To Confess your sins to God is not to tell him anything he doesn't already know.
Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you
confess them, they become the Golden Gate bridge. - Frederick Buechner
It is an abuse to confess any kind of sin, mortal or venial, without a will to
be delivered from it, since confession was instituted for no other end. -
François de Sales
I remember, in one place, right in the middle of the sermon, an aged minister,
who had been for twenty-five years pastor in that place, rose up and stood by my
side on the front of the platform. But he did not say anything, and I commenced
again. And he said, "Wait -- wait!" And then I saw that he could not command his
voice. We waited, and after a few moments he said, "My dear people, when I rose
up this morning I asked God to make this the best day of my life; and he is
doing it. I have preached sermons enough, and I have made calls enough, but I
have never known in my life what it was to have a tender heart; and I ask your
forgiveness." And a man rose up in the rear of the room and said, "I am an
officer of this church, and the idea of my pastor talking like that when I am
here! I have been immersed in my business, and I have not been living as I
ought, and it is my fault that people are not turning to Christ. I ask my
pastor's and the people's forgiveness," and he sat down. And then a lady rose up
and said, ''I am a member of this church, but no one would have thought it from
the way lived. Only a little while ago I gave a ball at my mouse to introduce my
two daughters to society, but I have never introduced them to Christ. Do you
think there is hope for me?" Two young ladies arose and said, "We want to be
Christians." And those two young ladies were the two daughters of this lady.
Just the minute she was willing to get right, her two daughters came to Christ.
- J. Wilbur Chapman
To Confess your sins to God is not to tell him anything he doesn't already know.
Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you
confess them, they become the Golden Gate bridge. - Frederick Buechner
It is an abuse to confess any kind of sin, mortal or venial, without a will to
be delivered from it, since confession was instituted for no other end. -
François de Sales
I remember, in one place, right in the middle of the sermon, an aged minister,
who had been for twenty-five years pastor in that place, rose up and stood by my
side on the front of the platform. But he did not say anything, and I commenced
again. And he said, "Wait -- wait!" And then I saw that he could not command his
voice. We waited, and after a few moments he said, "My dear people, when I rose
up this morning I asked God to make this the best day of my life; and he is
doing it. I have preached sermons enough, and I have made calls enough, but I
have never known in my life what it was to have a tender heart; and I ask your
forgiveness." And a man rose up in the rear of the room and said, "I am an
officer of this church, and the idea of my pastor talking like that when I am
here! I have been immersed in my business, and I have not been living as I
ought, and it is my fault that people are not turning to Christ. I ask my
pastor's and the people's forgiveness," and he sat down. And then a lady rose up
and said, ''I am a member of this church, but no one would have thought it from
the way lived. Only a little while ago I gave a ball at my mouse to introduce my
two daughters to society, but I have never introduced them to Christ. Do you
think there is hope for me?" Two young ladies arose and said, "We want to be
Christians." And those two young ladies were the two daughters of this lady.
Just the minute she was willing to get right, her two daughters came to Christ.
- J. Wilbur Chapman