Charisa Stories

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  • Lessons Along the Rocky Road


    I love how life experiences can teach you new lessons or reinforce lessons learned. Joni and I just returned from a week long retreat in Colorado at a beautiful B&B that I highly recommend called The Silver Lake Lodge.

    Less that a mile away from our awesome retreat was the trailhead that leads you to Saint Mary’s Glacier and the beautiful lake beneath it. We looked at the trail description. The hike was approximately 3/4 of a mile to the lake and the hiking app listed it as moderate. On our first full day in Colorado we decided to make the trek. The sign at the base of the trail was a bit sobering.

    But we sent a text asking our kids to pray for us and the location of our wills. Immediately we were taken aback at how rocky the trail before us appeared.

    Okay. This is doable. Just step carefully and take your time. This is not a race to the top.

    Pretty quickly after starting the ascent our lungs reminded us that we were at 10,500 feet. We stopped periodically to catch our breath. During one of these stops we met a young family from New York state. We took photos of their family and they returned the favor. They encouraged us that altitude adjustment struggles is an issue for all ages.

    They plowed on ahead and we moved slowly up the trail. At one point we grew discouraged. There were no markers to indicate you were on the right track and no info on how much further you had to go. We faced a particularly steep and rocky path. It was the most disheartening moment of the hike so far. Just as we discussed our next step an energetic young couple returned down the trail. We asked if this rocky road was the only way up.

    “Oh no. Just go around this way. It is a tiny bit longer but a much smoother trail.”

    We followed their excellent advice and continued the climb. Again there was no indicator of our progress. We kept wondering how much farther? Is this worth it? What were we thinking?

    Then it happened again. As we pondered our status a young woman came down the trail. Joni asked the dual question. How much further and is it worth it?

    “You guys don’t have much further to go. And yes, it is SO WORTH IT!”

    Her encouragement and energy was the fuel we needed. We finished the hike and discovered the magnificent beauty of the lake and glacier. It was so worth it!

    We reveled in the moment and decided to hike on up to the glacier. When we made it there Joni surveyed the scenery and on the other side of the slope was the young family from New York waving and cheering for our success.

    Later we reflected on the lessons learned. Having a dream to see the overwhelming beauty of God’s creation was a worthy goal. What we didn’t plan on was how rocky and steep the road would be at times. Isn’t that how life so often plays out? Unexpected things happen that discourage our hearts.

    There was no clear direction to get us there or to let us know our location on our journey. Joni and I marveled at the “coincidence” we encountered at the two most difficult moments. A couple shows up to show us a better path. Then another person arrives to encourage us that we were nearly there and the effort would be worth it. We laughed at how these God moments are so amazing. Some might think it was mere coincidence. We have experienced so many times in our life journey together when God sends the perfect person, community, or event to get us through a hard time.

    Scripture talks about the process to find the best path. In Psalm 119 we read this.

    Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
    and a light for my path.

    God’s Word gives direction and light in the darkness. Perhaps the best road map is found in Proverbs.

    Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding
    Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take.

    Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

    The big lesson? Perseverance and trust got us to the top of that trail and the reward was overwhelming. We marveled in quiet worship at God’s creative genius. This is but a tiny indicator of the reward awaiting our trust in God. He will be their for every step as we navigate the rocky roads of life. Someday we will hit the end of the trail and be speechless as we step into the presence of our Lord and Savior. I often imagine family and friends who have climbed the trail ahead of us cheering and rejoicing at our arrival.

    This journey is not easy. Never will be. One of the big mistakes we make in sharing our faith is making it seem like all troubles are over when you embrace Christianity. That is not in the contract. We will still have problems and heartaches and even tragedies. But we have a hope on that rocky road that is sustaining and powerful. Someday we will get to that beautiful destination. This was just a teaser for that magnificent moment in our future.

  • A Desperate Need in the Church


    Not all of us have experienced the joy of Psalm 133.

    “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Ps.133:1, NIV)

    There is no more powerful community than a group of believers who live in unity. Nothing levels the playing field like Jesus when we genuinely follow Him.

