“And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more’.”John 8:7-11
Moral failure is not something we like to talk about in Christian circles. We like to keep our Christian books and blogs slathered with pretty packaged pictures about God. But, we quickly forget about the messy parts of our Christian walk: utter failure. The late Toni Morrison once said, “If you want to read a book, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.” I want to create something that I did not have when walking through my own personal failure. A resource for the chief of sinners. A resource for those who really messed up. I want to gather all the sweet morsels of ooey gooey goodness in Scripture and meet a need for God’s people who have made choices, even while being God’s child, which may have caused them to question their sanity, reality, identity, or even if they truly are God’s child. I want to share the grace and comfort I have been given with those whom Christ came to save: rotten sinners like me who mess up bad.
Friend, there is no-one or no-thing more capable of handling the messes you have made than the One who allowed it to pass through His hand first. This is the hope I want to write to believers.
I believe the Lord has given me a dream to write a book. This desire is a burning passion deep inside me as I look into the eyes of countless people who carry the burdens of their broken realities due to sin. My heart longs to reach out and touch each person who has messed up so badly that they think they should be the judge, jury, and executioner of their lives due to their sin. I want to hold them. Closely.
Christ is ready to hold those up who believe they should throw the first stone at themselves. He offers us a hope not only for our souls, but our minds, our bodies, and our futures. My prayer is this book I write finds its way to the hurting, the confused, the shamed, the guilty, in order that the Gospel of Christ meets them in their despair to chase the darkness from their present circumstances and hopelessness. I will share my story, both the broken parts and the redemptive parts. The redemptive parts are still being written, and I believe will be a rippling effect until I am dead. I would love for you to join me on this journey, whether through prayer or through offering your own stories of redemptive failure. Please feel free to contact The Far Kingdom Journey to share your stories.