Unpacking Forgiveness
Unpacking Forgiveness: Biblical Answers for Complex Questions and Deep Wounds is published by Crossway (Amazon, Barnes and Noble). Read endorsements here.
Many forgiveness books that target a general audience are too simplistic. They encourage forgiveness so broadly that they diminish the justice of God and the integrity of grace. This is what Dennis Prager pointed out in a Wall Street Journal article. Prager wrote:
Though I am a Jew, I believe that a vibrant Christianity is essential if America’s moral decline is to be reversed. And despite theological differences, Christianity and Judaism have served as the bedrock of American civilization. And I am appalled and frightened by this feel-good doctrine of automatic forgiveness.
Unpacking Forgiveness presents the beauty of God’s grace and the necessity of forgiveness. But, it also teaches that it must take place in a way that is consistent with justice. We must move beyond a “feel-good doctrine of automatic forgiveness.”
This book consider many practical questions such as:
- What if I can’t or won’t forgive?
- How can I stop thinking about an offense?
- What if Christians cannot agree?
The Forgiveness Quiz is a great way to consider central questions to the topic.
When the Word Leads Your Pastoral Search
With my book, When the Word Leads Your Pastoral Search, the goal was to offer biblical help to churches making one of the most strategic decisions made by any local church: calling a pastor.
Churches looking for a pastor know their decision is critical for the future of the church. In particular, churches desire excellence in the pulpit. However, there are few resources available designed to help them achieve their first goal of excellence in the pulpit. Nor, are there many resources available to show in a Scriptural way about how churches should think about compensating their pastor or working through the difficult challenge of transitioning to a new pastor without reacting (either in a negative or positive way) to the previous pastor.
For more on pastoral searches see pastorsearchresources.com.
Bound Together
We are not just isolated individuals. Instead, our lives are woven together with others. We have solidarity with other people―the choices one person makes affects the lives of others, for good and for bad.
Because much of the pain we endure in life is in the context of relationships, this truth often strikes us as unfair. Why should a child suffer because of the choices of his parents? And on a grander scale, why do we all suffer the curse of Adam’s sin? Why should anyone be judged for someone else’s sin?
In Bound Together, Chris Brauns unpacks the truth that we are bound to one another and to the whole of creation. He calls this, “the principle of the rope.” Grasping this foundational principle sheds new light on marriage, the dynamics of family relationships, and the reason why everyone lives with the consequences of the sins that others commit. Brauns shows how the principle of the rope is both bad news and good news, revealing a depth to the message of the gospel that many of us have never seen before.
