64 ways to find the humor in things

Life is funny. This past week Lisa and I were joking about me submitting to her blog for the next couple of weeks. She wasn’t joking. So here I am with a deadline of 3 hours submitting my second post to her blog.

My wife is very prolific with her words. She expresses herself well and is very aware of her feelings. Me not so good.

What I do well is find the humor in things. I get this from my Dad. When his best friend passed away my Dad and his friends were enlisted as paul bears (see what I did there). As they were transporting the casket to the graveside my Dad said, “You know, I don’t remember Ron being this heavy.” They almost dropped the casket.

I also am a fan of lists. So here is my blog post on 64 ways to find the humor in things.

1. Don’t look too hard 

We want to be happy. We want to laugh. We want to find joy. Sometimes, we try to hard. I love jokes and I love telling jokes. I love it even more, and consider it a personal victory when I have to explain a joke.

Q: Why was the boy crying? 

A: He had a squirrel stapled to his face. 

It’s funny because it isn’t.

Don’t judge me.

Humor is everywhere. I was walking past some city workers placing a cement tube around some pipes in a school yard. They were debating whether they should put a lid on it because kids would put their trash in the tube. A brilliant worker replied with the thought that they probably wouldn’t because it said gross on the outside of the tube (It was referring to weight). Brilliant and naive at the same time.

He looks dumb. Right?

All the crows on my walk to work are named George. They each have unique personalities. I think one of them is brain damaged or on drugs. I will walk passed him with no more than two feet separating us. He doesn’t move. He is usually starring at the ground not moving, or looking at himself in a puddle. Maybe he is just vain. The thing is. There is humor everywhere. Don’t look to hard.


2. Find the funny in you 


Because I am a Christian. I do find myself thinking about things like Jesus, and God, and other things of that nature. What I’ve seen too many religious people do is take their religion and themselves to seriously. I screw up so often that (we in the Christian community call it sin) if I wanted to, I could curl up in the fetal position and never move. But that isn’t what God has in store for me. He offers me the opportunity to share my sins with him (Again, in our community we call it confession), turn from those sins (repentance), and have a clean slate with him (Justified: Just if I’d never sinned. Sound it out people). All this so that he can have a relationship with me. I think he gets the raw end of the deal but he doesn’t think that.

On the, let’s call them non-sin issues. I mess up even more. I wear socks with sandals. I have a facebook group called socks with sandals. I have no fashion sense. Before I leave the house, I have to check with Lisa to make sure everything goes together. When I don’t check with her I might get to hear, “Did you go out like that?” I’m batting about 50%, which is still a pass. Yay me. I am so humbled by my foibles (bet you have to look that up in the dictionary), that I simply laugh at myself. You can laugh at me too.

I would never wear white with thongs
because standards

There is funny in you. That funny can be an embarrassment or an opportunity for a little laughter. Go with the ladder (yep).

3. Find the funny in others (But don’t be mean about it) 

We are all so different on this ball hurtling at 30 kilometers per second. I celebrate peoples differences. I celebrate our quirkiness. Speaking of foibles, I once did a wedding where the bride was speaking her vows to her soon to be husband. The word foibles was actually in the vows, but when it came time to say them the word changed. It went something like this, “I will put up with your follables just like you will put up with my follables.” Read that out loud. You really need to hear it to appreciate it. They are still married (18 years) and committed to each other. They are wonderful people who bring a smile to my face whenever I think of them.

Children are also a fabulous source of amusement (whether they are yours or someone else’s). I chased my son right into the tailgate of a pickup. Split his eyebrow right open and got to sit with him as they glued him back together. It was tragic but hilarious at the same time. You should have seen his head snap back as he careened off the truck. For more kid fails check this out. If you don’t have much time go to the 2:28 mark and have a laugh.

Author's Note: It’s never funny to use other people’s funniness to put them down or hurt them with it. That is the lowest form of humor.

4. Find people to share the funny with 

I have a number of friends (Really, I do, at least 5, if kids count than 8 because they have to). Sharing in laughter can really make tough situations a little more manageable. During some of the darkest years of our life, we had friends that were there to simply laugh with. Now when we get together, we just start off where we left off. We know each others lives and still love each other.

