This weekend kicked my butt. I woke up pretty drained on Monday, but it was a great weekend.
The subject was forgiveness. I knew there would be some tough questions & difficult conversations in & around this subject. I was right. Most of them start with something like, “this person (usually someone very close – spouse, ex-spouse, parent, child etc) did this (insert gut-wrenching hurt here) and I’m supposed to just forgive them. I love preaching on this because it is so critical to our growth & so uniquely a “Jesus thing”.
Have you ever thought about the fact that when Jesus finished teaching us the Lord’s Prayer (yes, that is a great title for this prayer) the only thing that He chose to comment on was the line, “as we forgive our debtors”? Here’s what he said:
Matt. 6:14 “For if you forgive 1others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
It was a great weekend, even though it was a little draining. Here are a few highlights:
• HEART OF THE MATTER – Valerie sent this flying out of the park. I’ve been wanting to do this song in a service for years. We finally did since it has been re-done by India Arie . Valerie told me afterward how this was the 1st time she has ever sung a song that wasn’t “gospel” and that it really ministered to her. Us too!!!
• JIM SELLS MY SMART FOOTBALL PLAYING FRIEND – I grew up with a guy who was all Orange County running back on a sucky team (La Quinta H.S.). That means everyone that played them knew he was getting the ball almost every time & he still ran for a grip of yards! Who would have guessed that he would be the one of us to earn a PhD from USC, become a professor teaching doctoral students & write books. We have stayed best of friends to my delight! He’s working on a book on forgiveness & the whole 1st point was shaped by his email. THANKS BRO! La Quinta still sucks!
• WORSHIP THAT REFRESHES MY SOUL – I hate to be redundant, but I love our worship. I love the song selection, the delivery, the spirit-filled, anointed way that Jason & the team lead. I’m loving that “Desert Song” number we are working right now.
• SELAH – we messed up the flyer in the program so we didn’t have too many folks there, but it was a powerful time of being in God’s presence. Don’t miss the next one.
• WEDDING ON SATURDAY – I officiated a fun wedding on Saturday at Calumet part in PB. It was right as that storm was coming in & it was spectacularly beautiful. They needed a guitar player since they weren’t permitted to amplify sound so Elliot & Michelle hired my son David to play before after & the Wedding march.
• LIFE WALK – my kids did a great job of helping me out with this. I’ll blog specifically about this later.
I’m looking forward to this coming weekend… already. They come & go so fast don’t they.
