24 September 2023
Two-Minute Features | 01 October 2023 | 17 September 2023

Confessing Our Sins Before Others, Part 4 (TMF:2190)

Friday, September 29, 2023
Peace to Live By: Confessing Our Sins Before Others, Part 4 (TMF:2190) - Daniel Litton
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       Now, it is true that sometimes when we confess our sins in front of others, there will be that one person, maybe two, who has a real problem with it. What I am saying is that the person might hold the wrong over our heads and see us differently than they have in the past. In actuality, though, this kind of person is undoubtedly on a lower level of consciousness in that they haven’t come to grips with the truth that everyone messes up. They do. Everyone does. It’s just that a lot of times most people don’t know about a significant mistake we have made. The lower the level of consciousness of an individual, the more he or she will see the faults of others and tend to magnify them, or hold them in mind when they see people. Actually, this is a good baseline test for us. If we find that when we are in the presence of others that we are actually running a laundry list of their faults in our minds, then we know we have a low-consciousness level problem.

Confessing Our Sins Before Others, Part 3 (TMF:2189)

Thursday, September 28, 2023
Peace to Live By: Confessing Our Sins Before Others, Part 3 (TMF:2189) - Daniel Litton
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       People can get the idea that others are awesome super-Christians, and that they’re the only person struggling. But, when one of these so called super-Christians actually speaks up, and says, “You know, I have been struggling with this.” Or the person says, “I made this big mistake,” it can actually help those who are hearing. It can start to clear through the distortions that one has built up in their minds. One of my favorite books of all time is ‘Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy’ by David D. Burns. If you read chapter 14 of that book, the psychologist talks about perfectionism, and how he himself, though often believed to be perfect, actually was not perfect. And in that chapter he goes through a dialogue where, in front of a larger audience at a lecture, he actually confessed a wrong he had done when he was dealing with one of his patients. His humility only goes to back up everything he says in the book. That’s what humility often does. Now, it is true that sometimes when we confess our sins in front of others, there will be that one person, maybe two, who has a real problem with it.

Confessing Our Sins Before Others, Part 2 (TMF:2188)

Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Peace to Live By: Confessing Our Sins Before Others, Part 2 (TMF:2188) - Daniel Litton
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       To use some Solomon phraseology, there is a time to confess in front of others and a time not to. It’s just like Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount in regard to doing things before others. I think people, now watch this, people can actually take pride in confessing their sins. What I mean is that sometimes people actually get a high from their seemingly humble, in their own estimation, presentation before others. They think they look good because they have the guts to actually confess some sins. I would say that a good time to confess your sin, whether in front of your Bible study or discipleship group or whatever, a good time to do it is when you feel it will be beneficial to others to see that you struggle as well. People can get the idea that others are awesome super-Christians, and that they’re the only person struggling. But, when one of these so called super-Christians actually speaks up, and says, “You know, I have been struggling with this.” Or the person says, “I made this big mistake,” it can actually help those who are hearing.

Confessing Our Sins Before Others, Part 1 (TMF:2187)

Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Peace to Live By: Confessing Our Sins Before Others, Part 1 (TMF:2187) - Daniel Litton
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       Verse 16: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (ESV). It appears in this verse that James is moving into a more general, whole church focus here. This is moving past a sick person and the elders praying for him or her, to a more general picture. We know that because he says “pray for one another.” This just isn’t limited to the elders of the church. So, let’s first discuss the confessing of our sins, and I believe we have to be careful here because there are proper times I think to publicly confess one’s sins, and there are other times not to. None of us should be a big, giant dump truck that likes to dump our load of garbage on the stander-bys. To use some Solomon phraseology, there is a time to confess in front of others and a time not to. It’s just like Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount in regard to doing things before others. I think people, now watch this, people can actually take pride in confessing their sins.

The Prayer Helping the Person Who's Sick (TMF:2186)

Monday, September 25, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Prayer Helping the Person Who's Sick (TMF:2186) - Daniel Litton
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       Anyhow, the prayer that the elders offer up to God will indeed help the person who is sick. In the case of bodily sickness, granted, this may be in this life—that is, the person may recover. Or, that person may end up transcending—for James says, “the Lord will raise him up.” Since all that matters is God anyway, there’s no fear here. For the person who has Given Up Control, or surrendered, then whether they live or whether they die everything is fine. Really, transcendence means we get to be with God, in his presence, which I definitely think is better for us. There’s no more sin there, and we aren’t affected by anything bad anymore. If a person isn’t healed after the prayer from the elders, and rather transcends, this is not to say the person had unrepentant sin in their life. I think that’s presumptuous, and is missing the heart of the passage. Besides, the mere fact that the person is having the elders prayer over them certainly seems to indicate that the person’s heart is in the right place to begin with. If not, why would the person be calling for the elders?