Christian Living
Larry Lilly's Letter Friday October 6, 2006
Most of us have been moved to the depths of human grief at the brutal murder of five Amish girls while they were in the little one room school house in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. I wept when I heard and read about. Nickel Mines is about 20 miles from my home town and I have driven through the area many times. In those days I usually had a few religious out of context names for the horse and buggies that held me up as I tried to drive like a maniac. (Joyce's words).
One headline proclaimed that the Amish community was taking up money for the family of Charles Carl Roberts, the murderer of the children. The article stated that the community was going to great lengths to let his survivors know they wanted the wife and children to continue living in the community and they had no hard feelings toward them. And furthermore, they had forgiven Charles Roberts.
The Amish are descendents of the Anabaptists, as are more modern Baptists. The Anabaptist were not the 'radical wing' of the Reformation but antedated the Reformation by at least fourteen hundred years. It struck me that the fundamental difference between the Old Order Amish and my style of Baptist is not the 1850 clothes, or the quaint customs such as horse and buggy, no electricity or other modern conveniences, but something far deeper than outward appearance.
The difference is expressed in an ABC News piece by Charles Gibson. He quotes Mid wife Rhita Rhoads who was present for the birth of two of the five murdered girls:
"If you have Jesus in your heart and He has forgiven you, how can you not forgive other people?"
Anybody want to take on the question?
I assure you that over long years I have heard every reason on earth for refusing to forgive those who trespass against us. (Is murdering five children of your group a mere trespass)?
I for one believe that a revival of true forgiveness in our Christian groups would spark a revival of faith such as the world has never seen. All Christians give lip service to the command of Jesus to forgive. When we begin to practice this forgiveness from the heart, the world will stop for at least a few minutes in wide eyed wonder proclaiming, "We have never seen it like this before."
So, how are you doing in the area of forgiving those who have trespassed against you? Most of the slights committed against us are trivial in comparison to the Lancaster County slaughter. Could it be that these 'strange' people have a better grip on the teaching of Jesus than we religious sophisticates?
Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 940 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Larry Lilly or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 940 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.
Just read the story of Mary Byler, who was raped by her male relatives over a hundred times and when she finally got away/ran away and took them to court, the Amish all showed up in support...of the men.
People romanticize the Amish too much, just because they live simple lives and seem more spiritual (they are actually more religious that spiritual and there is a huge difference between the two, for God doesn't say to put on the religious man, but the spiritual.
I believe the Amish find it easy to forgive anyone of anything because they believe everything that happens (from the good to the bad to the horrendous) is God's will.