Josiah Concept Ministries

Has someone wronged you, recently or some time ago, from whom you are witholding forgiveness?  Maybe you felt that it the dirty lout deserves it.  Maybe you felt that it was a supreme wrong and you know what?  Maybe you’re even right!

But none of that matters.  Every wrong, every sin committed, wrongs God.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9).

But look at that in light of the parable of the unforgiving servant.  Why should God forgive us infinate wrongs if we can’t forgive our fellow man a few?  See the expanded version of this here.

Recently, I forgave someone who had wronged me in the past.  It felt very good to talk to him last night, to hear how he has grown as a Christian, to find out that he is well and hopes that we can get together soon.  I second that.  But, more importantly, something else has happened.  It seems that since our conversation last night, my blog readership has more than doubled.

It is true, as the Bible says.  “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19).  I have loosed this wrong, and God has opened the doors for ministry in a very soon and extremely unexpected way.

Praise and glory go to Him, and I pray that His hand will continue to guide this ministry, win souls through it, and provide me with a means to support my family through this work.  I set out to reconnect with an old and dear friend.  I did that.  In the process, I learned again how faithful God is to His children.

Here is the study of Catholic Mass I did for Got Questions Ministires in its original form. From time to time, as I get time, I will update and expand it to include more information. An edited version will soon appear on their page. As always, enjoy!

The Bible has this to say about God forgiving the sin of blasphemy:

Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. [Mark 3:28-29]

The mental midgets over at the Rational Response Squad are giving away 1,001 copies of the video The God Who Wasn’t There to anyone who will upload a video of themselves saying “I deny the Holy Spirit” to YouTube. They have creatively named this The Blasphemy Challenge. At the time of writing, 560 such videos are posted. This makes my wife physically ill. But I see only amusement here.

These folks have accepted the Blasphemy Challenge, but they haven’t completed it! You see, saying the words isn’t the sin. Living a lifestyle, a consciously chosen lifestyle, that denies God’s active hand in your life and in the world around you, that is the Unforgivable Sin. Read the verse in context and see for yourself! The key to the entire passage is verse 30: “for they [the scribes] had said ‘He [Jesus] has an unclean spirit.’” The scribes are saying that Jesus is from the devil! They are doing far more than denying the existence of God: they are now denying the work of God.

Denying the work of God in the world around us is not a condition of words or expression; it is a condition of heart and will reflect in the things you do, think, and speak.

The Rational Response Squad fails to understand the passage. The folks who accepted the Blasphemy Challenge fail to understand what they are denying. Therefore, they can still be forgiven this sin if they choose to repent. Something tells me they won’t, but perhaps if enough people pray for them God will draw them into His flock and they will understand the true implications of what they denied.

LATE BREAKING ADDENDUM: In my study of Catholic Mass for Got Questions Ministries, I stumbled on a verse that is important to understand the concept of the Unforgivable Sin. The Holy Spirit is the personified work of God in all of Creation, right? Well, check out John 6:29: “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” Once again, this underscores the importance of a person’s condition of heart. Belief in Jesus as the Son of God is the very work of God! Not believing this is the core of the Unforgivable Sin.