DISQUS

Los · 1 year ago

I'll go first.
There have been moments in my life where my wife could have, and should have kicked me to the curb. I am a lame excuse for a Christian and in that place, God finds me at a perfect place to lead.
Everyday for me is a second chance.
More on Heather's and my story in the fall...
Los

Mandy · 1 year ago

I broke up a good friend's relationship in H.S....yeah, I was THAT girl. I met up w/ her the day AFTER I got saved. No coincidence there huh?

She forgave me on the spot & we've been great friends ever since.

stephen lechner · 1 year ago

My boss/pastor/friend gives me second chances all the time. He pushes me out in leadership and sometimes I mess it up, but he lets me try again.

Seriously. I've grown and learned so much through this guy, Brent Garrard. One of the best leaders out there.

I am grateful for second chances.

jason · 1 year ago

Awesome.

molly · 1 year ago

I had a baby out of wedlock. I really hate that term, but it's one Christians love to use as they clutch their pearls (maybe Jon has used that on stuffchristianslike???).
Anyway, I had a baby before being married. Biological father wasn't involved (well, except for the getting me pregnant part :-0. He had a drug problem and never had any contact whatsoever.
God took that mess and turned it into such a blessing. A wonderful man came into our lives when my son was 6 months old. He fell in love with both of us, married me, adopted him... and the rest is history. They look so much alike, act so much alike... people that don't know would never know. He is the best father & husband I could have ever asked for! Thank you God for second chances!

Jessica · 1 year ago

After my divorce I felt like a failure for a Christian. My ex-husband had cheated on me over the five years of marriage with men and did not want to give up his addiction along with the verbal abuse to me and my daughter. Finally, I left with my daughter (his step-daughter). I thought that God could never use me again because I had failed at my marriage. Yet, through my awesome church and leadership who walked with me through such a difficult time and showed him just as much love, I received grace, mercy, compassion and grew beyond my dreams in Christ. Now, God is writing my story and He has so many more possibilities that I never saw before. Plus, I am again in leadership, but in a different capacity with much more patience, wisdom, and compassion on my end. God really has given me more than a second chance, but a new path.

Laura · 1 year ago

Personally, I needed to read this today. Of all days I needed it today. I have failed, many times I've failed.

Brad Ruggles · 1 year ago

I definitely don't deserve the grace I've been given. It's because of that I've learned to extend the same grace to others regardless of how I may feel about them.

Thanks for the update on David Trotter. Been praying for him.

Malachi · 1 year ago

Los, I am right there with you. My wife and I have been through the valley. We rented an cottage on Hell St for about 2 years. It's wasn't a nice place. Had she not heard God say to stick with me, she'd have been long gone. I even shared my problems with my employer/pastor, and other ministry leaders, they were all more than gracious. God's grace is WAY sufficient, and I am definitely undeserving.

wideawake1 · 1 year ago

I royally screwed up. I lied to people that only wanted to love and accept me and it took a giant slap upside this head of mine to realize what I was doing. It is beiung worked on. There are some of these people that have called or emailed just to let me know they are thinking and praying for me and behind the scenes supporting me to get healthy. And there are those that well...needless to say obviously live in glass houses. But with God's grace I am moving on, getting better and growing. What I should have been doing all along. Do I deserve any of this. Heck no. But that's the beauty of God and his love.

Christopher · 1 year ago

I have been blessed with a second chance.

I was all about the $$$ and being the one of the have, not the have nots. Mr. Bigtime Wall St. Then the late train got me to the World Trade Center that morning after plane one just in time to watch plane two.No one could find me, or get in touch with me for hours and in that time even with all the people runnning around, I was alone.

My world just fell apart after that. In addition to loss of friends and co-workers; I lost my ambition, focus and drive. My marriage crumbled, the work was gone.I took a year off and ran my savings into the ground. I went from having it all to financially and mentally bankrupt.

On my last few dollars and at my lowest point, I was given the gift of my future wife. She believed in me, she saw the man I could become and brought me back to Him.

I truly believe He has a plan for me and I hope that I am able to stay strong enough to see it through.

Rachel · 1 year ago

I think I lost count of the second chances. But honestly, sometimes it's hard to think of my "second chances stories" as being legitimate compared to others that seem a lot more significant. I know it's not true, but nonetheless something I've let hold me back sometimes.

