Ridgell's Originals

I have been engaged in a lot of conversations lately on what it means to be a "second chance" church.  Southern Hills very much wants to be -- and I think is -- a church like that.  In fact, I think we are the church of second, third, fourth, and 490 chances.  We believe we are a community of sinners following the sinless Savior.  We believe in grace.  We believe in forgiveness.  We believe in restoration.

We teach this.  We preach this.  We model this.  We even have this reputation around town.  One of the nicest compliments I ever heard about Southern Hills is that we are where "all the screwed up people go."  If you are in a spiritual battle, if you are wounded and bleeding... we are your church.  We often remind our church to please come talk with the elders if you make a mess of your life.  You will find grace, help, and healing.  In fact, we have said from the pulpit that there is no sin you can talk with us about that one of us -- or someone we love deeply - has not struggled with

We do not throw people "under the bus". We do not chain you to your past.  And we don't let others do that  to you either.  We are not going to label you for what you were.  We are not about where you have been, but where you are going.

We will love you, forgive you, help you heal, model grace, and seek restoration.  Our family is full of healed marriages, conquered addictions, and changed lives.  And we have lots of brothers and sisters still on that journey.  We will put our time and our resources into healing the wounded. 

But there is something we need to be clear about.  We are not your church if you want to stay in your mess.  We are about healing and restoration, not wallowing in our sin.  It is not OK to stay where your mess is.  Get out, get well, move forward.  If you slip... get out, get well, move forward.

Next time I'll share some of what this means in practice.

But feel free to share your thoughts.

And one more thing, thanks God for healing me when I was a mess.