64. There is no way finding humor should take 64 steps 

I’m sorry that I mislead you there (You have to forgive me because…Jesus). Actually at some point I hope to write a book about this. My gofundme page will be up sometime in the next 20 years. Thanks for believing in me and contributing to it.

Life is funny.  Sometimes it hits like this.

And that sucks.

But there is still laughter to be had and joy to be found.

Let me leave you with my favorite joke of all time given to me by my wife Lisa.

Lisa: Ask me if I’m an orange
Craig: Are you an orange
Lisa: No
It’s funny cause it’s Lisa.

Take care
Craig

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

September...UGH

If you ask me if I like Fall, I will say yes. An enthusiastic YES!

 If you ask me if I like September, you will get such a negative response that you may assume I greatly dislike Fall as a whole!

September is not the same as fall for me. It is a month of transition.

It signals the passing of the carefree days of summer. Watermelon, playing at the lake and setting our own schedule. 

It is the end of bare feet, shorts, a T-shirt and patio nights.

September feels like this abrupt change in life. It comes so hard and fast that it leaves me reeling to find my footing for what seems like weeks.

UGH!

When our kids became old enough for school, it marked the imposition of a schedule. The school bell now dictated our lives. If it was a beautiful day, we couldn't just pick up and go outside to play at the lake together.  There were school and review and activities starting up. I felt a little robbed. OK, I felt significantly robbed!! I have always resented the ring of that bell!

At this stage of life, September means driving our kids to far off locations and leaving them there. It now is alerting me to the passing of time in a new way.  This transition seems to get worse with time because I know what to expect. In this case

 knowing what to expect does not actually make things easier! This is not good for my relationship with September, we are already on very unstable and rocky terms...

Thank goodness Sydney and Connor are home this year!!!

On the other hand, I love fall for the colors and glory of the changing leaves. I love the creativity that these glorious colors inspire.Our hometown shows this season off with a flourish.  My street has this beautiful archway of vivid changing color. I enjoy taking time to listen to the fall breeze rustle through the trees. It is a soothing sound. In Fall, there is a restful peace that descends as the world relinquishes itself to it's winter sleep.

September marks the beginning of this for me and every year I have to fight my way through the transition to embrace the beauty of the change. Not my greatest month.  I beg you not to form an idea of my character and person through this month. I am not at my best.  Check back in October...I may be worth your time!!

Here We Are...AGAIN!!

Here we are again, I thought practice would make me better at this. It has not.
Time is my enemy and my friend.
Moments give me precious memories.
Yet they feel all too fleeting.
I feel like I have all the time in the world, and yet not enough.

Our first born boy is off.
Making his way.
Testing new waters.

It is magnificent.

And yet my heart hurts.

A few years ago the Dave Mathews Band wrote a song You & Me. It resonated deeply and immediately I felt like it was “our song” for the next season of life. Craig and I had never had a song, and it felt cheesy, so I never said anything.

Here is the chorus and bridge:

Oh, and when the kids are old enough
We're gonna teach them to fly

You and me together
We can do anything, baby

We can always look back at what we did
Always memory of you and me, baby
Right now, it's you and me forever, girl
And you know we can do better than anything I would do
You know that you and me, we could do anything

Let me be clear, without God, we could not have done this hard thing called raising children. If I am clinging to God and because of God's goodness to me, I have Craig by my side, I can do anything. It is a miracle Quin made it to 18. I cannot tell you how seriously I mean this.

It seems like yesterday I heard this song for the first time and we were years from teaching our kids how to fly and now here we are.
What's more is, this isn't our first time!!

Now, if you are not the same as me and launching your kid is sweet joy and pleasure for you, embrace it.  Love it and do not question it. There is nothing wrong with that at all! We are not all alike and neither are we meant to be.

It is bittersweet for me.
I am 90% relational and 10% get stuff done. I love having my kids around.

Quin has been our joy and our action. He has kept us on our toes. He has shaped my character immensely and given us such sweet laughter and challenge. He has humbled us and made us better.  

Everything Quin does is wholehearted and he drives us to fully engage. Oh the stories we have!

