Charisa Stories

Category: Hump Day Hope

  • Hump Day Hope: Welcome to Stupid Week!

    One of my ministries as a “bad Christian” is to make you feel better about yourself as a Christian. Today my sacrificial gift is to make you feel better about yourself as a human being.

    I am going through a stretch of amazing stupidity. I am serious. I am talking Guinness Book of Records stupid. However, I have adopted the philosophy that if you will laugh about something a year from now you might as well start today. So here is my stupid week in review. In one calendar week I lost my drivers license. Twice. That is not a mistype. Recovered both times thanks to honest citizens. I went to retrieve a toy from the pool for canine friend Maggie. You guessed it. I slipped and fell head over heels into the water. I surfaced to the curious looks of my Labrador who had decided the pool was too cold for swimming. Oh yeah, I hurt my back in that seven day stretch and I wish I had a better story. Saving a widow crossing a street? Rescuing a puppy on the highway? Nope. A violent sneeze did me in.

    It was not a good week on the self-image meter.

     

    Stupidity - Arrows Hit in Red Target.

     

    But in the midst of stupid week I realized that a simple truth is slowly changing my once paralyzing fear of looking or feeling stupid. I realized that Jesus loves me on my stupidest day. I thought of another cut from the new MercyMe album “Welcome to the New”. Here is the chorus for a song called “Wishful Thinking”.

    Could it be that on my worst day

    How you love me simply will not change

    What if it’s really not about what I do but what You did

    Oh what if

    This ain’t wishful thinking it’s just how it is

    That’s just how it is. Nothing changes in how Jesus loves me on my worst, stupidest day. And it is not the Southern “bless your heart” kind of love. It is love that sacrificed, pursued and was completed at the Cross.

    How differently we would live if we really comprehended how much we are loved by God and that even in our failure Jesus loves us anyway.

    God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:9-10, NLT)

    Brilliant thinker/theologian Karl Barth was once asked if he could summarize his volumes of works on life and faith. His reply was simple.

    “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

    So even in the midst of stupid week I could smile and remind myself that Jesus loves me even when I am not too crazy about myself. That ain’t wishful thinking it’s just how it is.

     

  • Hump Day Hope : Come on. Say it! Say it!

    Hump Day Hope : Come on. Say it! Say it!

    The use of Hump Day to describe the midweek turning point has been around for awhile. It became a bigger part of the national lexicon thanks to a commercial and a camel.

    camel2

     

    I wish I was mature enough to say I was only mildly amused by the Geico commercial featuring the overbearing camel wandering through an office. I can’t. I stopped whatever I was doing every time it came on.

    The hope of this humble rambling each Wednesday is to provide a little hope to get you to the weekend. This is how hope is defined as a verb by dictionary.com.

    …to feel that something desired may happen.
    Example: I hope that the Cleveland Browns will play in a Super Bowl before I die. It is interesting that the next meaning of the verb hope is noted as archaic.
    …Archaic. to place trust; rely (usually followed by in)
    Call me archaic (my sons and workmates often do) but that definition is what I need this Hump Day. In a world gone crazy I need some place to put my trust that is trustworthy.
    Billy Graham summarized it beautifully.
    “God’s mercy and grace give me hope – for myself, and for our world.“
    Well played. I believe that ultimately God’s sovereign plan will be completed in this world. What I need on Hump Day is hope for myself to be able to deal with the cards that life is dealing. Pastor/writer Rick Warren has a helpful reminder.
    “What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.”
    So instead of trying to figure out why I am going through a trial with something or someone I should turn to the One who offers hope that I can persevere. Paul talks about hope in his amazing letter to the church at Rome.
    For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. (Romans 8:24-25, NET)
    And what is that hope?
    For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. (Colossians 1:4-5, NLT)
    I have wasted a lot of time trying to figure out why. That is a waste of precious time. My hope and my trust is in Jesus. Together we have this. Or as Paul more eloquently wrote.
    Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. (Romans 12:12, NLT)
    It is okay to be archaic. You can be old school if that makes you feel better. But remember where your hope is today. I give the last word to my friend the camel. “Awww, come on! I know you can hear me!”
  • Hump Day Hope – Dealing With the Newly “Elect”

    Hump Day Hope – Dealing With the Newly “Elect”

    Last night may or may not have been good for you politically. I am hopeful that real change can happen in this country. Just know that I do not put my hope in parties or political action groups or rising political stars. Been there, done that, using the t-shirts to wipe up messes.

    My hope is in revival through grace inspired communities that serve and love and make a difference. In a recent article I touched on how a bunch of disadvantaged and essentially powerless believers truly changed the world with a new movement called Christianity. An article about the early church from Christian History Timeline had some answers.

    The earliest Christians did not have church buildings. They typically met in homes. (The first actual church building so far found is at Dura Europos on the Euphrates, dating about 231.) They did not have public ceremonies that would introduce them to the public, and they had no access to the mass media of their day. So, how can we account for their steady and diverse expansion over the first three centuries?

    After the Apostle Paul, we do not run across many “big names” as missionaries in the first few hundred years of Christian history. Instead, the faith spread through a multitude of humble, ordinary believers whose names have been long forgotten.

    Early Christianity was primarily an urban faith, establishing itself in the city centers of the Roman Empire. Most of the people lived close together in crowded tenements. There were few secrets in such a setting. The faith spread as neighbors saw the believers’ lives close-up on a daily basis.

