Chicago, Forgiveness

Did yall see that crazy blizzard in Chicago?! I was there. 20 inches of snow kept me pretty locked down in the Red Roof Inn Chicago-Lansing. If I had ever doubted it before, a Mitsubishi Eclipse is not made for that kind of weather :)

I was up there to do some music things with a friend of mine, and also to hang out at Family Christian Center—the nation’s 20th largest church. Pastored by Steve Munsey, FCC has over 12,000 members. When you are that big, you gotta be doing something right, ya know? So I went in wanting to see how they run things, make some connections, and just glean anything I could from this mega-ministry.

I was impressed with their facilities and ministries, but the main blessing of being there was just hearing Mr. Munsey speak 3 times. He is an anointed and prophetic man of God, and also a wonderful speaker. I got to hear him in a very small setting on Monday evening as he taught their Bible College class in front of about 100 students. Then, I heard him preach in both services on Wednesday evening. The focus of Wednesday night’s message was forgiveness, and he said something that I feel is worth repeating. To paraphrase, he said, “Your level of forgiveness is equal to your level of faith.” That is quite a powerful statement. He also said that the people he knows who have the most faith also have the highest levels of forgiveness in their lives.

Wow. This is usually where I would elaborate on the point, but I just want to let his statement sink in a little. “Your level of forgiveness is equal to your level of faith.” Who among us doesn’t need to exercise forgiveness more in our lives? I know I do. If we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts, it can hinder what God is wanting to do in our lives. This is a hard one to deal with because it is really personal, but I want you to take a moment and look into yourself right now and see if/where you are still holding onto unforgiveness. Once you’ve identified it, give it to God and ask him to heal you and help you walk in that new state of forgiveness and wholeness. Forgive whoever it is that you’ve been holding captive (and that’s been holding you captive), and also ask the Lord to forgive you for bottling that stuff up in your heart.

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If you want to watch Steve Munsey’s actual message on forgiveness from this past week, follow this link and click on ‘Archives’, then click ‘Watch Now’ beside of Wednesday 02-02-2011. It’s definitely worth your time. Lastly, I've typed out 2 Bible verses below that address this issue (my emphasis added in bold). The last one shows us exactly how Jesus handled forgiveness, even as he was being crucified.

May God bless you all this week. In Jesus Christ of Nazareth's holy name, Amen.

James 2:13 -- because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Luke 23:34 -- Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”…