every person that felt like they could never be forgiven by God, never be holy/good enough, and never experience the saving grace, abundant & consecrated life in Jesus because of the angry, judgemental, cultural, criticizing, pharisaical Christian: I apologize on behalf of every self righteous, condemning, ungraceful, critical Christian that made you feel as if God would never want anything to do with you or has thrown you away like they did. Please dont allow your negative encounter(s) to make you throw all of us out. I know what it feels like to do wrong, be convicted, repent, humble myself & do whats right to be restored by God & those Ive wronged & still be condemned, abandoned, thrown under the bus, and ostracized by other believers all while pastoring. This being after Ive covered, loved & ministered grace to many of them in their own mess. When it was my turn to receive grace, they were too anointed, perfect & spiritual to offer the grace once given to them. Some took it even further by maliciously meeting with others to further indict me, sowing seeds & trying to destroy me, my family & ministry. If I didnt have a strong relationship with God, I wouldve given up & it wouldnt have been because of my flaws, the restoration process, satan, or warfare, but because of other Christians who missed their cue to extend the grace needed to another who missed his cue. If this is how a minister is treated than I can only imagine how unbelievers or new believers may feel in the scope of this kind. After going thru my necessary process, my ministry, perception & heart has changed. I pastor, preach/teach & lead differently. I now have a greater empathy for the unbeliever, backslider & struggling believer. I can go on, but I digress by saying again: Im sorry that so many of you who thought youd be healed/helped by some believer ended up being hurt & pushed away instead. Please know that there are many who would never do such a thing because they remember that to whom mercy love & grace are given, the same is required. I pray that God will lead you to a ministry or a person who will genuinely demonstrate what God intends for you to experience as an accurate representation of His caring, convicting, constraining, compassionate & life changing Love & Truth. The scripture refers to the spirit of grace & truth. Too many of us have mastered one or the other. We are either all grace & no truth (get away with everything, live any kind of way) or all truth no grace (legalistic, never enough, always looking down & punitive). Christ is a balance of both, grace is apart of the truth, and truth is given in grace. I pray that my transparency will help someone today. May God lead you to a church that will be used to heal you & healthily place your expectations back toward God & His Word. I pray that you experience God in a way that will secure you for the rest of your life. Love you DHDSr
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 11:34:00 +0000