EI's blog

Is Forgiveness Just?

Posted by Art Nuernberg on March 2, 2012

Forgiveness is not simply an act of kindness. It is an act of faith. You never really release the person who has harmed you unless we keep the Lord in the middle of the transactions. Compassion may motivate our forgiveness, but faith empowers us to see it through.

Most observers acknowledge the blessing that forgiveness bestows, yet in the depth of our beings, forgiveness offends. Where is justice? The offender is freed, while the victim pays a price. Restitution may ease the pain, but is not always offered or even possible. Festering wounds reignite bitterness, eroding lasting forgiveness. How are we to handle these problems?

What Is Forgiveness?

Posted by Art Nuernberg on February 27, 2012

Defining “forgiveness” can be a bit like defining “love.” Although we are confident that we understand the meaning of forgiveness, pinning down every aspect strains our minds. Unless we accept the challenge and fight our way through this task, we face a two-sided risk. On one side, superficiality can steal the joy which accompanies a complete understanding of forgiveness. On the other side, we live with a conscience plagued by doubts and imprisoned by confusion, which presses us to attain the unattainable.

Forgiveness and Forgiving

Posted by Art Nuernberg on January 31, 2012

After outlining the direction vital prayer should take, Jesus returns to the fifth petition.
Curiously, this is the only request coupled with a condition: And forgive us our debts, as we also
have forgiven our debtors (Matt. 6:12). In making certain that we do not miss the point, Jesus
returns to explain why the wording of this petition is necessary. He teaches us that forgiveness is
dependent on our willingness to freely bestow forgiveness upon others.

The Gospels leave us in no doubt that the Master considered the connection between forgiveness
and prayer a core issue. No less than a year later, the disciples asked the Lord to teach them
to pray (Luke 11:1-4). Jesus responded by giving an abbreviated form of the prayer found in
Matthew 6. Everything was shortened except the matter of forgiveness and forgiving, which

A Christmas Letter

Posted by Art Nuernberg on December 21, 2011

Dear Friends,

The eternal God never distances Himself from His creation. He is everywhere and personally involved with all that happens. Paul could proclaim to lost men that in Him we live and move and have our being, but mankind needed more. Sin darkened our hearts and obscured our comprehension of God. From creation, we knew something of God's power and wisdom; but to understand the beauty of His essential character, we needed a person. We needed to observe God's character at work in circumstances in order to embrace Him. The Lord humbled Himself and answered our need. The Word became flesh to dwell among us, and we saw His glory. We observed righteousness in action. Jesus showed us the Father through a life saturated with grace and truth.

A Pattern to Pray

Posted by Art Nuernberg on December 16, 2011

The crowd who listened when Jesus spoke the words recorded in Matthew 6 was largely common people. Most of them probably eked out an insignificant existence, barely keeping ahead of disaster. The conquering Romans despised them. Their leaders, the educated, religious elite, considered them ignorant of the law and accursed. This crowd represented the unimpressive mass of humanity, many of whom suffered from serious physical and spiritual afflictions.

Your Father Knows...

Posted by Art Nuernberg on December 5, 2011

Prayer is properly addressed to our Father. As Jesus instructed His disciples about prayer in Matthew 6, He began what we call the Lord’s Prayer with the words: Our Father, who is in heaven. More than a year and a half later (Luke 11) when those same disciples asked to be taught to pray, the Master repeated the essence of this prayer and started with exactly the same address: Father, hallowed be your name.

Meaningless Repetition

Posted by Art Nuernberg on November 18, 2011

Have you ever had a longstanding, strong, mental impression for which you cannot pinpoint the origin? Despite the fact that you cannot speak with certainty about the source of the impression, the imprint remains clear and deep.

The Father Who Is In Secret

Posted by Art Nuernberg on November 7, 2011

The first principle of prayer is to get alone with God. We have looked at the negative side of this principle, as we noted our tendency to use spiritual activities for self-promotion. To guard against this pressure, we simply concluded: NEVER use prayer for anything other than speaking to God.

Now let us consider the positive aspects of this lesson. Think with me about Matthew 6:6: But you when you pray, go in your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. A few simple encouragements may be gleaned from this passage.

Get Alone With God

Posted by Art Nuernberg on October 28, 2011

We will consider the Lord’s lessons on prayer in chronological order, although the timing of some of His later lessons are hard to pin with certainty. The earliest lesson is found in Matthew 6 as part of his Sermon on the Mount discourse. Although this message was primarily intended for the early disciples, a great crowd had gathered to listen. The applications at the end of the sermon assure us that this crowd was also much on the Lord’s mind as He spoke.

Teach Us to Pray

Posted by Art Nuernberg on October 21, 2011

Effective ministry is a healthy balance between the Spirit empowered use of the Word of God and prevailing prayer. We are thankful for the many electronic means available for spreading truth. These provide the necessary tools to penetrate every area of the world; however, as wonderful as this may be, it is only half of what is needed for effective ministry.