Charisa Stories

Category: Uncategorized

  • 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!

  • The Plan

    For those of you who inexplicably look forward to my ramblings I have established a schedule so you know when to expect something new. I will post a short devotional called Monday Musings to start the week. At midweek I will offer a little booster called Hump Day Hope. And on Friday a Weekend Wildcard that may be serious, silly or a combo plate of both. I will post at other times as well but you can plan on having something on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Looking forward to interacting with all of you!

    Blessings and grace,

    Dave

  • Perspective

     

    I recently visited a large rehabilitation hospital for patients dealing with spinal cord injuries, strokes and traumatic brain trauma. As I walked  toward my car I noticed two young men in wheelchairs chatting near the entrance. I overheard a snippet of conversation that rocked my day. The tone was not bitter nor sad. This is the sentence I overheard.

    “I would give it all up just to be able to scuba dive one more time.”

    What this young man once did without thought or difficulty now was a nearly impossible dream. My heart was pierced. Just that morning I had fussed about a balky hip and yet I was walking freely to my car. I often thought about an aching shoulder but I had freedom to lift and move. All of us take so much for granted. Since that encounter I think of that young man when my hip or shoulder aches. I say a quick prayer of thanksgiving for the health I am blessed with today. But this awareness will wear off. It always does. That makes me sad. But it also makes me human.

    Jesus knows all about our frailties. How we worry about things that really don’t matter.

    “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” Matthew 6, NLT

    My friend Ray Pritchard posted a little prayer years ago that I loved so much that my wife got it framed. It sits by my bathroom sink and I need to review it more closely each morning.

    Heavenly Father,

    You are in charge of everything that will happen to me today – the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the positive and the negative. Please make me thankful for everything that happens to me today.

    Amen

  • More Confessions Ahead…

    More Confessions Ahead…

    I know that a few of you have been patiently wondering if Confessions of a Bad Christian would be returning anytime soon. If you have been staring out your PC Window looking for new posts I apologize.  I took a brief leave from the blog which became a pretty long leave of absence.

    Now I am refreshed and ready to dispense my marginal “wisdom” for my tens of readers. I am sure as new folks stumble to this site I will get this question again.

    “Why do you call your blog ‘Confessions of a Bad Christian’? Do you really think you are a bad Christian?”

    And my answer is always something like this.

    Yeah.  I really am. Sometimes “badder” than on other days.

    The blog heading of “Confessions of a Bad Christian” started out as a bit of a joke. It was based on the title of my first book, When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. But I will tell you that I have grown attached to the title of this blog. I have come to grips with the truth that I am, in fact, a bad Christian. And that is the point of the title. It is a daily reminder to me that I am capable of thoughts and actions that do not reflect Jesus. I have found that the realization that I can be a bad Christian at any given moment has been the beginning of real growth for me. I cannot do this on my own. 

    It breaks my heart to think that my actions would cause anyone to think that Christianity is false. The sad reality is that I encounter Christians all the time that do damage to the cause of Christ. I often tell people that my prayer is that they will not reject Christ because of Christians. I beg them to consider the person of Jesus. The question that each of us must answer is who is Jesus? Is He who He claimed? But too often those I encounter cannot get past the actions of a person who does not represent Jesus well. I do not want any part of a legacy like that.  So I challenge myself and other Christians to be real. Acknowledge that we are fallible. Really fallible. Downright hypocritical. Seek to repair damage. Ask forgiveness. Drop the legalism.  Err always on the side of grace. I suppose that a big part of who I am is growing up in a church that would not have recognized grace if it bit them on their self-righteous posteriors. I know firsthand the damage that legalism can do in the life of person trying to follow Christ.

    So I am a bad Christian with a good Savior. I am weak and He is strong. Jesus loves me and all the other bad Christians of the world. He sees all of my sins and He still loves me and calls me His child. Amazing.

    I look forward to sharing the journey with you.

  • The Power of Thanksgiving

    (Reposted from theFish.com)

    I love watching the giant balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade floating through New York as wide-eyed children watch. I love the traditional football games. The official start of the Christmas season. The post feast nap. I love Thanksgiving Day.

    Thanksgiving Song by Mary Chapin Carpenter captures the intimacy of this wonderful holiday.

    Grateful for each hand we hold
    Gathered round this table.
    From far and near we travel home,
    Blessed that we are able.