    In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he offered the benefits of honest community. “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

    Interesting that the challenges from Paul are listed from easiest to hardest. I can admonish the idle all day long. I am pretty good about encouraging the fainthearted. On my good days I help the weak. But be patient with them all? Come on Paul. Do you know these people?

    But that is the beauty of community. It is messy and beautiful. Frustrating and fulfilling. It is life. And it is best lived together with other messy, beautiful, frustrating and fulfilling saints who still are quite capable of sinning.

    And that tees up the biggest need for community as found in Galatians. 

    Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. (Galatians 6:1-3)

    That seems like such an important passage in this culture as I contemplate the devastating and heartbreaking toll of sin. I know. That word will get you canceled by many today. But there is no other word that describes what I am seeing today. Sin says that there is more that you must get in any way you can. Sin says that you deserve to be happier. Sin says that God does not really have your best interest at heart. I hate those lies from Satan that we continue to believe.

    People are desperate to find community and belonging and they often find it in the wrong places. I see precious men and women (sometimes boys and girls) lose their lives because they found identity in groups that promised family and acceptance but delivered heartbreak and abuse. These souls likely had found that dynamic of acceptance nowhere else in their experience. All of us want to find someone who will accept us for who we are. These lonely souls found identity in a group that provided provisional acceptance but not safety. 

    Lest we jump to judgement (as we are so skilled at doing) we should wonder what leads these men and women to pursue a group that can ultimately lead to depression, sadness, and even death.

    I am sad that we have too often failed to create a community that does not flinch at inappropriate language, clothing, and behavior. Do you think Jesus would look at an inappropriate t-shirt slogan or at the heart? Would He hear the ugly words of a hurting person or the desperate tone of their need? Would He condemn the sinner or embrace them and whisper gently in their ear that there is a better way? Of course there are consequences to sin. Is that ever more clear than when we turn on the news every day? But the truth is that all of us are sinners. 

    I spent 40 years in live television. It is a high energy world of edgy emotions and honest language. That was my work community and I loved them. It was not always a safe place for the easily offended. But it was a real place with real people willing to hear your story when you didn’t step back in self-righteous offense.

    Jesus put no requirements on being with Him. We are ones who have often not communicated the liberating joy of the Gospel. We attach the strings instead of shouting that all we need to bring to Him for salvation is our sin and need. Jesus has done the rest.

    I am a flawless child of God. Not because of anything I have done, am doing, or will ever do. It is because of what Jesus did for me on the Cross. Paul makes it pretty simple.

    If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.(Romans 10:9, NLT)

    We must begin to concentrate on that message of what Jesus has done for us. Whether your sin inventory fills multiple volumes or a post-it note is irrelevant. We all need the Cross. Only the finished work of Jesus makes us flawless.

  • Silence is Golden

    I love to watch Maggie when she is overseeing her backyard domain. Sometimes she goes to the fence and lets out a couple of deep-throated barks to let some perceived threat know that she is on duty. Or she patrols every inch of the yard, sniffing as if it is her first and not her one-thousandth time to do this.

    But the routine I love most is when she lies in the yard with head high, surveying her kingdom in silence. She is completely dialed in, listening for any disturbance that might need her attention. Maggie is most able to take in her world when she drops the barking and growling.

    Well played, Maggie. You are doing something most of us humans have a difficult time mastering—simply being silent and observing God’s world. 

    There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear these whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only we do not always hear, because of the noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on.

    Sounds like our lives, doesn’t it? And yet that observation was written in the mid-1800s by hymn writer Frederick W. Faber. More than a century and a half later, it hasn’t gotten quieter. It is hard to imagine that the sounds of the world are not exponentially more cacophonous today. Perhaps the bigger issue isn’t that the world is noisier and more distracting than ever. The relational danger may be our ability to pull into the cocoon of noise-canceling headsets and remove ourselves completely from our surroundings. Sometimes it helps concentration to limit the noise. The challenge is to not let headphones and earbuds become another impediment to finding  sacred moments.

