Later in life I found him living with an adult son, who was listed as a ‘Minister of the Gospel’. So I went deeper yet, studying the Lebanon County History and found they were both part of the Church of the Brethren branch known as the Dunkers. The Dunkers, of course, believed in water baptism by immersion, thus the moniker. They were also apparently pretty legalistic.

It seems the Dunker church in Lebanon County was founded by two men, Abraham Zug and one other. It seems the other man fell into sin, whatever that was. At first he confessed to the sin, but then denied it. Since he denied the sin, the church refused to allow him to attend. He was excommunicated and it rocked that local church to the core. I wonder if there was more to the story than meets the eye. A little politics in the old church?

How difficult we sometimes make it for sinners to come to Christ and find grace for their lives. Are you making it simple or difficult for those on the journey?

Donaldson told about traveling with Carter to a small village near New Delhi, India to see how the village solved its energy problem. This was at the height of concern over the energy crisis. This particular village solved its energy problem by throwing all the cow manure from its herds into a large pit, then siphoning off the methane gas from the manure  to light the village lamps.

So, it came to pass that the reporters and the officials with Carter all stood on the lip of this manure pit inspecting the process. “If I fell in, you’d pull me out, wouldn’t you, Mr. President?” joked Donaldson.

“Certainly,” Carter replied. Then he paused and added, “after a suitable interval.”

If you’ve thought about getting even today, forget it. You cannot get “even”, anyway. You reap what you sow.

I think its like that with the all-seeing eye of God beholding everything we do – whether in the open or in private. This is a disturbing thought that could lead us to despair. But God not only sees and tremembers, He also forgives if we come to Him in repentance and confession.

The Lord promises to do these things with our sins:

• Forgive them all (1 John 1:9).
• Cast them into the sea (Micah 7:19).
• Take them away (Isaiah 6:7).
• Cover them up (Psalm 32:1)
• Blot them out (Acts 3:19).

• Put them away (Hebrews 9:26).
• Remember them no more (Hebrews 8:12).

Since we can’t hide our sins from God, let’s confess them and accept His gracious forgiveness.

There is a story about a boy whose father pounded a nail in the barn door every time the boy did something wrong. Soon there were many nails in the door. Then one day the boy accepted Christ as Savior and began living for Him. To impress upon his son the wonder of being forgiven, the father took him to the barn and pulled out every nail from the door. “That is what it means to have all your sins forgiven,” he said. “They are gone forever.”

The boy was deeply impressed. Then looking at the door, he asked, “But father, how can I get rid of the holes?” “I’m sorry,” said the father, “but the holes will remain.”

When the disciples first met the resurrected Christ on Easter morning, He showed them His hands and feet, where they saw the scars. These scars will always be there because sin leaves holes behind.

But I carefully removed what was loose and patched the holes. Some holes required multiple patches. Then I carefully sanded them level. Then I covered the patches with drywall primer, and finally two coats of colored paint. Today the paint has dried and you can’t even find where those former blemishes were. Its like a huge eraser swept through the room and made it new again.

Love between brothers and sisters is supposed to work like that, as well. John said, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” Have you allowed brotherly love to cover the sin of another, like dried paint on a wall covers blemishes? Think about this today.

“One day my husband and I got into an argument and ended up yelling at each other. I retreated to the porch and sat with my head in my hands, crying. Our two-year old overheard the argument. ‘I love you, Mom,’ she said, as she sat beside me and put her arms around me. ‘I love you, too,’ I said. She rested her head on my shoulder, hugging me hard. ‘I wish you could love Daddy, too,’ she said. Talk about ripping your heart out! ‘But I do love your Daddy. We just had a disagreement.’ With that my daughter smiled, got up and walked away. ‘Where are you going?’ I asked. She replied, ‘I’m going to tell Daddy you love him!’

If you are going to expose your children to your anger, be sure you also expose them when you forgive each other. Teach them how to deal with the issue – without attacking the person. You may need to teach them things you were never taught. Forgive when you’re hurt and don’t take your resentments to bed. Jesus said you must forgive “so that your Father in heaven may forgive you” (Mark 11:25). So, do it for your children’s sake.

Imagine all the wrongs of your life being like that missing filthy lagoon. It was certainly there, yet its now gone. Where did that sin go? Its a mystery, but it’s gone!

Where did it go? Buried in the deepest sea (Micah 7:19), as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), erased from the eternal books of heaven’s justice (Colossians 2:13-15). Think about that sinkhole and your sins today.

A couple of weeks later we were passing by that spot and decided to dig it up and see how it was doing. We meant well, but learned a valuable lesson. We were more concerned about what we would see than what we would smell. It didn’t take us long to get that cat re interred and never went back again.

That was a gruesome experience for us boys. But the lesson was simple: once you’ve buried something, let it lie. Digging it up from time to time just doesn’t help. And so it is with our sins. When they are buried, we must let them lie. Digging them up again only brings up what once was there. Leave the cat buried!

There is no question that infidelity is wrong. But without forgiveness,bitterness is all that’s left! There comes a point at which anger is no longer just an emotion – its a driving force. Like cocaine, you need larger and more frequent doses. Once that happens, you move even further from forgiveness, because without your anger you’ve no source of energy at all. It’s what drives hate groups like the KKK and the Skinheads.

God says, “Forgive anyone who does you wrong…as Christ has forgiven you” (Colossians 3:13), because bitterness is fatal.

The people of the West could have retaliated, but instead dumped a truckload of valuable food supplies over onto the East Berlin side. Above it they placed a sign: ‘EACH GIVES WHAT HE HAS’.

What do you have to give your enemy? Bitterness and resentment, or grace and blessing. The choice will be determined by what’s really in our heart. Think about it.