    I have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for another year with my best friend and bride Joni. I am grateful for three wonderful sons, two amazing daughter-in-laws, one heart stealing grandchild and more on the way. I am blessed that our family will be able to be together this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for good friends. I am grateful for the abundant blessings of this country.

    Grateful for this sheltered place
    With light in every window,
    Saying “welcome, welcome, share this feast
    Come in away from sorrow.”

    Every year brings sorrow. Friends and family have suffered illness this year. Some have gone through deep trials. Some have passed away. Sorrow is a part of this journey. But there is something healing about counting blessings and feeling gratitude. Taking that time provides a sheltered place from sorrow. For me the light in the window of my soul is my trust in a God that is faithful, loving and good in blessings and in sorrow.

    Grateful for what’s understood,
    And all that is forgiven;

    Jesus is the light that said welcome when I felt anything but welcome. He invited me to the feast that I did not deserve to attend because of His grace. Jesus said I was forgiven. How can I be anything but grateful if I understand the magnitude of that undeserved love?

    We try so hard to be good,
    To lead a life worth living.

    I might add a little personal clarification to Carpenter’s lyric. I understand the desire to live a life of significance. I get trying to be good. I believe we have a reason for being here. But my experience with the grace of the Lord Jesus has taught me that it is not trying so hard to lead a life worth living that brings peace and joy. It is faithfully following Jesus each day. It is allowing God to love me and asking Him to help me give away that love to others. It is trusting God to provide opportunities to serve. It is believing that God is faithful even through sorrow. It is trusting that what God says about me is true. That I have been changed and I have a new identity in Christ. I am deeply loved and cherished by God. I am declared righteous because of Jesus and that righteousness has nothing to do with how hard I work to be “good”. It is because of Christ. I am so grateful for grace. So very grateful.

    Paul’s words to the Colossian Church make a fitting devotional thought for this holiday.

    Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

    Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:12-17, NLT)

    I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving.

  • Questions

    (Reposted from theFish.com)

    Those who know me well would say that “speechless” is not a descriptor often directed at me. I have ideas about a lot of things and occasionally some insight. But the past two weeks have brought events that have left me stunned, numb and speechless.

    I have been friends with Dr. Steve Wilkes for many years. We served together as “Ranger Steve” and “Ranger Dave” in church youth ministry with our sons. His son Paul was a constant fixture around our house for many years. His wife Debbie was a loving mom who nurtured Paul and his little sister Amy to become amazing adults. Our lives followed the trajectory of many friendships. Different schools, different churches and different seasons of life allowed us to drift apart. But my respect for this family never changed.

    I heard the first bit of sad news two weeks ago that Steve said goodbye to his beloved wife Debbie after a long and difficult cancer battle. This past week and just two weeks after burying his wife he learned that his precious youngest child died in her sleep. Two funerals in two weeks. Your wife and youngest child both gone just days apart. How can one family endure such shock and pain? Why should one family have to deal with more in two horrible weeks than some deal with in a lifetime? What can you possibly say to them that could help one iota?

    At times like this I go to God’s Word and to people who have “been there”. I have suffered some in my life and I will tell you that words from those who have not been through the fires are well meaning but empty platitudes. Those who have endured the fires can speak to me in those moments. I hope they can speak to my friend Steve and his family.

    Jesus warned that there would be suffering in our lives. He made no attempt to claim that following Him would be all green lights and blue skies. In the Gospel of John Jesus makes it clear.

    “In the world you will have tribulation”.  (ESV)

    Straight up. Not that you may have tribulation. Nothing about if you sin you might bring on tribulation. You will have tribulation. It is part of this world. He does not leave us there and we will come back later to His promise.

    In May of 2008 Christian singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman’s five year old daughter Maria was run over and killed on the family property. Her teen-aged brother did not see her playing in the driveway before she was struck. It was a tragedy of unspeakable sadness. I remember that my first thought was how could God allow this to happen to a couple who have done so much for the body of Christ? Chapman used his music to explore the raw emotions of loss in an unbelievably honest work called “Beauty Will Rise”. One song came to mind as I tried to process my friend’s loss this week. The song is titled “Questions” and it completely captures my struggle.

