It Is Written

Father Forgive

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Home

Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW016118A


00:20 This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
00:22 Thanks for joining me. In 2005, a young man walking
00:27 along a street in Benton Harbor, Michigan, was arrested for
00:30 dealing drugs and spent the next four years of his life
00:33 in prison. Except he wasn't guilty.
00:37 The police officer who arrested the young man framed him for
00:40 a crime he didn't commit. Well, that same crooked cop
00:44 himself spent time in prison, and after both men had been
00:48 arrested they found themselves working alongside each other
00:50 in a coffee shop run by an employment agency.
00:54 The former police officer apologized to the man that
00:58 he had falsely arrested and falsely accused,
01:02 and that young man who had spent four years in prison,
01:04 and lost what he described as everything,
01:07 forgave him. He forgave him.
01:12 Forgiveness is so important that Jesus said in Matthew 6,
01:15 verses 14 and 15, "For if you forgive men their
01:20 trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
01:24 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will
01:28 your Father forgive your trespasses."
01:32 Forgiveness is really that important, and yet I think it's
01:36 fair to say that most everybody has forgiveness issues.
01:39 You get wronged by a spouse, a teacher, an employer, a friend,
01:45 a neighbor, a colleague. Sometimes forgiveness doesn't
01:49 come easily, and sometimes it doesn't come at all.
01:54 Today, a story of tragedy, a story of forgiveness,
01:59 a dramatic gesture made when blame could easily
02:02 have been assigned but instead was set aside
02:05 in grace and tolerance. Coventry, England, is located
02:10 95 miles northwest of London. It has a population approaching
02:15 350,000, about the same as Honolulu, Hawaii, but
02:19 geographically it's the same size as Jefferson City,
02:22 Missouri. Six-hundred fifty-thousand
02:25 people live in metropolitan Coventry.
02:28 Historically, Coventry has been an important manufacturing city.
02:32 The modern bicycle was invented in Coventry by a man
02:36 named James Starley. His and other bicycle companies
02:40 concentrated here in Coventry. Over time, many of them
02:45 developed into motorcycle manufacturers and then
02:48 car manufacturers. Jaguar's corporate head office
02:52 is located in Whitley on the south side of Coventry.
02:57 The city was founded in 1043 and was the capital of England for
03:02 a time in the 15th century. And being such an important city
03:05 industrially, it became a target for the Luftwaffe,
03:10 the German air force, during World War II.
03:14 At the time of the war, factories here also produced
03:18 armaments and munitions and aircraft that were important
03:22 in the British war effort. So Coventry was a high priority
03:27 for the German military, and in 1940 Coventry found itself at
03:34 the receiving end of what is now referred to as the
03:38 "Coventry Blitz." The British Isles hadn't fallen
03:43 to a European invasion since the Norman Conquest of 1066,
03:48 but now Great Britain was all that stood between Adolph Hitler
03:51 and total European domination. Britain had held the German
03:55 Luftwaffe off during the Battle of Britain,
03:58 but Germany's attacks were far from over, and
04:00 Great Britain couldn't breathe easily.
04:05 The Luftwaffe's tactics were first to drop incendiary devices
04:09 on targets. These would start fires that
04:11 would do massive damage and light the way for the next
04:14 wave of bombers. More than 500 German planes took
04:18 part in the attack on Coventry, November 14, 1940.
04:23 More than 200 fires swept through the city.
04:26 More than 4,300 homes were destroyed.
04:29 In fact, two-thirds of the buildings in Coventry were
04:32 destroyed or badly damaged. Only three other British cities
04:37 suffered more damage in Luftwaffe attacks
04:39 during World War II than did Coventry.
04:43 The damage was so great that Nazi propaganda minister,
04:46 Joseph Goebbels, would later describe cities that
04:50 had been similarly attacked as having been "Coventried."
04:55 Five hundred sixty-three of Coventry's 238,000 inhabitants
05:00 died in the attack. The number would have been much
05:03 higher if residents weren't in the habit of leaving for the
05:07 countryside each evening, as the air raids almost always
05:11 took place at night.
05:16 Among the many buildings destroyed in that
05:18 devastating attack was St. Michael's Cathedral,
05:21 or Coventry Cathedral. It was built in the 14th century
05:26 and it was the city's most famous landmark.
