Jesus Protects His Own From Harm

The last week and a half of the month, Jacob was back in Broken Arrow using his office at the Broken Arrow Church to schedule events for future months when Sparrow and Sara entered. Sparrow looked happier than before. Sparrow said, “I have two questions. First, Red Hawk asked me to forgive him. Can I forgive him after what he did?” “Forgiveness does not mean you are willing to resume your relationship with him. In fact, you can forgive him even if you don't like him,” said Jacob Sparrow said, “But he doesn't deserve to be forgiven.” “No Sparrow, I can't think of anyone who deserves to be forgiven. I got a bunch of boys together the other night for a pickup game of basketball. I see he was paying attention when I told them about our need to forgive others and to be forgiven, ” said Jacob “Is it a good thing to do?” Sparrow asked. Jacob said, “It is the basis of Christianity. God forgives us when we repent and believe. The Bible tells us to forgive those who sin against us. We are even to forgive our enemies. Being forgiven helps the sinner to deal with his or her guilt. More importantly, when you forgive someone, part of your hate disappears. Grudge matches and feuds go away.” “I'll think about it. My second question is about doing something about being damned. Last time we talked you said we could talk about damnation at some other time. I figure with all I did wrong, I must be damned. What do I need to do to make things right?” asked Sparrow. “I thought you don't believe in God,” said Jacob “I don't, but if there is a god, I want to do something to cancel at least some of my sins,” said Sparrow Jacob leaned back in his chair. “Sparrow, for the sake of discussion, please assume there is a divine being, who is powerful and awesome. Let us call him God. He can do anything just by speaking the word. If this God is angry with you because you got drunk, had sex outside of marriage, got pregnant, et cetera, what do you think you can do to make God happy?” “Some special prayers?” “You weren't particularly impressed when Red Hawk asked you to forgive him. Why should a powerful God be impressed by your special prayers?” “But isn't there something I could do? Make a donation to some charity?” “That may impress other humans, but the God I serve, could fund an orphanage in Africa simply by naming a billionaire and saying, 'Let it be that he is inspired to fund this orphanage,' and that billionaire would reach for his checkbook.” “It doesn't sound like I can do much except stop doing the sinful things.” “That's a good start. We call that repentance. The definition of repentance is that one makes a complete change of behavior away from the self-destructive or undesirable behavior.” “I've already stopped having sex. Should I stop drinking?” “Drinking sounds to me like a root cause of the problems you went to see Mrs. Campbell about.” Sparrow rose to leave. “Thanks. I'll make a list of changes in my behavior, starting with drinking. I'll see what I can do.” “Wait. Are you sure you can make all of these behavioral changes?” asked Jacob. Sparrow sat down again. “All I can do is try.” “Good. I hope you do make a valiant effort, but what will happen next time you are with your friends, and they break open a six pack? They will pass cold cans around under your nose. You will smell the beer. When you refuse one, your friends will snicker and call you 'Grandma'. Are you up to it?” Jacob asked. “I will try.” Jacob said, “Good. You are strong and smart. You may succeed with beer, but what about other behaviors?” Sparrow fidgeted. “All I can do is try.” Jacob continued,“And that is tough, especially on the stronger temptations. It is difficult to completely repent without some help. Now if you believed in Jesus like I do, then you could ask him for some help with repentance. As it is, you're on your own.” “I thought Jesus was simply someone to pray to,” said Sparrow. “What Jesus really wants is for a Christian to have a personal relationship with him. Unfortunately, sin sets up a barrier between you and Jesus. One way to surmount the barrier of sin is to say the sinner's prayer ,” Sparrow protested, “you just said there is no special prayer I can say to get rid of my sin.” “There is no formal prayer such as a Hail Mary that will get rid of your sin. The answer is sincere prayer of your own direct from your heart.” Jacob handed Sparrow a small pamphlet. “we give these two people in the hopes they will become Christians. It is called a gospel tract. It consists of a very short Bible lesson that we hope will persuade the person call upon Jesus to be their personal Lord and Savior. It ends by recommending that you say a prayer that we call the sinners prayer.it is printed at the end of this cost. Right here. It is not a formal prayer like that Hail Mary. In fact you don't even have to say the exact words. What is printed is a pattern the type of prayer you need to pray with Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior. Because it's a personal request for a personal relationship is best for you to modify the prayer to meet your circumstances. If you say such a prayer with all sincerity, starts a personal relationship with Jesus which makes you a Christian.”