Every day is an opportunity to embrace the redemption and restoration God offers.

mike foster · 1 year ago

first off, awesome update on david...

as far as one of the many times i needed a second chance...

in my early twenties, i physically destroyed a mans life in a boating accident. it was a horrific accident. the DA pressed charges against me and i was convicted of a crime. i lived with tremendous amounts of guilt and shame. i was broken. i thank God i got a second chance.

Mishababy · 1 year ago

I was diagnosed with Stage 2 (almost 3) Breast Cancer....with no known family history.

That was TEN years ago this coming October....

'nuff said. :-)

fay · 1 year ago

I remember that post and praying for their family. Thanks for the update. I couldn't think of a more perfect name for a ministry.

As for my own second chances, make that third, fourth, fifth and sixth and 43rd chances. I'm one of those people who always has their head in the clouds and I have a hard time following through on stuff. I'm consistently inconsistent and I have to work extremely hard to get stuff done. My boss and my editors should get some kind of special award for putting up with me because I would've fired myself a long time ago.

The concept of grace blows my mind, daily.

Joe Louthan · 1 year ago

My Lord delivered my soul from death. That second chance is good enough for me.

Sarah · 1 year ago

After leading a family ministry at a plant church for 1.5 years I had a sexual relationship with the guy I was training for youth ministry. After a month I confronted my leader and told him. I thought I would never be allowed to minister again - I thought I would be lucky if God loved me. Then another leader reminded me of David and I rejoiced. I was asked to take a few months off to connect with God and then I was allowed to serve again. I had a parent tell me that because of my honesty they trusted me more now knowing that I was a woman of integrity. A year later that guy and I reconnected built a relationship based on Christ and a year and half later we got married - and we live our lives to tell others of God's mind blowing love and grace. My second chance changed the way I love people and the way I see people.

BN · 1 year ago

yes

Silvana · 1 year ago

Like you said, everyday is a second chance for me. Thank God He looks past yesterday to love us more today.

MikeV · 1 year ago

2nd, 3rd, 4th, dude I have had more chances than any one man deserves. I am so stoked to hear the good news about David Trotter, I didn't think the gangsta thoughts you did but it tore out my heart. I have experienced the pain and don't wish it on anyone.

God is so good!

ally · 1 year ago

When I think about how long I rejected the gospel, ignored God, and scorned so much of the Christian faith I cannot help but be humbled and awed by His grace and mercy. God has been so patient and faithful to me despite how I've treated Him. He's given me chance after chance to know Him, and I am so grateful that I finally do.

Amy (Dandelion Seeds) · 1 year ago

Um... just reading that comment up there by my hubby MIKEV who didn't leave a link to his VERY new blog (I'm sure accidently) so being the good wife I am, here it is for all of you to be able to stop by and encourage him as he starts his new trek into the blogsphere while being trained for church planting...

http://mikev.org/

tee hee...

Amy (Dandelion Seeds) · 1 year ago

Okay... now about your post...

YIPEEEEE! PRAISE GOD!!!! There is nothing like the mending of a marriage... I've been praying since the news of the separation... Mike and I grieved terribly and know first hand what adultery does... we don't take sides...

Lord, guide this marriage and protect this couple from the world right now as they seek You to mend the brokenness and hurt. May she be able to forgive completely, and may he build and renew trust again... Lord, heal them... make their marriage what You intended it to be... Cover them Lord... Shield the kids... Pour Yourself into their life now...

Brad Huebert · 1 year ago

I affirm the need we all have for grace and the potential for sinning heinously. But saying "We are all one step away" kinda blinds a person to the real issue. We're not one step away. No one wakes up one day whole and holy and chucks their entire life in the trash. We're a hundred steps away. A thousand. But that's no excuse to relax. These steps are subtle, so that you could take thirty steps and justify all of them without ever thinking about affairs or deception or compromise. Like the frog in the kettle. Satan is so good at getting good people to take baby steps, not into sin, just toward it, knowing one day they'll add up. If you're one step away, it's because you've already taken a nine hundred and ninety nine in that direction. Scary.