He, like every other child, will leave a big, wide, gaping hole. His place is unique in our family. His strengths and weaknesses fill a particular void. He is our song and our dance.

It is hard to imagine our home and family without his interesting conversation and lively teasing.

In short.
I miss my boy.

It is good and it is right.

It will be so amazing to watch him continue to grow and become the person he is meant to be.

He never fails to surprise and delight us. It is going to be incredible supporting him in the next stage of our journey.

By the grace of God we got him to 18 alive and by the grace of God he is an amazing kid who is kind, hard working, musical, academic and fun loving.

We are so proud and yet know our part was small.

Quin, you have taught us more than we ever taught you and we are head over heels for you kid!

Give it all you've got! We are always and forever in your corner, cheering, believing in you, grinning ear to ear. What a ride!


Oh, and when the kids are old enough
We're gonna teach them to fly
You and me together, we can do anything..

Forgiveness Part 4: What If The One Who Wronged Me Does Not Confess?

Being human can be so hard sometimes. It is so awful that we hurt one another willfully and accidentally. We fail one another repeatedly and that is why a good, thorough, Biblical understanding of forgiveness is so necessary.

The pattern of forgiveness we have looked at in the previous posts has been based on God's model and the call to forgive as he has forgiven us. God does this perfectly whereas we as humans mishandle it. In human hands, it can break down at any point.

Often it is confession that trips us up. Being masters of rationalization, we excuse our behavior and talk ourselves out of the need to own our behavior. We fail to properly apologize. The saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." rings true in this situation. You may not have intended hurt but your actions caused hurt. To own it and not put that on another is emotionally healthy. It is the difference between "I am sorry I hurt you." (owning it) and " I am sorry you were hurt by what I did." (not owning it and making their hurt their problem).

What happens when Confession doesn’t happen?

Scripture tells us that before we confess and repent, we are enemies of God

(Romans 5:7-10).  However, even while we were his enemies he loved us.Similarly, people who have wronged us have placed themselves against us. They are now our enemy.

Jesus gave specific direction to his followers on how to treat our enemy.

Matthew 5:43-44
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

“But I say to you, love your enemies.” How are we to love?  "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12).

When someone fails to confess, they have placed themselves against us. They have become in a way, our enemy. Our human reaction to this is to hate, seek revenge, hope the worst for them. This is not how God handles us when we are his enemy. He sent Jesus to bridge the gap and make a way back for us, he sought our best and yet, while we are in that position of enemy, there are boundaries. We do not get to enjoy reconciliation or the fullness of his presence. If we follow God's example, we love our enemy, pray for them, and continue to treat them the way we would want to be treated.

This means we do not give in to behavior we ourselves do not want shown to us. We do not hate, seek revenge or give into the desires of our human nature. Instead we recognize that we have also hurt and wronged others. We recognize that as I desire grace from God and others, I will extend grace to others. We recognize it is not our right to seek payment. God will avenge if he deems it necessary (Leviticus 19:18, Romans 12:19-21). He will hold us accountable. I release my need for this and acknowledge that it is God’s right (Romans 14:12; Hebrews 4:13).

To have someone ignore the step of confession breaks the relationship. We are left with pain that has no resolution. When an offense goes unrecognized, it is often harder to sort through the devastation, hurt and anger and come to a place where we are not consumed by bitterness and rage.

We can find healing, validation and comfort that our pain is acknowledged by our Lord (Psalm 147:3) and that Christ has experience life on earth. He has been betrayed, he experienced grief and abandonment first hand. He was slandered. He suffered at the hands of men. He knows. Yet he demonstrated praying for his enemies.  “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

It is in prayer for our enemy that God softens our hearts. He uses our faithfulness in prayer for those who have wronged us to feel love instead of hate, mercy instead of bitterness and grace in place of revenge. Through prayer God helps us release it. The result for our soul is freedom, the same as if we forgave someone who had repented. Through prayer he brings us to a place where we are ready to forgive as he is always ready to forgive. He enables us to release the outcome to him without cheapening forgiveness and it’s requirements.

