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Zach Foss's avatar

Fantastic work. “it may be history’s most poignant display of just how scandalous the grace of Jesus truly is” Indeed—eloquently put.

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Sam's avatar

Thanks Zach!

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Alex Jenkin's avatar

Great piece.. compassion and empathy are double edged swords.

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Sam's avatar

Thanks! Yeah it's good to wrestle with situational ethics from time to time ;)

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Daniel Rose's avatar

Challenging presumptions indeed.

Whew.

Thanks for this reflection!

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Kate Orson's avatar

What a beautiful story of genuine repentance, thank you for sharing. I actually felt sorry for him for having to be hanged afterwards. God's justice and grace is so much better than our own attempts.

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Sam's avatar

Thanks! I think it’s an important part of repentance to accept consequences for our actions, even if our ultimate consequence is forgiven. But it always reminds me to pray for someone’s changed heart before praying for their destruction. In our house, the movie “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” as an example of how we hope the “bad guy” will be changed and own up to their mistakes. So in a similar way I pray for Putin to turn himself in and other seemingly impossible repentance scenarios. As long as we’re breathing there’s a chance to repent.

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