05:29 The first incendiary bombs fell on the cathedral at about
05:32 8 o'clock that night, igniting a fire that voluntary
05:35 firefighters were quickly able to extinguish.
05:38 However, more bombs soon followed, and the flames and
05:42 the explosions that engulfed the city swept through the
05:46 old cathedral, reducing it to rubble.
05:59 Today, only ruins remain of that old cathedral, and on the wall
06:05 behind the altar of that devastated building can
06:08 be read the words, "Father forgive."
06:12 Now there's a story behind that. I'll share it with you in
06:16 just a moment.
06:18 [music] "Promises of Power" is our
06:30 free offer for you today. This little book is a collection
06:34 of some of the most powerful promises found in the Bible,
06:38 and it's ideal for sharing with somebody else who needs to be
06:41 encouraged by the great promises in the Bible.
06:44 Now, to get your free copy, just call 1(800) 253-3000
06:49 and ask for "Promises of Power." There's no cost;
06:53 there's no obligation; it's absolutely free.
06:56 You can call 24 hours a day. Now, if the line's busy,
07:00 please keep trying. You can also request
07:02 "Promises of Power" by writing to:
07:04 It Is Written, Box 6, Chattanooga, TN 37401,
07:09 and we'll mail a copy to your address in North America.
07:13 Now, please note: this free book is limited
07:15 to the supply on hand. For immediate access, you can
07:19 download a free electronic version of the book
07:21 "Promises of Power" from our website,
07:22 ItIsWritten.com. Our toll-free number is
07:26 (800) 253-3000, and you'll find us online
07:31 at ItIsWritten.com.
07:38 [melancholy tones] Thanks for joining me
07:46 today on It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
07:50 I'm in Coventry, in the county of West Midlands,
07:53 right about in the center of England.
07:56 It's the birthplace of Frank Whittle,
07:58 who invented the jet engine, and it's the reputed site of one
08:02 of England's most interesting legends.
08:06 The story goes that in the 11th century, the wife of
08:10 the Earl of Mercia appealed to her husband in behalf
08:13 of the suffering citizens of Coventry, who were being
08:17 crushed under the weight of his oppressive taxation.
08:21 After repeatedly appealing to the man, he agreed that he would
08:25 roll back those taxes if she, his wife, agreed to ride through
08:31 the streets of Coventry naked. So, after asking the good people
08:36 of Coventry to stay indoors and to pull their blinds,
08:39 Lady Godiva did just that. Now, there was one man who,
08:44 that day, did not respect her request for privacy.
08:49 His name was Tom, and that's where today we get the term
08:54 "peeping Tom."
08:58 Now, that's just a legend, but what's not a fable is what
09:03 happened here in 1940, when Coventry was bombed during
09:07 World War II. What happened was an inspired
09:12 act that appeals to the heart and calls on human beings to
09:16 reach beyond hate and war to reconciliation and peace.
09:25 Following the bombing of the cathedral, a stonemason noticed
09:29 two charred beams lying together in the shape of a cross, and
09:34 he tied them together and put that cross up in the ruins
09:38 of the cathedral. The original charred cross
09:43 is here at Coventry Cathedral, while a replica is on display
09:48 in the ruins of the church. The cathedral provost,
09:53 Richard Howard, made a cross of three roofing
09:57 nails taken from the ruins. Today 160 of these crosses exist
10:02 in different sites around the world, and they've become
10:05 symbols of peace and reconciliation.
10:09 But there's something else the provost did that calls
10:12 to hearts today.
10:15 [rhythmic drumming]
10:21 After the bombing of the cathedral,
10:23 with England still in the grip of battle with its enemies,
10:26 and while the ruins of the cathedral were still
10:28 smoldering, Howard took a piece of chalk
10:31 and wrote "Father forgive" on the wall behind
10:35 the altar. Father forgive.
10:39 The BBC's Christmas Day radio special that year was
10:42 broadcast from right here, among the ruins of the
10:45 cathedral, and during that time Howard told the world
10:49 that from then on the cathedral would work with people that
10:52 had once been England's enemies to promote a kinder,
10:56 more Christlike world. A cross of nails can also be
11:01 found at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin,
11:05 Germany, which also was destroyed during World War II.