This takes time, is often a cyclical process of working through the steps of grief. It is important to find safe people who will give you space and time to feel what you feel, understand, give a listening ear and be patient with you. People who will let you travel with gentle encouragement, compassionate insight when you hit a roadblock and who have a commitment to stick with you giving you hope that you will reach the other side.

The other side is when there is confession with no repentance. Change takes time. this is a little trickier to navigate. It the sin is repetitive, there has to be some protection for the one being consistently hurt. People who say sorry yet fail to change are dangerous. You need to protect yourself.

When confession and repentance have not occurred, we set up boundaries. Boundaries keep us from unnecessary harm. God’s boundary is that we do not have communion with him when we have not recognized him as Lord (1 John 3:10).  When people sin against us and do not  follow the biblical model of repentance, we set limits that are appropriate. This creates safety, communicates that a transgression has occurred that needs to be addressed and is very appropriate.

Dr. Henry Cloud is consistently publishing helpful articles on how to navigate this road. While he and I define forgiveness differently, he has steps to help clarify the boundaries. Help from a strong social support is essential as you set these boundaries. They will be challenges, you may be bullied or made to feel that you are unreasonable. You will start to doubt yourself and the steps you have taken to protect yourself.

This is how we seek to live in accordance with God’s example. This is how we forgive as God forgave us.  This is how we seek to live when others sin against us and do not follow the biblical model laid out by God. it is difficult and costs us, yet there is a way to wholeness even when it breaks down. God is enough for this, he can move us through to releasing it to him and trusting him with the outcome. He is big enough.

Forgiveness Part 3: How do we live this out?

Forgiveness is hard to extend. It is also hard to confess. This process costs us. It takes humility and grace. It means we risk being hurt again. Yet, these are the basic actions required to live in healthy relationships together. We are commanded in Luke 17:3-4 to forgive one another as God forgave us.  In the previous two post we have explored a couple of Biblical models for what God requires for forgiveness.

An overview:

Confession (1 John 1:9). Offering forgiveness without confession occurring does not follow the biblical model. God requires that we confess our sin to him in order to forgive our sin. To forgive others as God forgives us therefore, requires confession.

Confession defines what we are repenting from and provides a framework for what restitution is appropriate. Without confession, how do you move to repentance? What are you repenting from? Without confession, how do you make restitution? What are you making restitution for? Confessing is naming our wrong doing with Gods language. I lied, I cheated, I used my anger wrongly, I was selfish. It is important to name it what God calls it, identifying what we have done.

Repentance is turning from our previous action and developing a new pattern. It is recognizing we have not done right by another and that we will seek to do right by them in the future. This is essential because it is our only hope for real change and transformation (Matthew 18:3; Acts 26:20). If we don’t admit our sin, it’s impossible to be renewed. If we do not acknowledge our sin what are we being renewed or transformed from?. If we do not acknowledge our wrong, we do not recognize the need to change. Repentance demonstrates that we need God to help us change our thinking, attitudes, and behavior. It communicates to the one we have wronged that we understand the nature of our sin, it's impact on them and that we will try our best with the help of the Holy Spirit to live a different way. Saying "I am sorry" is saying I will change.

Where Restitution is possible, we are to make it. Zacchaeus was the model we looked at in scripture last week. Sometimes the one who is owed restitution can wave that right (Matthew 18:25-27).  This is an act of grace and is a choice only the person who has been wronged can make.  We could not pay the price for our sin and so God had it fulfilled another way, through Jesus. He did not demand a price from us that we could not pay (Luke 7:41-42). This is forgiving the way God has forgiven us.

Forgiveness and Reconciliation. Forgiveness is holding no record of the wrong. Once I forgive, I no longer raise this as an example to make the person who wronged me feel guilty or ashamed. God puts my sin as far as the East is from the West. This is the example he has given. Then we work together to rebuild the relationship. This is what reconciliation is. Restoration. It is often better that what it was when both parties give their best effort and are committed to the process.

As a family we have tried to develop the language and pattern of forgiveness based on God's mode. if one of our children wronged another we walked through these steps.

"I am sorry I broke your toy, I know I hurt you. I will be more careful next time and treat your toys the way I would treat mine."

"I forgive you." (It doesn't always happen right away, sometimes the tone is wrong, baby steps!