    Who are You God
    For You are turning out to be
    So much different than I imagined

    And where are you God
    Cuz I am finding life to be
    So much harder than I had planned

    These are the questions that most of us ask when we face crushing sadness. We believe He is sovereign and yet this world is flooded with sadness.

    Like How could you God
    How could You be so good and strong
    And make a world that can be so painful

    Paul writes to the Church in Rome and offers this insight about suffering on earth.

    For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering. (Romans 8, NLT)

    I will be honest. I don’t relish that theology. But I do hold onto the promise that comes out of my trust.

    Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

    I believe that. That is my hope. That is what gets me through my own tragedy and the tragedies that befalls friends and family.  Steven Curtis Chapman writes about that trust in these lyrics.

    You know that I’m confused
    By all this mystery
    You know I get afraid
    But if you know my heart
    As completely as I trust you do
    Oh you know that I trust in you

    So here I am today. Confused. Afraid. Seeking truth in His Word. In John’s Gospel many decided the path was too hard so they deserted Jesus. The question Christ posed to His Apostles resonated today.

    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.”

    Indeed. Where would I go? So I hold on. I trust. I believe that this suffering is temporary before a greater glory. I hurt fully and honestly. I cry out. But I also hold on to the rest of the promise mentioned earlier. When Jesus said that there would be tribulation in this world He mercifully did not stop there.

    “But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

    That is my hope. That is my comfort. I pray that will be the hope and comfort of my friends as well.

     

     

  • How We Can Help Be The Hands And Feet Of God

    (Reposted from theFish.com)

    I have watched the news recently with sadness. I cannot imagine the suffering and stress that many of our fellow citizens are enduring today. Sometimes we wonder if our prayers are even heard let alone answered. And then a song by country/Christian band Diamond Rio played on the iPod shuffle today.

    The title? God Is There.

    Carrying the weight of the world
    God is there
    Where you think he won’t come to
    where he’ll be waiting for you

    God is there

    I believe that with all of my heart. But we have a role in His plan. God uses you and me to be His arms and legs on this planet as well. I keep thinking about the slogan that the Salvation Army has on their website.

    “We combat natural disasters with Acts of God”

    I love that thought. We as the body of Christ commit “acts of God” by loving, helping and healing those who suffer from a disaster. My insurance policy outlines “acts of god” as a way to diminish liability. My understanding of God’s Word is that we have increased liability when others need help

    Some discuss natural disasters as God’s judgment on an area or culture. I don’t know. How God might distribute His judgment on mankind is WAY above my pay grade. Would He more likely judge a culture that is more secular and send natural disaster their way? Or would He more likely judge our nation that is overflowing with churches and gives only a fraction of our overwhelming wealth to the poor and hurting? I know how I would lean if I were in charge.

    Rather than get caught up in the “why” I pray that I will be willing to commit an “act of God” whenever I see a hurting person.

    He’s reaching for you right where you are
    The God of the impossible is never very far

    God is there

    In the middle of your night
    In every single moment
    In every single light

    God is there

    Yeah, I know it sometimes feels overwhelming when you see the vast needs and incredible suffering. But I can do something. Helen Keller once said, “I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do.”

    I spend too much time getting frustrated by the news instead of making a difference where I can.  Maybe if we had been more intentional about “being” the Body of Christ the government would not have been tempted to do our jobs for us.  I want the grace that God has given me to make my heart sensitive toward the poor and hurting and spiritually seeking. It is hard to spend much time in the New Testament and not realize our challenge to be the Body of Christ. Here is a very small sample.

    But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (1 John 3:17 ESV)

    Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:16 ESV)

    What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17 ESV)

    And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27 ESV)

    Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4 ESV)

    Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2 ESV)

    The charge of hypocrisy leveled at the church has a lot to do with our obsession with sin management over living a life of grace and service. If I am not am not living out of grace then His arms aren’t reaching as far as they could and people may think that God is not there.

    What if I really cared? What if you really cared? Wouldn’t it make a difference? There is one way to find out. That way is for us to take seriously that we are the Body of Christ and the arms and legs and hands of God. And then act accordingly. Straight talking James writes in the Book of James that “to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

    I cannot argue that I do not know the right thing to do. My response will reveal my heart. And if I do the right thing perhaps I will help a hurting fellow sojourner know that God is there. We have a chance right now to reach out to those devastated by the recent hurricane. I urge you to contact the Salvation Army and help them commit an “Act of God.”