11:12 Father forgive.
11:16 [ethereal music]
11:20 Howard did not write Father forgive them;
11:23 he wrote simply Father forgive, because as the Bible says,
11:27 "all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God."
11:31 We all need to experience God's forgiveness, not simply
11:34 the people who offend us. And what Richard Howard was
11:39 writing about was not some small thing.
11:41 It wasn't an uncomplicated act. Instead, it was an aggressive
11:45 act of overwhelming hostility, and it seems it was something
11:51 that might well have been avoided.
11:54 The German military had a sophisticated system for
11:57 encoding its communications, but the Enigma Cypher Machine,
12:02 developed before World War II, had enabled the British to
12:06 intercept and understand some of the messages the Germans
12:10 were sending. A book written in 1974 by a man
12:15 who worked on cracking the Germans' codes claimed that
12:20 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill knew about
12:23 the attack on Coventry before it took place and yet chose not
12:28 to take evasive or defensive action for fear that it would
12:32 let the Germans know that England had worked out their
12:35 codes and prompt the Germans to use new codes,
12:38 launch further attacks, take more lives, and perhaps
12:42 prolong the war. Now, some historians say
12:45 Churchill did not know about the attack on Coventry in advance,
12:49 but if he did, we can understand his burden as those German
12:52 planes came bearing down on this place here in Coventry.
12:57 It has been said that Churchill said his decision to do nothing
13:00 about the Coventry attacks in order to prevent them aged him
13:04 20 years. The British, thanks to the work
13:09 of the team led by codebreaker Alan Turing, did crack
13:13 the German codes. Historians say Turing's work
13:17 shortened World War II by between two and four years.
13:22 Father forgive. But how do you forgive something
13:26 like a war? How do you forgive something
13:30 like a devastating attack on a city, an attack that destroyed
13:34 the 700-year-old cathedral in which you minister?
13:39 Now, Coventry was also the site of another heinous event, one
13:42 that took place 400-or-so years before the Coventry Blitz,
13:47 and one that most people would find very hard to forgive.
13:52 I'll have more in just a moment. [hopeful music]
13:57 "Every Word" is a one-minute, Bible-based daily devotional
13:59 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw, and designed
14:02 especially for busy people like you.
14:04 Look for "Every Word" on selected networks or watch it
14:07 online every day on our website, ItIsWritten.com.
14:13 [upbeat hopeful tune]
14:19 Psalm 51 is David's beautiful psalm of repentance.
14:21 Notice what David says in Psalm 51, verse 2,
14:24 "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse
14:27 me from my sin." Now, notice: wash me thoroughly.
14:31 Two things with that: David had no intention of
14:33 carrying on in the sins that he'd committed.
14:36 He wanted to be washed, made clean.
14:37 He wanted the dirt gone; not only gone but thoroughly gone.
14:41 It wasn't "forgive me of this,
14:43 but I want to keep doing it." David wanted to be made new,
14:46 transformed. And that's the goal of
14:48 repentance. Not just forgiveness for a
14:50 certain deed but total cleansing from sin.
14:53 If you come to God half committed, wanting to give
14:56 Him part of your life, it's just not going
14:58 to work very well. But when you are willing to
15:01 surrender to God completely, God will forgive you and
15:04 cleans you, like He forgave and
15:06 cleansed David. I'm John Bradshaw for
15:08 It Is Written. Let's live today by every word.
15:13 [music] Planning for your financial
15:17 future is a vital aspect of Christian stewardship.
15:21 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free planned
15:24 giving and estate services. For information on how we can
15:28 help you, please call (800) 992-2219.
15:32 To receive additional materials on the advantages of life income
15:36 plans such as a charitable gift annuity, which can provide you
15:39 with tax benefits and income for life, call today, or visit our
15:44 special website, www.HisLegacy.com.
15:49 You can also write to It Is Written,
15:51 Planned Giving and Trust Services,
15:54 P.O. Box 6, Chattanooga, TN 37401.