    I remember walking up to one of my younger television crew members and going through a very well-thought-out description of what we needed for the broadcast that night. I waited for his confirmation, but instead he turned, pulled out well-hidden earbuds, and looked surprised.

    “What?”

    I had no idea he was in another world while I was talking to him. He had no idea I was lurking right next to him and talking. It was no big deal. We laughed, and I repeated the instructions. Going forward, I did determine to first make eye contact with whomever I was talking to for the best results. It made me think about how often we miss moments of laughter or relational opportunities when we retreat from others.

    Yesterday when I took Maggie for a walk, I instinctively reached for my phone and headset. Typically, I listen to music along the way. I can get lost in music, which is not a bad thing. But today I knew I needed something else. I needed to be quiet, reflective, and prayerful about some things that were troubling my soul.

    To be honest, some tunes from my rock-and-roll days would have been a much-preferred course. But I knew I needed to think and pray. So while Maggie excitedly sniffed and explored, I prayed for a person who has been challenging. Did I want to do that? Hardly. But I knew it was important, and I needed quiet to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to my heart. There is something healing and helpful in praying for those who oppose us. It reminds me that God is the One in control. When I trust that, I can relax.

    It will also come as no surprise that the Owner’s Manual addresses our need for silence and solitude.

    Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.
    He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.
    (Psalm 62:5-6)

    Perhaps the most consistent role model for the need for solitude and silence was Jesus.

    Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
    (Mark 1:35, NIV)

    Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
    (Luke 5:16, NIV)

    Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them.
    (Luke 6:12-13, )

    Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain
    by himself.
    (John 6:15, NIV)

    Jesus understood the need to recenter and reconnect with the Father. He understood the power of quiet to be able to hear the voice of His Father. How can we think we are able to function spiritually and emotionally without occasional silence and solitude? Finding periods of quiet is different from seeking a day or extended time of Sabbath that we explored earlier. This is not something I am accomplished at. In the past when I was alone, I needed the television in the background or music in my ears. I am learning that sometimes I just need silence. Silence that used to make me feel a bit unsettled is now becoming a welcome respite to think and pray. A.W. Tozer said that “only after all the noise has spent itself do we begin to hear in the silence of our heart, the still, small, mighty voice of God.”

    That requires us to slow down, give up our perceived control, and simply be quiet. I can tell you it does not come naturally in this culture.

    Being alone and quiet so you can hear the still voice of the Holy Spirit is about a heart attitude more than location. For me, there is one really important benefit of reflective quiet in the presence of God: it interrupts my typical prayer time of delivering a monologue to God. I was taught to make my requests known in prayer after a little perfunctory praise. I went down my list, and I was done. One-way conversation. I am outta here!

    Forcing myself to be quiet gives me a chance to look inward. To see where I might need to allow the light of God’s grace to shine on some dark area. I allow myself to be fully in the moment and not worried about tomorrow. I allow myself the time to reflect on who I am and how the Father looks at me. It clears my mind to clearly think about what needs to be done. I remind myself that I don’t have to constantly manage and be in control.

    Psalm 46:10 is a familiar verse.

    Be still, and know that I am God!

    The Hebrew word for “be still” might be better translated as “cause yourselves to let go” or “let yourselves become weak.” Sitting quietly with my Bible open to a psalm invites the quiet voice to speak. Often there is nothing but stillness. Isn’t that how a good relationship works? When you feel relaxed and protected with your spouse, you can have periods of silence that actually speak volumes about how you feel about each other. It is in quiet solitude with God that I am wholly present and available to Him. Is there a better indicator of affection  than  undivided attention?

    If my mind is left unattended, it is like Maggie as a puppy. It runs randomly and without restraint. I have had to learn to slow down, unplug, and be still. And I have had a major surprise: I am really enjoying it.

    It is a lesson I intend to build on. God is powerful enough to teach an old dog new tricks. I invite you to find a place to be quiet today. In the sounds of silence, God may very well meet you there.

    GOD’S TAKE

    For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.

