From Watergate, all the way to Monica Lewinsky scandal, from all the other public scandals by public officials.

You remember how is not the lying, but it's the cover-up of that lying that got them into deeper trouble.

While the Bible exhorts us again and again and again that the confession of sin brings about God's healing and God's

forgiveness and God's restoration. The covering up of sin, the rationalizing of sin, or blaming others

for our sin always cause us deeper pain. But perhaps there is no more powerful example of

this than the life of the great patriarch Abraham. We have begun a series of messages, counting stars

when you see none, because that's exactly the promise of God to Abraham. He said, start counting the

stars when he was 75 and Sarah 65 and they had no children whatsoever. We saw the sevenfold blessing,

the sevenfold promise that God made to Abraham in the first part of

chapter 12 of the book of Genesis. We saw on the strength of these promises, on the strength

of the sevenfold blessing, Abraham left the ear of Chaldeans with all of its dear and near to him.

Then in the last message, we saw Abraham diversion to Haran.

We saw that a pilgrim is someone who leaves home, but he's going to another home.

He has an aim, he has a purpose. He has a goal to reach.

But a drifter is the one who leaves home, and he doesn't know where he's going or where she's going.

And nothing more heartbreaking than watching a pilgrim becoming a spiritual drifter.

It's heartbreaking.

And this is not pointing a finger at the great patriarch.

Trust me.

Trust me when I tell you that is not the case, in my case at least.

For I know experientially how dreadful it is, how painful it is, does temporary detours from being a pilgrim to becoming a spiritual drifter.

Now I want you to turn with me, please, to Genesis chapter 12, beginning at verse 10 to 20.

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