By John A. Huffman Jr.
Luke 24:45-47
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."
I believe in the forgiveness of sins! Is this also your affirmation?
There are many good reasons relevant to you and me today as to why this phrase was included in The Apostles' Creed, and it is important for us to look at what you and I need to do to experience God's forgiveness.
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There are four primary reasons why we need to talk about the forgiveness of sins.
First, our society minimizes sin.
All you need to do is pick up an issue of People magazine or tune into "Entertainment Tonight," and you will see not only the minimization of sin but the glorification of that which wrecks lives.
In this week's Time magazine there is an article about Hugh Hefner, in his mid-seventies, as he celebrates the 50th anniversary issue of Playboy magazine, which this month hits the newsstands. He is asked if he could be interested in a 50-year-old woman. He responds, "Romantically, my interests are younger." When asked how many girlfriends he has now, he answers, "Six." When asked if he sleeps with all of them, he declares, "It is just like a ordinary relationship times six. A lot of single guys and women date more than one person. The only thing that is different here is that we do whatever we are going to do together. It is very nice. Makes it like a little family."
Even the Carl's Jr. ad campaign brazenly features Hugh Hefner, declaring how much he likes variety, both in terms of women and fast food items. The society which once would have been outraged at such comments now finds them entertaining. Nothing is said about the lives of the hundreds of women he has consumed and discarded. Where are they now? Where is the outrage that Carl's Jr. would approve such a morally outrageous ad campaign?
Saturday's Los Angeles Times features an article about Heidi Fleiss, the former Hollywood madam, in her new clothing store that also sells her book titled Pandering. It describes women's panties embroidered with the words "Heidi's No. 1 Girl." To think that anyone would want such clothing that labels them a prostitute.
Last night on CNN's "Larry King Live," he interviewed actress Ingrid Bergman's three adult daughters. It brought back memories of a flight I made from London to Paris in July of 1958. Ingrid Bergman was my seat mate and was very gracious in conversation with this 18-year-old youth. But as I remember, and her daughters confirmed last night, she had fled the United States to live in Europe because of the moral outrage of Americans to her affair with the Italian film producer Roberto Rossellini. Today, anything goes.