    It is too often true that careful observation of modern Christians on a close-up, daily basis is a reason to turn away from faith, not toward it. The article goes on…

    And what kind of lives did they lead? Justin Martyr, a noted early Christian theologian, wrote to Emperor Antoninus Pius and described the believers: “Before we loved money and possessions more than anything, but now we share what we have and to everyone who is in need; before we hated one another and killed one another and would not eat with those of another race, but now since the manifestation of Christ, we have come to a common life and pray for our enemies and try to win over those who hate us without just cause.”

    In another place Justin points out how those opposed to Christianity were sometimes won over as they saw the consistency in the lives of believers, noting their extraordinary forbearance when cheated and their honesty in business dealings.

    Perhaps the main reason the early church exploded is contained in the lyric of a simple song we used to sing while we were on staff with Campus Crusade many, many years ago.

    They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love.

    They will know we are Christians by our love.

    But will they? Those exposed to the early church knew the people called Christians were different. Very different. Good different and not creepy weird different. We need to read the scouting report from Justin Martyr often. Read Colossians 3 a few times.

    I will pray for the newly “elect” heading to Washington. Maybe they will make a difference. But as for me, my hope is firmly rooted in Jesus. As I see the state of our world I resonate with Peter who responded to Jesus as many deserted Him.

    Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”  (John 6:67-69)

    Agreed. My hope is in you Lord.

     

  • Hump Day Hope – Mercy Me!

    Hump Day Hope – Mercy Me!

    This week has had some challenges. That hardly makes me unique. I remember my Grandmother saying “Mercy me!” when she encountered something difficult. I had a variation of that response today. I cued up some MercyMe. I would guess that many of you who have stumbled onto my blog are familiar with the uber successful Christian band MercyMe. Their signature song, I Can Only Imagine, is a compelling ballad about Heaven and what it might be like when we see Jesus someday.

    But I am praying that their legacy will have really started with the release of “Welcome to the New”. This new album is the most amazing, encouraging, moving and upbeat packaging of grace and identity in Christ that I have ever discovered. My favorite track on the album is Flawless. Here is a sample of the lyrics.

    Could it possibly be
    That we simply can’t believe
    That this unconditional
    Kind of love would be enough
    To take a filthy wretch like this
    And wrap him up in righteousness
    But that’s exactly what He did

    The power of song lyrics amazes me. Talented writers can say more in a stanza that I can say in a thousand words. Think of that image. I was (and am) a filthy wretch. What is God’s response? Clean up and I will give you righteousness? That was the theology of my youth. Nope. The image is the father of the prodigal son. He takes off his beautiful and expensive robe and wraps it around his shivering son covered with filth. That’s exactly what the Father does for us.

    The chorus is powerful.

    No matter the bumps
    No matter the bruises
    No matter the scars
    Still the truth is
    The cross has made
    The cross has made you flawless

    That is your Hump Day Hope courtesy of my friend Bart Millard and Mercy Me. The Cross has made you flawless. No matter what else is going on. No matter how tough your week might be. No matter how much you are being buffeted by the Enemy. The Cross has made you flawless.

    In the first chapter of the Letter to the Colossians Paul writes this reminder.

    Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

    But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.     (Colossians 1:22-23, NLT)

    Today I feel a little beaten up. But the truth is I stand holy and blameless before God without a single fault. Because of Jesus the Cross has made me holy.

    Mercy me!

     

    Postscript: I rarely suggest how you spend your money but I do recommend “Welcome to the New” . I have found the album to be a wonderful encouragement that reminds me daily of grace and who I am in Christ. And the truth is I need to be reminded daily.  I think downloading this album would be one of the better ten buck investments you will make this year.

  • Hump Day Hope – Religion vs Relationship

    The Hump Day Hope comes from two of my favorite grace rabble-rousers. My friend Ed Underwood wrote an excellent piece about our innate mistrust of grace. The title alone was enough to generate deep thought.

    Before You Decide that Grace is Too Radical: Who Thought of Grace?

    Religion is about control and performance. Jesus changed the dynamic completely and made it about relationship. Ed’s writes that the idea of grace does not come from the heart or mind of man.

    If you leave human beings to themselves and ask them, “If there’s a God, what do you think He’d demand from people if they wanted to have a relationship with Him?” the answer is always the same, “Be good enough for Him to accept you!”

    Performance

    Grace says you can’t be good enough to earn it. Grace says you can’t be too bad to receive it. Grace gives up the need to control. Grace gives up the requirement to perform for acceptance. Grace is radical. After reading Ed’s piece I listened to a podcast from another grace instigator. Pastor/writer Tullian Tchividjian was talking about our need to find value and identity in our work. He outlined how that is counter-intuitively upset by God’s grace.

    We now work not for acceptance but from it. We now work not for love but from it. We now work from a position of security and not for it.

    Think about that. Because of Christ we are accepted, loved and secure and we don’t have to earn or, more to the point, keep earning that status. Ed Underwood sums that up beautifully in his article linked above.

    The gospel doesn’t divide humanity into performers and non-performers. The gospel only values one Performance: the work of Christ on the cross.

    The message is simple. Relax. Jesus has this. Trust Him. Remember who you are. That should get through the week!