The happy man pictured above is Stephen Kerr. He is a pastor at the Gig Harbor Church of the Nazarene, in Gig Harbor, WA. Kerr has confessed to his church body and the Pierce Country Sherrif's Department to raping a 7-year old girl. He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail and is expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
I believe that I am called to forgive those who ask me for forgiveness. Honestly, I find it very difficult to do this. I shouldn't, I'm a Christian. I'm expected to forgive as easily as I'm expected to read the bible daily (. . .uhm.) But forgiveness is a tough business. At least for me it is. To really forgive someone it means you are letting go of the hurt you feel. The anger, pain, resentment, all that junk. It means you are committed to making a continual effort not to bring up whatever that offense may have been to anyone ever again. You are truly going to let it go. Forgiveness means so much more than simply telling someone that you have.
When anyone (let alone a 'man of god') violates a child in this way, how do I forgive that person? To be completely honest, I don't know that I can and I'm not even remotely connected to the girl he attacked. I'm not so sure that we are strong enough or loving enough to be capable of that kind of forgiveness. But I strive to be one day.
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