    (Psalm 62:5, ESV)

    A DOSE OF GRACE

    Find some time to give God your undivided and silent presence. Start with five or ten minutes. It may feel awkward. Simply tell God that you desire to be in His presence. Tell Him that you want to be attuned to His direction or correction. But most of all, tell God that you simply want to receive His love. Remember there is no condemnation if your mind wanders. This will take some practice, but it is worth it.

    Want to read more or find out how to connect more fully with God in 21 days? Click here to check it out.

  • Jesus Can Bridge the Cultural Divide

    Social media can be deeply distressing. So many posters are downright mean. If you disagree on an issue the broad brushing judges assign you to outcast status without any effort to understand your heart.

    May I share honestly what bothers me even more on social media? When those who claim to be followers of Jesus are divisive, judgemental, and graceless. How can we claim to have something of eternal value when we can’t focus on what unites us?

    A song from Mandisa and TobyMac came up on my playlist this week. The message is so important for all of us.

    Are you left?
    Are you right?
    Pointing fingers, taking sides
    When are we gonna realize?

    We all bleed the same
    We’re more beautiful when we come together
    We all bleed the same
    So tell me why, tell me why
    We’re divided.

    Why indeed? I am praying for leaders who will remind us that hateful rhetoric never, ever, ever changes a heart. Followers of Christ have a message of hope and light that is desperately needed. But we get caught up in the politics of our world and too often snuff out that light. I have probably been guilty of that over the years more than I care to think about. 

    I fear our culture will get darker in the days and months ahead. Followers of Christ have to make a decision. We can decide to complain that Christians are no longer respected and valued in the culture. We can whine that the media and elites mock us. Or we can decide to show the kind of kindness, forgiveness, grace, and love that early Christians demonstrated to change a hostile culture. We may not like this truth but Christianity really functions best as the underdog. In that environment we have no where else to turn but to God to give us the strength and grace to be a light in the darkness.

    What does that mean? What message makes a difference?

    During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods’ appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”

    Perhaps the fact that grace and forgiveness are rare commodities in this society is a big reason we see such anger and hopelessness. Our natural reaction to those who threaten our comfortable safe haven is to strike back. Jesus knew this would happen and He had some very radical instructions.

    “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13:34, NLT)

    Jesus did not say “I am offering a helpful suggestion to love people that look like you and agree with you.” Our Lord who died for people of all colors and nations commanded that we love one another. People of different colors, political beliefs, and personalities all inconveniently fit into the “one another” category. 

    If you push back that Jesus was just talking about loving His followers I offer this.

    “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! (Luke 6:27, NLT)

    Jesus knows our hearts doesn’t He? If you are “willing to listen” then hear my words to love your enemies. He knew we tend to conveniently not hear words that challenge our hearts. Am I willing to listen? Are you? I wonder what God could do if we followed those those two commands?  And how would it look different if we remembered that we are all created in the image of God. Our different experiences and stories should not divide us but instead create a beautiful tapestry of the amazing love of Jesus.

    If we’re gonna fight
    Let’s fight for each other
    If we’re gonna shout
    Let love be the cry
    We all bleed the same
    So tell me why, tell me why
    We’re divided

    Did you notice I centered the lyrics? No left or right justification. The only justification that matters is the work of Christ on the Cross. We all bleed the same. He bled for us. The color is red in every case.

    As a person with considerable mileage on my life odometer I am convinced the culture will never be healed by politics and programs. But I still believe the power of the Gospel of grace can heal our culture one heart at a time. We can be a part of that revival or we can give up and sullenly wait for eventual glory. May I grace challenge you to get out of your Christian comfort cave? Can I ask you to make an effort to get to know people different from you? Go meet with a spirit willing to learn the story and heart of people who look and think differently. And here is the most important thing.

    Listen. Listen. Listen. 

    I think you might be amazed at what God can do in those moments. The God who created this world can heal our hearts if we trust Him. The decision is up to each one of His followers. We can make a difference in whatever sphere of influence God has given us whether it is large or small. Only faithfulness matters and the question must be answered. Are you in?