Then they would have to go replace that item. If it was no longer available a suitable mutually agreed upon replacement would be purchased. sometimes our kids would wow us and not demand the replacement be made.

This is simple in theory but now one child does not trust the other with their things. Walking through a process of earning that trust back and learning to trust again will take time, patience and grace until true reconciliation can be achieved. i cannot make the choice for another to enter into that process. It takes two equally committed people to walk that road. I want someone to take that risk on me, therefore, I have to be willing to take a risk on them. I do this knowing in my own life just because I commit to change does not mean that it will happen right away. I still do what I do not want to do and realistically I have to have grace as those who have hurt me turn from their ways and learn new patterns.

As parents we have had to apologize to our children and demonstrate the steps of this process. It is very humbling to apologize to a child but there is no more beautiful thing than to hear them say "I forgive you Mom."

This all looks good on paper. We are not perfect, we do not always get this right. Different personalities have a hard time saying sorry, others struggle with wanting to resentfully hang on and keep a record of wrongs. sometimes one person struggles with both those things!!

This is a process that takes dogged persistence and we have to lead by example. We want to raise up adults who are humble enough to admit their wrong and gracious enough to forgive. I want to be someone who is humble and gracious. To reach our goal, Craig and I need to live this out in front of our kids, in our marriage, in our friendships and in our relationships with our children. this is the only way for them to grab it and internalize it.

Healthy boundaries and communication are essential for the journey towards true reconciliation and there are some great resources for this.

Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend have adapted this book for children, marriage, and leaders. These are essential skills for growing in these areas. Dr. Cloud has a facebook page and regularly publishes great articles looking into these tools and realities.

What happens when we refuse to follow the example God has laid out for us? What happens when there is habitual sin and no repentance? What if only one person works at reconciliation? How does this look when a step of the process is skipped?

What happens when we refuse to acknowledge the way God forgives and how to live that out in our relationships? We will look into that next week.

Forgiveness : Part 2

Craig and I spent some time really searching through scripture regarding forgiveness after we had experienced some deep hurt. Deep hurt doesn't cut it, we felt almost destroyed. People would boldly tell us how to behave or what to do without even understanding the situation.  This actually caused more harm than good.

I have been reading through Job and it just hurts when I read it. We experienced  Jobs 'friends' when they spoke into a situation assuming truth was what was needed when in reality we needed someone to share grief, listen, give a safe place to vent the pain and suffering, show some compassion and understanding.

Thankfully our community also provided us with good people who listened over months of hurt and processing who loved us as we healed.

It started us on a journey of looking into what God set out as the forgiveness process. Last week we took a look at how God modeled forgiveness with Adam and Eve. Today we will look at how God reset forgiveness with Jesus and how that impacts our lives when we follow the Biblical model.

There are scriptures throughout the new testament supporting these steps.

New Testament: Jesus brings in The New Covenant
For salvation it is required that we go through these steps, consistent with the requirements in the Old Testament.

Recognition of sin and Confession:
We have lived independently from God
Romans 1:20-21
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
(Luke 13:3,John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9)

Repent:
Accept his Lordship
Romans 10:9-10
...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
(Acts 16: 31, Acts 20:21

Restitution:
Jesus paid this price for us
Hebrews 9:22
...and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (NASB)
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

This is the end of the sacrificial system. Over and over in the new Testament we are told that Christ died once for all sin.  This price has been paid in full, never to be paid again. This is the reset that Christ began.
(Romans 6:10, Hebrews 10:10, 1 Peter 3:18)

Forgiveness:
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (NASB)
(Psalm 32:1-6, Proverbs 28:13)

Reconciliation:
When we do this we are given the relationship of sons and daughters.
(John1:12, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Romans 8:16, 1John 3:1)
We are invited to know, pray and relate to God.
Hebrew 4:16
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

The pattern is the same as what we saw last week when God related to Adam and Eve.

The difference here is that Christ paid for us. He made restitution to appease the price sin demands.

How do we live this out? we will take a look next week.

Forgiveness Part 1

Have you ever had to forgive someone?  Have you ever been in a position where you were wronged, hurt or so blatantly sinned against and been told by others to forgive?