15:59 Our toll-free number again is (800) 992-2219, and our web
16:04 address is HisLegacy.com. [music]
16:14 [somber contemplative tones] Thanks for joining me
16:24 today on It Is Written. When German bombers attacked
16:27 Coventry, England, in November of 1940 during World War II,
16:32 more than 500 people were killed, the city was devastated,
16:36 and Coventry Cathedral was completely destroyed.
16:40 The day after the attack, the leading minister at
16:43 Coventry Cathedral wrote on a wall behind the altar,
16:47 in the ruins of the cathedral, the words "Father forgive."
16:52 The inference was that we all--not just our enemies,
16:55 not just those who have wronged us--but we all need to be
16:59 forgiven, because we've all wronged God.
17:03 Father forgive. Today in Coventry, there's a
17:07 memorial to a group of people known as the "Coventry Martyrs,"
17:12 a group of Protestant believers executed for their faith
17:15 in the 16th century. They were Lollards, adherents of
17:20 a reform movement initiated by John Wycliffe.
17:26 Among other things, these people advocated that the Bible should
17:29 be translated into English. They maintained that the state
17:32 should stay out of the affaires of the church, and given that
17:36 at the time there was a state church, that was a big deal.
17:40 They opposed the veneration of idols.
17:43 They did not believe in confession to a priest nor that
17:46 the Catholic church was the true church.
17:49 They were against corruption in the church, and at the time
17:52 there was plenty of it. Also, they believed in praying
17:57 in English, which at the time was not the done thing.
18:02 Well, in the 1500s, beliefs like this meant that you were pitted
18:06 directly against the establishment.
18:09 Yet you'll notice, these were not moral-ethical issues.
18:12 These were simply personally held beliefs.
18:16 These were people's choices as to how they would express their
18:20 own personal faith in God. [somber piano music]
18:32 Their award was death. They were burned at the stake.
18:36 Not far from here, nine of them, nine or so between
18:40 1512 and 1522; three more, 30 or so years later.
18:47 One of them was a minister of the gospel who believed in just
18:51 two of the church's seven sacraments, and that wasn't
18:55 enough for the church. He had to die.
19:00 One was a woman who was about to be released when it was
19:03 discovered that she had on her, written on a piece of paper,
19:07 the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments,
19:11 and the Apostle's Creed. When that discovery was made,
19:14 she was condemned immediately and burned at the stake.
19:20 Some were executed because they dared to teach their children
19:22 to say the Lord's Prayer in English.
19:26 For that, they died. This memorial demonstrates that
19:32 their faith, their commitment to God, their courage and fidelity
19:36 to the Word of God hasn't been entirely forgotten.
19:40 In fact, there are several streets very near here that have
19:45 been named after the Coventry martyrs.
19:48 [somber piano cont.] You hear about things like that,
20:00 real events that happened to real people,
20:03 perpetrated by religious leaders, and it's easy to
20:08 imagine that forgiveness could be really difficult.
20:13 But then you think about that inscription, 'Father forgive.'
20:17 [somber violin and piano] Father forgive, written after
20:31 more than 500 innocent people were killed in a bombing raid.
20:37 Are some things just too bad to forgive?
20:41 Let's go back to what Jesus said.
20:43 It's challenging, and it's also unambiguous.
20:48 Matthew 6, 14 and 15 again: "For if you forgive men their
20:53 trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
20:59 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will
21:03 your Father forgive your trespasses."
21:07 [violin and piano cont.] Now, let's think about
21:25 something Jesus did. The creator of the universe came
21:29 to the world to be the savior of the world, and yet He was
21:33 arrested for crimes He did not commit.
21:36 His sham of a trial was horribly interfered with by people who
21:40 intimidated the judge, telling him that if he didn't find
21:44 Jesus guilty, he was no friend of Caesar.
21:47 Pilate said that he found no fault in Jesus; yet in spite of
21:51 that Jesus was taken away, nailed to a cross,
21:56 where He died for you and me a horribly cruel death
22:02 and then Jesus forgave them.
22:09 He prayed saying, "Father forgive them,
22:13 for they do not know what they do."
22:15 That's recorded in Luke 23:34. Coventry Cathedral today stands
22:22 for reconciliation. If standing for vengeance could
22:26 ever be justified, well you could understand that the people
22:29 of Coventry harbored vengeance in their hearts instead
22:33 of forgiveness. But no.