  • Training Camp for Christians

    I love football. The opening of football training camps gets my juices going. I watch some of the greatest athletes in the world getting ready to play a highly skilled game. So what do they start with every summer at training camp?

    Footwork and technique drills. Coaches demanding constant repetition of fundamental skills. The best teams are the ones that most consistently execute the most basic fundamental aspects of their craft.

    Legendary Coach Vince Lombardi famously began each training camp by gathering wide-eyed rookies and grizzled veterans around him. He would begin by holding the pigskin in front of him and solemnly proclaiming an indisputable truth.

    “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

    From that rather rudimentary start he would detail the importance of understanding the fundamentals of the sport. I can learn something from that approach. When I first came to faith I was so excited to learn the fundamentals of faith. How do I study the Bible? How do I pray? How do I grow in my faith? But something seemed to happen as I accumulated some seasons under my belt.

    I forgot the fundamentals.

    I started looking for the latest trend in faith. Which trendy Christian leader should I emulate next? I defined myself by movements instead of by Jesus, the Cross, and His finished work. For me football training camp is another reminder that I desperately need the fundamentals of faith.

    Fundamentals are best taught by those who have the gift of teaching and complete knowledge of the skills required. You hope you can find an expert to teach you. That is exactly what the disciples did when they came to Jesus and asked for His help on how to pray. They had watched Him pray. They knew how important prayer was to Jesus. Now they asked him to teach them how to pray. Here is Luke’s “play by play” of that moment.

    One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

    He said to them, “When you pray, say:

    “‘Father,
    hallowed be your name,
    your kingdom come.
    Give us each day our daily bread.
    Forgive us our sins,
        for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
    And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:1-4, NIV)

    Over much of my fumbling, bumbling Christian journey I would skip straight to the “give us our daily bread and forgive us our sins” parts of that prayer. I managed to miss the most important fundamental of this insightful prayer contained in the opening words.

    I get to relate to God as my Father! That privilege comes only from my relationship with Jesus. Noted preacher Haddon Robinson stated that in the entire Old Testament God is only called Father seven times and it was always in respect to the Nation Israel. There is never a recorded instance where any individual dared to address the Sovereign God as Father.

    Now Jesus comes on the scene and Robinson writes about the amazing contrast.

    “When you turn to the New Testament, however, 275 times or more we are told directly or indirectly that when we bow before the sovereign majesty of the universe the word that should come easily to our lips is Father.”

    That is a fundamental game changer! I can come to the God of the Universe who knows my sin, my weakness, my failures and call Him Father! Are you kidding me?

    I also tended to zoom by the next fundamental. 

    Hallowed be your name. 

    Prayer starts not with a shopping list of what I want God to do but instead with worship and recognition of who God is. We are coached by Jesus to remember how great God is and to recognize that His ways are not our ways. We are taught to remember that His holiness is perfect and His grace is our hope.

    Hallowed be your name.

    When I learn those fundamentals the rest of the offense falls into place. He is my Father who loves me and wants the best for me. If the answer is no that is an answer. That may mean my request will be answered later. It may be answered differently. It may not be answered at all. But through all of those responses I trust that He is holy, powerful, and present. Embrace that fundamental truth this week.

    Today’s blog is an excerpt from Waking Up Slowly, a 21 day journey to grow closer to God and one another.

  • An Antidote to Fear


    Many historians believe that 1968 was one of the most turbulent years in American history. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Race riots and Vietnam war protests created massive unrest. International peace was unsettled as the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia. A bestselling book by entomologist Paul Ehrlich called the Population Bomb predicted that overpopulation would lead to hundreds of millions of people starving and there was nothing we could do about it.

    In the Christian world a movie called Thief in the Night came out with a frightening story about the rapture and tribulation. I didn’t sleep well for weeks because I did not want to get left behind. My parents thought the end was near.

    I was 15 years old. The news was terrifying. I was a new Christian and I had virtually no discipling for what faith in God meant when confronting fears.

