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The Stunning World of Forgiveness
Episode #569
October 29, 2017
With Martha Kilpatrick and hosted by John Enslow
Special Guest: Jennifer Wentzel and Carole Nelson
This is the continuation of a series of Podcasts started in Episode #568.
There is a whole world of forgiveness that few believers have seen, much less understood. Forgiveness is a life-changing, WORLD-changing power we need!
(John) Well, you took every aspect of forgiveness. You hit every single aspect of forgiveness, and it’s just beyond anything that I’ve ever thought and beyond. My complete understanding of forgiveness has been exploded. You’ve just taken it out of the realm. I can’t really even explain what you’ve done, because it’s so massive. It would be like – I’d be reading, and I’d say, “Well, why is she bringing in this?” and all of a sudden it’d be like you’d reach your arm right around me and pull me right into forgiveness again. I go, “Oh, my gosh, that’s how that fits.” And, you know, you just keep going, and you keep going. And you like, “How does that…?” “Ohhhh.” It was like this large, broad net that you’re going through. And forgiveness is so all-encompassing and so preeminent in the purpose of it, you know. Isn’t that the word? And I’d love you to read the back cover, what we ended up coming up with, the back cover.
(Martha) The cover is just young and beautiful and clean and clear and exuberant. What John came up with for the cover is a little bit startling to me, but it’s wonderful and glorious and childlike. It’s everything that I would want forgiveness to express. Absolute, jubilant liberty.
(John says something in the background.)
(Martha) Uhhuh. And the background is the ocean, which the ocean is such healing for me. And it’s an ocean of forgiveness that God has given. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful… And it’s the first time they put my picture on the backside of the cover. My picture’s never been up there before. And so, they pulled one from when Carole and John and I were in Villefranche. And it was a wonderful memory that we had where that picture was made. So, that’s kind of interesting, because I can’t think of a single picture I would want there (laughs), and he found a good one.
(John) When I was asking the Lord to give me a cover, and I was saying, you know, usually what He does is He’ll give me a vision of it. He’ll… I get a visual of the concept, and then I, you know, have to go work out the concept. So, what I saw was a victorious explosion of movement. And what I found was this man running on the beach in a victory pose almost. And it’s pretty amazing. And it just, it completely spoke what this book said to me, and it’s totally not typical of what you would think. Every book I’ve ever heard or read or seen about forgiveness, you have the guy kneeling with the hand up, or you know, whatever. That’s just real trite, and this one is not trite. It’s totally different. When you think forgiveness and you look at this, you know, it’s yes, of course it’s victory. I am forgiven, I’ve been forgiven, and I am forgiving, and there’s a victory in that. But we don’t usually attribute the victory, the explosion of energy to forgiveness. More the sad, somber face is what we attribute. But you’re talking about a victory, and you’re talking about the purpose of forgiveness, and where forgiveness takes us. And it’s just nothing like what you would typically think would be the rundown for forgiveness or a book about forgiveness. So, it’s pretty amazing.
(Jennifer) “Forgiveness is more than a work to do, it is the power to change the world.”
(Carole) So, when John and Jen were working on the back cover, and we had read all this… wait until you hear it. But I go, “I can’t think of what it is. It’s really, really important that this, this particular thing is on the back cover (laughs), because this is life changing. (laughs) And Jen goes, “It says that, Carole, right there!” (laughs) I said, “Good! Because it is!”
(John) Yeah, the first line. Carole, it’s in the first line. (laughing)
(Jen) (Laughing) It was hilarious. She was so excited when she saw it. Ok. So it opens, we have a beautiful little blurb that is actually a direct quote from the book. “Forgiveness is more than a work to do. It is the power to change the world.” The impact of forgiveness is so much greater than most of us know. Martha Kilpatrick takes her readers into a whole world of forgiving and living forgiven that too few believers ever discover. Altogether Forgiven will challenge what you think you know about this vital subject and open your heart to the oft hidden riches you have but to receive. Do you want to experience an open heaven? Do you desire for your prayers to be answered? Do you wish to end the sin cycle that plagues your family? Do you long to live free of guilt and shame? Do you hunger to see Christ? Every aspect of your life is either flourishing or withering away based on the issue of forgiveness. You will leave these pages with a knowledge of not just how to forgive or how to live forgiven, but the eternal purpose of forgiveness itself.”
And then we have a gorgeous picture of Martha and an author bio-blurb, as they do. And they’re usually pretty dry. And the Spirit gave us one that is not only not dry, but pretty specific to the book itself.
“Early in her walk with Jesus, Martha Kilpatrick prayed, “I have been an expert in bitterness, Lord, so please make me an expert in forgiveness.” That prayer was faithfully answered, and Altogether Forgiven contains decades of priceless, Spirit-filled revelation born of experience in the trenches of a life lived following Christ. We pray that each reader embraces the wisdom held in these pages and receives God’s lavish gift of the grace needed to forgive and live forgiven.”
The grace needed to forgive and live forgiven – sure enough!
(John) Well, the other day I was at Ingle’s, and I was grocery shopping. And I went to the cash register – our wonderful Paula cash register. And I had the first section for her, and I was able to give that to her. She had been begging for it for a while now, and I was real excited. You know, I had been reading it and reading it and reading it. And I asked Jennifer, “Could you please, you know, make me a copy of the first section,” so I gave that to her. So, she’s really looking forward to it.
(Carole) Well, this book, Altogether Forgiven is a life changer. It is a life changer of my world as well as the world. And forgiveness, Martha presents it. The Holy Spirit brings this message forth through her in such a powerful, succinct way that it is, it is stunning. It’s really kind of shocking when you read it. It’s shocking. My response when I would read some of the sections, it was stunning. It was almost shocking. It jolted you.
(John) Umhmm.
(Carole) And it is truly the essence of the Gospel. And she has, I know it’s the Holy Spirit, but her style that God has given her, all of that works together to impact the subject, impact the message that she’s giving. The first time I read four or five sections, and I thought, “What else could you possibly say?” I mean, seriously, would you not agree? I mean, I would read…
(John) I’ve come to the end of this, and I’ve said, “You’ve encompassed everything there is to say about forgiveness and then…
(Carole) This is the book. Surely this is the book.
(John) Surely. And then you’d look, and you’d go, “There’s nine more sections.”
(Carole) (laughing) Exactly!
(John) And in each section are five chapters or more.
(Carole) And they are all piercing and all… If we read it with the eyes of reception, if we read it with the eyes of desperation, if we read it with the eyes of really, really wanting to – I hate to use the word grasp, because it’s such a heart thing, but it’s grasping by the heart. If we read it like that we, I was genuinely pierced and encouraged and enthralled and, you know, just living, living life. I will see something and I will go, “Oh, my gosh, it’s just all about forgiveness. It’s really, that’s really all about forgiveness.” What’s going on in this world today, it’s really all about a world that is so full of bitterness that needs desperately to know forgiveness. It needs desperately to be able to release that bitterness, to repent of, release that bitterness and find forgiveness, and know that they are forgiven for even the unspeakable bitterness.
The Stunning World of Forgiveness – Episode #569 – Shulamite Podcast
There is a whole world of forgiveness that few believers have seen, much less understood. It is this vast world that Martha’s book, Altogether Forgiven, explores and reveals with near-shocking clarity. Forgiveness is a life-changing, WORLD-changing power!