There is a lot of misunderstanding around the topic of forgiveness.  As believers, we often pile together the things we have heard and sometimes forget to go back to Truth to get a proper understanding. Even significant things like forgiveness.

Scripture is meant to be used as a whole. We are never to take one verse, or one idea and build a theology around it, yet this happens all the time. It is a dangerous use of the word of God and we need to guard against it. Instead, we study the entire scripture to get a thorough understanding.

I fear we have an incomplete, incorrect understanding of forgiveness. 

Mark 6:5 says "But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."  So we work hard to forgive no matter what and yet something doesn't sit right in our souls. 

When you have been grievously sinned against, something inside of you cries "NO!" 

To forgive when there has been no recognition of wrong, no restitution or reconciliation diminishes the wrong you have experienced. It makes little of sin, and God never does that.

In Luke 17:3-4 we are called to forgive as God forgave us.  So we now have these two verses about forgiveness. What do we do?? This last one is echoed in Colossians 3:13 and Ephesians 4:32.

How did God forgive us?

Sin separates us from God. We don't like that, it feels offensive. Yet we are comfortable with the concept of sin when someone has wronged us. Human nature, don't you love it??

Over and over we see God patiently explaining what wrongs have been committed against him. He gently spells out for his people the way back. Stubborn as they are, they rarely take it.

Before we can forgive others as God forgave us, we need to understand how God forgives. The whole Bible is full of examples of how God has dealt with people when sin has come between.  I cannot form my Theology of Forgiveness from just the New Testament or the verses I find most significant. I need to search the whole Scripture.

Right away in Genesis, we are given our first example:

Old Testament: Under The Law, before Jesus

Adam and Eve

The relationship is broken by sin.

Eve had been tricked by the serpent to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and gave some to the Adam who was with her. That expectation was articulated clearly in Gen. 2:16-17

Genesis 3:8

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Recognition of Sin and Confession:

Genesis 3:11-13

And he (God) said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

So here we are. They had freely walked and talked with God and now they hide from Him. The relationship is broken.

Because this is the first act of sin, God does the work to show them what is required

Repentance and Forgiveness:

Hebrews 9:22 tells us that the shedding of blood is required for the remission of sin. This is supported by the Bible in the Offerings and Sacrifices required from the Jewish people and it is echoed in Psalms 51:7.

That blood has to be shed for forgiveness to happen tells us how seriously God takes sin.

Genesis 3:21

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. (NASV)

In making garments of skin, the first blood was shed as a requirement for covering sin. The fact that God does this is a foreshadowing of his plan to send Jesus. The debt was Adam and Eve's and God took care of it. The debt is ours and yet God took care of it by having Jesus pay it. 

Restitution:

Revealed in the next chapter. God has instituted Offerings as restitution. Adam and Eve’s sons Cain and Abel live under The Law which now required offerings. Living in obedience rather than in disobedience is contrasted in their offerings and responses (Genesis 4).

Genesis 3:23

The Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

No longer did they enjoy the produce provided, they are now required to work the ground, bear children in pain.

Forgiveness & Reconciliation:

Genesis 3-4

We see Adam and Eve are driven from the garden, they no longer walk and talk freely with God. His presence withdrawn by the sin that has now entered. Relationship is maintained through the introduction of Offerings.

In chapter four Cain and Able demonstrate the difference between repentance and rebellion.

Forgiveness does not mean there is no consequence, they are driven from the Garden of Eden. Reconciliation does not mean there are now no boundaries. God no longer walks and talks with them face to face. God takes sin seriously. There is a change in the nature of their relationship.

Sin is what separates us from God and what hurts and separates us from one another.

The steps God requires for us are

1. Recognition of Sin and Confession
2. Repentance- turning from sin
3. Restitution when it can be made
4. Forgiveness
5. Reconciliation

The goal is alway to recover the relationship through reconciliation.

This is one of many of the Old Testament examples. There are many throughout in which you can see this pattern.

As we study this it becomes clear why, maybe, it is not so easy as just forgive and forget. Move on! Because the seriousness of sin requires more than that. Forgiveness isn't cheep.

Part 2 Next week