    I didn’t know if I would get a chance to drive, vote, get married, have children, have a career, or see the Cleveland Browns win another NFL championship. By the way, all but one have worked out.

    Fast forward fifty-five years (and trust me it feels that way) and the cultural climate in our country feels even worse. I have had a few years to see how God works in my life so that is a big difference. But I will be honest, it is still unsettling.

    Last week I had the honor of delivering a message at my home church, Waterbrook Bible Fellowship. I spoke about Psalm 27 because I think it addresses a major issue for Christians and especially non-believers today. Where do we find hope in a seemingly hopeless world? How can we address the fears that confront us consistently?

    In the Psalm David is being pursued and he believes an attack on his life is imminent. He states his hope without ignoring the danger of his current situation. Instead of downplaying his trouble he looks through a different lens. Yep. Things are a dangerous mess. Yep. I could be attacked at any moment. He starts Psalm 27 with the things he needs to remember as he confronts a deadly threat.

    1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
        whom shall I fear?
    The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
        of whom shall I be afraid?

    God is my light in the darkness. God is my salvation and eternal hope. God is my strength when I am weak. Wow. Believing those truths alone will make a difference when fear rises up in my heart. But let’s be honest here. No doubt that intellectual knowledge is encouraging but how can we live out those truths when danger and fear are lurking? Let’s look at an amazing statement from the Psalmist.

    3 Though an army besiege me,
        my heart will not fear;
    though war break out against me,
        even then I will be confident.

    Wait? What?

    If war breaks out against me even then I will be confident? That is not the circumstance that gives me confidence in my journey.

    How can he possibly be confident? I found it fascinating that the Hebrew word for confident translates literally to “I will trust”. David’s confidence was not in his own strength. He was trusting God and that gave him the confidence to be unafraid.

    Again, that is a comforting intellectual concept. God is my light. My salvation. My strength. I trust Him. I still need a plan to implement those truths. How do you trust God when danger is all around you? David’s plan is simple and instructive for us today.

    He wanted to be present with the Lord.

    My natural tendency would likely be to agonize over the circumstances. Instead David chooses, and it is a choice, to make God his priority in uncertain and difficult times.

    My first instinct would be to desperately pray for protection. That God would remove me from this situation. But what did David want first and foremost?

    4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
        this only do I seek:
    that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
        all the days of my life,
    to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
        and to seek him in his temple.

    He wanted, more that anything else, to be in the presence of the Lord.

    Pastor John Piper wrote, “Communion with God is not merely learning about God but enjoying fellowship with God in the truth he reveals about himself.”

    God wants His children to commune with Him. He wants us to learn more about who He is. He wants to hear us praise him in word, song, and service. Then we need to bring those things we learn about God’s character into fellowship with Him in honest prayer and reflection. Knowledge alone often falls short. Knowledge combined with intimate fellowship with the Lord is a game changer.

    We worship the same God David did, and we can trust that same God. He is always there. We will ultimately be victorious. One thing I have learned is that victory may not look exactly like I scripted it in my mind. And sometimes I defer to noted theologian Garth Brooks who sang “I Thank God for Unanswered Prayers”. I could add multiple paragraphs telling you how many times that God saying no or not yet was an incredible blessing when I got to the see the results later.

    Now more than ever that we need to place the truths of Psalm 27 in our hearts. David’s words remind us that even in the difficult times we can persevere because our God has perfect timing and the perfect plan. There is no need to panic and develop our plans to fix the problem. We can have confidence that if we turn to God for strength, knowledge, and wisdom, we will know what our part in the solutions is.

    There is a famous saying that fits this Psalm of David.

    Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there.

    When we trust God and seek His presence I believe that can be true. When we feel fear rising up we need to remember God is our light, our salvation, and our strength. The next time fear knocks on the door gather up those truths and have faith answer. It makes a powerful difference.

    (If you want to hear the entire message on Psalm 27 you can click here. You will see I “borrowed” a lot of this blog content from the message.)