22:36 The motto here is "Father forgive."
22:42 [somber music ends]
22:46 There's enough unforgiveness and hatred in the world today
22:51 as it is. Christians are called not to
22:54 perpetuate that but to put an end to it.
22:58 Sometimes, that means you're going to make the decision
23:01 to forgive. Forgiving does not mean that
23:05 what happened to you was okay. What happened here years ago
23:09 was not okay. Forgiveness simply means that
23:13 you are refusing to stay chained to whoever it was,
23:16 or whatever it was, that hurt you.
23:19 Forgiveness isn't letting somebody off the hook,
23:22 other than forgiveness lets you off the hook
23:25 of bitterness and hatred. Forgiveness is you telling
23:30 yourself and the world that you're going to move forward
23:34 now without malice. [slow positive piano music]
23:52 A woman in Kansas received news that her parents had
23:54 been murdered. The killer got way with $17.00
23:58 and an old pickup truck. The parents lost their lives.
24:03 Sue sat through the trial and then visited the man in prison.
24:08 People thought she'd lost her mind.
24:10 It even caused a bit of a rift in her family.
24:14 But when she visited the man, she said to him,
24:16 "I don't know what to say to you, but I want you to
24:19 know that I don't hate you. My grandmother taught me never
24:24 to use that word. She said we're here on this
24:26 earth to love one another, that's what Jesus would do."
24:31 Later on she said, "If you're going to get over the
24:35 trauma of something like that, you really have to forgive."
24:40 She said, "You need to forgive, and then get on with your life.
24:45 It's what Jesus would do." Well, it is what Jesus did.
24:50 It's what the people of Coventry did.
24:53 And it's what Jesus will do in your life when He really has
24:57 your heart. [music]
25:09 "Promises of Power" is our free offer for you today.
25:13 This little book is a collection of some of the most powerful
25:17 promises found in the Bible, and it's ideal for sharing with
25:20 somebody else who needs to be encouraged by the great promises
25:24 in the Bible. Now, to get your free copy, just
25:27 call 1(800) 253-3000 and ask for "Promises of Power."
25:33 There's no cost; there's no obligation;
25:35 it's absolutely free. You can call 24 hours a day.
25:39 Now, if the line's busy, please keep trying.
25:43 You can also request "Promises of Power"
25:44 by writing to: It Is Written, Box 6,
25:47 Chattanooga, TN 37401, and we'll mail a copy to
25:52 your address in North America. Now, please note: this free book
25:55 is limited to the supply on hand.
25:58 For immediate access, you can download a free electronic
26:01 version of the book "Promises of Power"
26:03 from our website, ItIsWritten.com.
26:07 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry, and your support makes
26:10 it possible for us to share God's good news with the world.
26:14 Your tax deductible gift can be sent to the address on your
26:17 screen, or through our website at ItIsWritten.com.
26:20 Thank you for your continued prayerful support.
26:23 Again, our toll-free number is (800) 253-3000, and our web
26:28 address is ItIsWritten.com. [music]
26:37 Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven,
26:39 I thank You today for Jesus, the One who died that we
26:42 might live, the One who gave us a perfect example of
26:46 forgiveness. I pray today that anybody
26:50 battling with issues of forgiveness in their life would
26:53 find true forgiveness and the peace that comes with it,
26:56 in Jesus. Gives us grace to let go of
27:00 hurts, to hold no grudges, to bear no malice,
27:03 that Your character might be exemplified in our lives.
27:07 Thank You for the example of those in Coventry, who committed
27:11 themselves to forgives and reconciliation.
27:14 And might that be our experience.
27:16 Friend, if that's what you need from Jesus, He'll give it to you
27:18 now if you'll ask Him for it. He'll bring His grace and peace
27:22 and forgiveness into your life. And if you need personal
27:25 forgiveness from Jesus, know that God is ready to
27:28 forgive you now. Lord, we thank You and we pray
27:31 in Jesus' name. Amen.
27:37 [soft piano music]
27:51 Thanks for joining me today.
27:53 I look forward to seeing you again next time.
27:55 Until then, remember, it is written:
27:58 Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that
28:03 proceeds from the mouth of God.
28:06 [hopeful anthem]


Home

Revised 2018-08-29