BASIC Action Ohana Group

These next couple of chapters were particularly interesting to me considering my attitude about forgiveness a few years ago. Back then, forgiveness was a concept that I really disliked. It seemed that forgiveness just plain forgot about justice. To make sure justice wasn’t forgotten, I reasoned that in order for others to be forgiven, they must first acknowledge the wrong done. In my case, it usually meant that they must acknowledge the pain they caused me. I justified this with the fact that Jesus forgave our sins and in order to participate in the Kingdom with Him, we had to acknowledge that we need to be forgiven. Yea, I know, faulty logic. But it help sooth the pain, or so I thought, that was caused by people to whom I was commanded to forgive. Amazingly enough, this leads into the very heart of chapter 7. Yancey begins by believing that forgiveness is an unnatural act. Forgiveness from wounds of betrayal and pain from being betrayed is not easily fade away (85).

Thanks to my small group, I was able to really delve into what forgiveness is all about. The Ohana didn’t shy away from the truth about forgiveness, but they made sure to acknowledge the pain that was caused to me which made me desire my idea of what forgiveness was.

Chapters 7 & 8 also doesn’t shy away from the truth of forgiveness, that you must forgive. It is a biblical principle. It is mandated by Jesus. But it also goes beyond the commands, into the reason why it is so important that God wants us to forgive, to free our hearts.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the main points from the chapters.

1. Forgiveness is a process.
2. Forgiveness means taking the initiative
3. Forgiveness is faith that God will work out the balance between mercy and justice.

In order to forgive, I must understand God’s grace upon me. In order to experience grace, I just forgive others.

Why forgive?
1. It halts the cycle of blame and pain, which in turn breaks the chains of ungrace. Yancey states that not forgiving imprisons me to the past and locks out any potential for changes in our lives..
2. It can loosen the stranglehold of guilt in the perpetrator. Here, Yancey states that forgiveness allows the possibility of transformation for the guilty party.

The strongest statement in the chapter is his observation that “we are not as different from the wrongdoers as we would like to think” (104)

We begin chapter 9 next week.

This last Sunday, Katrina threw a wonderful barbecue for one of our own, Richard. I have hopes that I can hunt down some pictures of the night from our lovely hostess.

Anyway, Richard had made a bold and courageous decision to leave in order to help clean up some of his past mistakes. God bless my dear friend. You will be in our prayers and you will be missed.

Has it been a couple of weeks? Wow, I guess it has been. I was lucky enough to be able to join in with a Love Your Neighbor (LYN) cleanup. I personally love this ministry that Danny help put together. Our Ohana have been looking at the concept of community, what that looks like, how important it is to be in one, and how to live in one. The bases of LYN is how, as a community, we love others. With the LYN cleanup, we move from talking about being a community that should love each other into becoming a part of the community that actively cares for others.332

Here are some pictures of what I hope is the beginning to a deeper fellowship with our community… and having fun doing it!