Forgive Them They Know Not What They Do?

Another misunderstanding about the words of Christ on the cross!  Too many are misunderstanding what forgiveness is and what Christ actually did on the cross when He said "forgive them Father, they know not what they do."

Paul E. Bollinger, explains that passage very well. 

"You may have heard about Jesus forgiving people while he was dying on the cross. This misconception comes from Luke 23:34 where Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” At first glance this looks like Jesus is forgiving the people who are crucifying him, but there’s one important difference. Jesus isn’t talking to those responsible for his death. Jesus is talking to God. Jesus is praying.

When Jesus forgives someone, he normally doesn’t pray. He simply tells them, “You are forgiven.” For example, Matthew 9:2 says, “Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’” Jesus never prayed. He simply told the paralyzed man that he was forgiven. Likewise in Luke 7, Jesus goes to eat at a Pharisees’ house, and a sinful woman follows him. She starts to cry, and anoints Jesus’ feet with perfume. Then in Luke 7:48, Jesus tells her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Again Jesus does not pray. He simply says, “Your sins are forgiven.”
So why would Jesus pray for his executioners to be forgiven instead of simply telling them? I believe Jesus prayed because he couldn’t forgive them until they had repented of their sin. God does not forgive anyone before they repent. God only forgives after we repent (Acts 2:38 & 1 John 1:9). And Jesus is God. So for Jesus to forgive those responsible for his death before they repented would be a violation of God’s Character.

In other words, Jesus’ prayer for his executioners includes an implied prayer for their repentance. Jesus can’t forgive them until they repent, but Jesus wants to forgive them."

Genealogy: What is the Focus!

I am not into "Genealogy", I am not connected to family now and names on a sheet of paper do nothing for me.

I would be interested in some writings by ancestors, but most of the genealogy today only has names and dates. Makes no sense to me.

I guess people are clamoring to see if they are related to famous people. It seems a little like ancestor worship to me and somewhat prideful.

If we are going to brag about our genealogy then we can be excited that we are related to NOAH, it is not possible to go further back than that.

I choose to look forward not backward. I cannot evangelize those dead people on those lists, they had no impact on my life and probably most were not believers.

God told Paul to say; Philippians 3:13 "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,"

May we seek God for today, remembering what He did for the believers of the New Testament era, to spur us on to greater obedience and faith. Let not the telling of the stories of old be enough, but let them guide us to trust Christ for our life more.

Ear Tickling is Lack of Faith

Yep! There is much lack of faith in the modern church. When we think we have to do things the public like to bring them in or keep them, then we are fearing man rather than God. When we have faith, we can just obey God and leave all the results to Him. The chances are good that the true worship gatherings will be small and void of all the modern trappings, there is freedom from silly useless busy work when we do things God's way.