"I think repentance also involves agreeing with God regarding his mercy, his forgiveness, his grace. It involves a leaning in, instead of a leaning away. Listen: when you ask God for forgiveness, do you trust him to forgive you? Do you really? Or, every time you have one of those “flinch moments” do you beg his forgiveness all over again? I think a whole lot of us don’t really trust God. We don’t really trust his forgiveness, his grace. … Do you? Do you ever wonder whether your sins are too big, or maybe you have committed the same daggon sin so many times … that you have out-sinned grace, maybe? And … did you know that to reject God’s forgive3ness is, in a sense, to cling to your sin in a different way? Not by loving it, because you don’t, I hope. But by believing that your sin is more powerful than God’s grace. Did you know that refusing God’s forgiveness is a form of unbelief, often rooted in pride, or despair? I think, for a lot of us Jesus followers, we get the first part of repentance … agreeing with God by owning our sin, accepting our guilt, experiencing perhaps regret and remorse. In fact, for many Jesus follower that kind of defines their life with God. But, I think, maybe, a whole lot of Jesus followers resist that second part of repentance: agreeing with God by accepting … actually accepting his forgiveness, his grace." Stephen "Doc" Pattison, Lead Minister