Hello Peeps!

I wanted to post this video of Pastor Mark Finley – a televangelist who was “the first Seventh-day Adventist pastor to do a satellite evangelistic series who also served as one vice-president out of nine for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and has written over 74 published books” (Source: Wikipedia – Mark Finley).

In his sermon, he talks about the mass genocide of Rwanda with respect to the Hutus fighting against the Tutsis, where a shocking 1 million people were killed in less than 9 months. When the genocide began, there were less than 380,000 seventh-day adventists living in Rwanda, and when the genocide ended there were at least 100,000 adventists that were found dead in 6 months. Unfortunately, the Genocide trials still continue against the killers to this day.

The killings were so great that the bodies ended up being stacked up one on top of the other that even the dogs came and ate them… When there was no room to throw the bodies in the streets, they started to throw thousands of bodies into the river until the river got clogged up with dead bodies… Many people lost their lives during this genocide. However, one lady who had gone through this period of mass genocide, had survived from a brutal attack from one of her attackers and had turned her horror story into a movement of passion when the one who had attacked her became a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. She had chosen to turn her bitterness and hatred into a demonstration of forgiveness, compassion and love that turned her enemy to become her adoptive son.

Honestly, this story made me look at myself and made me realize how the road of forgiveness is so very difficult and yet trans-formative in power. I can’t say, judging from the story of this woman, that I would have had that same level of grace to forgive in the manner that she did…but wow…it humbled me to know that I’ve still got a long ways to go in order to demonstrate that level of mercy and compassion to another human being that may have hurt you in ways that is so hard to describe. If Jesus could heal the ear of the Servant of Malchus that was cut off by Simon Peter who did so in his aggression because the servant had come to escort Jesus to be crucified on the cross … (Matthew 26:51; Mark 14:47; Luke 22:50; John 18:10; John 18:26); then I guess as Christians, we need to realize the true meaning of these verses of scripture:

1 John 4:18 [Full Chapter]

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

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Mark 11:25

[ Forgiveness and Prayer ] “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

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Mark 11:26

But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

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Matthew 6:12

And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

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Matthew 6:14

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

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Matthew 6:15

But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.