  • Confessing my “Hidden Agenda”

    The title “Evangelical Christian” seems to have become a pejorative to many in the media and culture. I understand the frustration (I have written about it a lot) when very vocal or celebrity Christian leaders fail spectacularly. I share your anger when a religious person espouses hateful or judgmental comments. I grieve when an institution or leader fails to protect the innocent.

    Critics say that Christians have an agenda and dangerous desire to control other people’s lives. I confess that has been true for some religious types. But the followers of Jesus that I have gotten to know over many decades don’t resemble that stereotype at all. Perhaps that is why Jesus warned so plainly about the dangers of power. The selfless, giving, and caring believers get little notice in this world but I believe they are quietly and faithfully making a difference. Jesus upset the organizational chart by placing those who serve at the top.

    I thought about what my answer would be if I was asked to outline my agenda. I certainly don’t speak for all Christians but I think I just might represent a number of them as I share my “agenda”.

    Let me start by telling you what this particular Christian does not believe…

    I do not believe you have to be a particular party to be a Christian. Heaven will be bipartisan and I am totally fine that there will not be “sides” of the Golden Aisle.

    I do not believe that God is “judging” America for any particular sin. But if He is judging this country I would suspect it is for the massive squandering of wealth and resources that we have been blessed with while giving back an average of less than 2 percent.

    I do not believe in ranking sins for their offensiveness to a Holy God. I am not referring to heinous sins here but things that are individually more offensive to some of us. The reality is that all sin is intolerable to a Holy God. We are either perfect or in need of a Savior. I am the latter.

    I do not believe that censorship, boycotts, or politics will redeem this culture…only a spiritual renewal of caring love and grace can accomplish such redemption.

    I do not believe that it is my place to relish or desire eternal punishment for others. I am willing to leave that to a righteous and just God who sees the real heart and motives for each one of us and Who will judge justly.

    Here is my agenda. Busted!

    • To try and see everyone through the eyes of Jesus because my eyes are prejudiced and prideful.
    • To try and love them like Jesus because my love is selfish.
    • To try and see that no one misses out on the message of grace, identity, acceptance and one-way love that is offered as a free gift of grace by the finished work of Jesus on the Cross.
    • To let them others know that my relationship with Jesus and His grace has changed my life, given my life purpose, given me strength to endure tragedy, and real hope for the future.
    • To authentically relate how this personal relationship with the living God saved my marriage and made me a better father to my sons.
    • To be gentle in relating the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to people in every situation. My goal is to introduce people to Jesus. If they are living in a way that is not biblical I will let them work it out in God’s timing while walking with them in grace and love.
    • To exhibit grace and forgiveness to those who attack me for not sharing their world views.
    • To freely dispense the grace of the living Christ to everyone I come in contact so that I can be salt and light to my little circle of influence.
    • To be an advocate for those wounded by the church and other Christians. Our lack of unity must grieve Jesus who prayed for unity of the body during His final agonizing hours before His betrayal, mock trial, and crucifixion.
    • To try to never be surprised or repulsed by the actions of those who do not have a relationship with Jesus. The Lord Himself was always gentle with sinners and always tough on religious hypocrites. We have reversed his example far too often. We are too tough on sinners and too gentle with the hypocrites in our midst.
    • To try and give generously of my time and treasure to those who have not been as materially blessed in my neighborhood, my country, and around the world.
    • To let people know that I love Jesus and I am not at all ashamed of that fact.

    It is easy to dismiss the hypocrite. No problem to ignore the angry and judgmental religious types. But before I came to faith I was troubled when I saw some Christians who displayed something different in their lives. I could not dismiss so readily the joy, peace, strength, courage, and love they modeled. They were “troublesome” Christians to me.  I could not ignore them because their lives were authentic and different (different good, not weird). I want to be that kind of Christian. I take these words of Jesus seriously.

    “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” John 15:12

    That was not a helpful suggestion. Jesus made that command the cornerstone of following Him. So that is my agenda. To love others as I have been loved and be a “troublesome” Christian to some.