Texas Ron Linebarger · 1 year ago

Sorry, there is no second chance! Grace is inclusive of all that we are even if we fall out of fellowship with God by sinning. No, we are not sinners, but saints that sin. And even with that horrible sin that causes us to break fellowship with our Lord--Grace Abounds.

The problems is that our brothers and sisters cannot give one a second chance. Even the Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth to restore the brother who blew it. For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Los · 1 year ago

Great thoughts guys.
Brad. I see your point.
But I never, ever, will place myself in a spot where I think I am holy enough to think it will take days, months, to fall.
That makes me more holy than human.

Brad Huebert · 1 year ago

Hey, I'm with you there, Los. There is no immunity, no calculated getting close, or fooling myself into thinking I'm 'safe' because there are 50 steps to go. I think I'd say that those 1000 steps exist, but you never know where you truly are on the spectrum because of our proneness to self deceive.

Peace.

Dean · 1 year ago

What a great organization. I'm going to support them. Thanks for posting.

Personally, I've been given a second chance for sure! If not for God, my wife, my church, and friends I would likely be in prison today or maybe even dead. Now I'm leading the sound team at my church, working for a great Christian company, and raising my kids to love and worship their God. Praise to Him.

Dee · 1 year ago

Wow, What a site! Instead of second chances; can I just say chances!! Thank you Jesus. God is so merciful, kind, and faithful. I have lied, cheated, and basically done everything that is oppposite of the will that God has for my life. He gave me a chance again, and I am determined to serve him and others through him. I know that in this life we are going to have struggles, but he promised never to leave or forsake us. I was jealous of a friend of mine, and basically ruined a relationship they had along with the one they had with me. That person really cared about me and even in their pain tried to hang in there as my friend, but I hurt them again. At this point, I am so enlightened by what I had done, but fear that this friendship is at its end. But I pray for a chance again. This time with the Lords help I can be a better friend and confidant. You see, we need each other in this life. As much as we need forgiveness, we also need to forgive. It is good for our souls. You see, I have to forgive myself, and I need the Lord to turn the heart of a king to favour me again. All in all we are dependent on GOD. His word says, If we do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will the Father in heaven forgive us ours. He even says that while bringing your gift to the alter, and you remember that your brother has something against you...go restore yourself to your brother and then go to give your gift to the alter before him. So, God prefers us to restore ourselves and relationships we have with each other prior to coming to HIM. He is an order GOD. Pray for me and my walk with him and I will be praying for you also.

Melissa · 1 year ago

4 years ago I left my husband after discovering a tangled web of deception and his essential double life he was leading throughout our entire relationship. A life of pornography,sexual addiction and multiple adultries. 4 months into our seperation and after a discussion about reconciling I caught him in more lies and the Lord showed me he still wanted his sin, more than he wanted to follow the Lord and live a repentant life. We soon divorced. It was a hopeless relationship as he dove deeper into sin, drinking, partying, random hook-ups, deeper into his sexual addiction, walking farther and farther away from the Lord. Almost 3 years after our divorce we began talking again on the phone after about 9 months of no contact. Mainly about our two young children, he was changing, surrendering to the Lord and over the coming months the transformation I saw was amazing. Only a work of the Holy Spirit could change a liar and addict into this humble and broken man who was for the first time in his life seeking after the Lord in a real way.
Long story short, but the Lord prompted me with a dream of us reconciling. I DID NOT want this. I had been hurt and betrayed so badly and was just then feeling like I was coming through the pain and and grief... why would I entrust my heart to that man ever again?? No way Lord! And then God asked me, but what if this is my plan for your life? Will you refuse me? And that knocked me down in my tracks. I said Lord this is not my desire, but I want to be open to whatever you have for me. I dont want to be so stubborn that I miss out on what you have for me, even if it means getting back together with him.
Well that is all it took! Long story short, God completely changed my heart, my desires, faded the memories of the pain and hurt and over the next 8 months we built a new relationship. We remarried this past Aug 21, 2008. I have never been happier and so at peace. God has made my husband a brand new creation and everyone around us cannot believe what an amazing work He has done. God gave me the second chance I never thought I could have, and for a long time, even wanted. He is sooo good when we surrender our will and yield to His transforming power in our lives!!