“People of the Second Chance gives voice to a scandalous movement of radical grace in life and leadership. We challenge the common misconceptions about failure and success and stand with those who have hit rock bottom in their personal and professional lives. We are a community that is committed to stretch ourselves in the areas of relational forgiveness, personal transparency, and advocate for mercy over judgment.
We are not ashamed of our scars, wounds, or failures and leverage them as a source of strength and character development.
People of the Second Chance have experienced a second chance so we actively support social justice organizations and advocate for the vulnerable, forgotten, and left behind.
We are People of the Second Chance.”
I wanted to share this website. I’ve been following these guys for a long time, back in their “deadly viper” days. They seem very sincere and humble in their own lives, or they at least admit to it when they aren’t! I love the concept of radical grace and the more I grow in my relationship with God..the more I believe it and embrace it and want to practice it in my own life. I have realized the people most willing to give someone a second chance….. are the same people who have needed a second chance in their own lives!!
From experience & some up close observation of situations and the way they are sometimes handled-I would say this is a concept the church often gets wrong. Radical grace doesn’t seem to exist in the “big business” that some churches deal in. You can certainly run church like a multi-million dollar business, but I think when you do that you lose the best of what God has planned for His church. The living life part-the learning to be humble, the dying to self, & most definitely the working through conflict part. It makes you better-working through rough times and conflict-it makes you stronger, it refines your character! A little something I’ve come to realize over the last few years. It seems a sad example the way the Western church seems to be able to deal in the souls of it’s parishioners as disposable and list them under the heading of “collateral damage” when tough situations come up. It seems almost arrogant and prideful to decide which of God’s people are disposable-I’m grateful God doesn’t find me disposable. It’s strange to me that God always forgives but yet at times church leadership would rather crucify than forgive, shun rather than love. Those guys…those are the bad guys that give all churches a strike against them. Those are the churches that turn people against anything to do with God. It’s sad that we don’t teach grace and model relationships of love-the good and the bad parts-so people know that we are not so different after all…that everyone needs a second chance-that everyone deserves a second chance. Because, the last time I checked we are all sinful, we all fail in some way, we all make bad choices at one time or another.
I love that my God is a God of second chances….because once again without grace where would I be? Certainly this life is painful at times and we’ve all experienced painful situations. There have probably been people in your life that have walked away, turned their back on you…but know that God….He never turns his back, He never walks away. He is the Protector of our souls, our strong tower in times of trouble…the giver of second chances! My prayer for you tonight..if you are finding yourself in a situation where you need a second chance…I pray that God sends you people that know what it means to need a second chance, people that are willing to stand by your side and remind you of your second chance. And I hope, should God call you to be that for someone else…that you don’t turn away!
2 Comments
When people gather together in a church situation I think it easy to believe that they are in a select group. I belive it is a “We are superior” mentality. Don’t take this as an insult at all. I don’t mean it all that way. People find comfort in numbers and they are made to feel “special” because they belong to a certain congregation or denomination. This is encouraged by leaders unfortunatley. I was also in this group at one time and completely understand this mentality. I always thought that if people were close enough to God, or thier prayer life what was what it should be that all thier problems would somehow magically just melt away! Myself included. I always looked at divorced folks like well “if they were doing what they should have been doing” they would not be in the predicament they are in now. This sounds like a terrible admission. If most “church” people would be honest, they have the same mindset in their internal monologue runnning in their head.
If you go through a divorce or some other tragedy in your life, it is not always your fault. The church preaches unconditional love but seldom practices it. You would only know this if you are from the other side of the fence. Yes, I had to learn the hard way. It may sound like I’m bitter (maybe a little) but I have grown to know that sometimes things just happen and there is nothing you can do about it.
People absolutley do deserve a second, and a third chance. A self rightoues attitude did not serve the Pharisees and Sadducees very well now did it? If you hold the attitude that you (generally speaking) are better than anyone else, I just hope you don’t end up on the other side of the “Churches” mercy like I have. It can be a cold place.
Thanks for a very thought provoking post! Sorry for the rant! Keep up the good work!
Randall….I think you and I have more in common than we realize!! Thanks for the comment!