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Don’t Let Wounded Souls Drift Away…

Dave Burchett

Drift Away from Dobie Gray cycled up on my music playlist this week.

Day after day I’m more confused
So I look for the light in the pouring rain
You know that’s a game that I hate to lose
I’m feelin’ the strain, ain’t it a shame

Those lyrics cause me to reflect on the millions of emotionally lonely and hurting people during this weird and trying season. They are definitely feelin’ the strain. I see the fear and angst from so many on social media. I know that many feel alone. Where is God? Where is His community? Where is the light in the pouring rain? Sometimes our faith community can feel discouraging and distant. We all know that people will let you down. Perhaps they are carrying burdens unknown to you and me. But many others do care. And God cares deeply about your pain. If you are feeling alone I encourage you to cry out to God and reach out to others for help. This week some folks reached out to me and I was honored and blessed to share their journey. Those of us who are in a good place right now can pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us to those who are hurting and/or give them the freedom to reach out to us. When we love others sacrificially it really helps wounded souls to navigate this storm. Paul described how that looks.

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! (Romans 12:9-16, NLT)

Saint Francis of Assisi is said to have observed that we should “preach the gospel at all times…if necessary, use words.” I have personally witnessed the power of letting the gospel message flow out of loving actions and not out of condemnation and judgement.

Sorry for the detour. Back to Dobie Gray.

Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

I guess all of us are looking for something to free our souls. I have found that in Jesus. We can look at the same evidence for faith and reach a different conclusion. Eventually it comes down to a step of faith. I examined the issue and decided that God exists. Then I examined what that means in my life. I came to believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to redeem me.

A final note to anyone who finds this site and believes that all Christians are judgmental and mean. Not gonna lie to you. Some are. Jesus is still working on all of us. But if you want a place of grace filled and honest discussion I hope you will become a regular here. We have much to discuss.

My latest book, Waking Up Slowly, can be used as a 21 Day Journey to become more connected with God, one another and yourself.

No performance demands…just grace suggestions based on God’s Word. Would you join me on that journey? Click here to check it out.

August 23, 2020
Lessons from Covid Class
Life is full of wonderful moments and blessings. Life also has it’s share of dark valleys and scary storms. None of us gets out of this life unscathed. In the valleys of my life I have taught myself to step back and ask this question. What can God teach me in this trial about Him or about myself?

This seemingly never ending Covid pandemic has been rife with lessons.

Lesson #1

Control freaks have learned a really hard truth from Covid-19. It doesn’t matter one whit how much money, power, or prestige you had accumulated by March of 2020 because Covid rudely stole your ability to control your life. It is funny to search the term “control freak” on the internet and find that so many people try to paint being a controlling person as a positive. I have worked with control freaks and I can tell you the experience for those around them is not pleasant. It is a suffocating and deflating leadership style.

This is a particularly distressing trait for followers of Jesus. I think this unpredictable virus exposed a lot of us. We said we trusted God. We wore t-shirts that boldly proclaimed Faith over Fear. But having our health, financial security, and fellowship with others threatened rocked our faith to the core. The only honest reaction is no matter how hard we try to control things we simply cannot. Only God is in control and our attempts to think otherwise is fool’s gold. Author Wayne Dyer said this about the folly of control.

“It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control over because there’s nothing you can do about them, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized.”

I have seen that truth played out over and over during this season. People of faith are immobilized by fear and worry. I am not diminishing one iota the reality or seriousness of this virus. I am saying that the One in ultimate control will get me through this crisis just like He has been at my side through every other one. Jesus promised He would be steadfast and present in every moment. Covid has not changed that truth.

“My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind.” (John 10:27-30, The Message)

I am not in control. Never have been. Never will be. It is nice to know that the one thing I can control is my eternal destiny in Christ.

Lesson # 2

We really, really, really need one another. Virtual replaced actual contact and at first that seemed okay. The dictionary definition of virtual is revealing.

adjective: virtual
1. almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition.
The key word in that description is ALMOST. Virtual is not the same as real contact. The Zoom meetings and Skype calls only vaguely resemble actual interaction and I was surprised at how quickly that substitute failed to satisfy my need for fellowship.

God designed us for human relationships when He proclaimed it is not good for us to be alone. Adam didn’t come up with that idea. It was the creator who knew how His creation was wired.

Henri Nouwen brilliantly summarized the need for community.

“Christian community is the place where we keep the flame of hope alive among us and take it seriously so that it can grow and become stronger in us.”

Covid extinguished that flame. We lost that comforting touch or reassuring facial expression that helped fan the flame of hope. Losing community was a bigger deal than most of us imagined. Peter wrote about suffering and even the prospect of the final days. I find it interesting that Peter made this the most important task in those dire circumstances.

“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8, NLT)

We can do that. We can’t control our circumstances. But we can express love through phone calls, messages, and safely distanced encounters. Knowing that you are loved and missed helps a lot. Whenever a person comes to mind send a text or drop a note. You never know how much that brief time detour might mean to someone.

Lesson #3

We need to be patient with all of the different responses our fellow sojourners have to this pandemic. This is the hard one for me. There are some really judgmental and harsh indictments of people who view how we should address this virus differently. I really believe that most of us are trying to do the right thing in a very confusing sea of conflicting information. So I default to Paul’s words to the church at Colossae when I feel frustration with some folks responses.

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 3:13-17, NLT)

If I marinate in that passage it seems that my judgment and frustration melt away allowing grace to bubble up. Those are my lessons from Covid. What have you learned?
August 16, 2020
Don’t Let Covid Cause a Fruit Shortage!

I have some mileage on the life odometer and I can honestly say I have never experienced a season like the one we are currently in. The late sixties were pretty wheels off but even that turbulent time didn’t match this. Instead of uniting as Americans over a pandemic we have divided. Isolation and fear have caused a collective national depression.

Christians have too often been a part of the problem. In theory we have a message of hope in Christ. We should be a light of courage because we know and trust a loving God. Instead we too often get sidetracked by arguments over wearing masks and whether we should be meeting without restriction. The sound you hear is Satan chuckling that we are missing a chance to show grace, hope, love, and courage.

How can we make that kind of difference? Paul has an annoying suggestion that if walk in relationship with Jesus you should display the traits he called the fruit of the spirit.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. (Galatians 5, NLT)

This is not a shopping list where I can pick one or two and feel pretty good about my godliness. The desire is to display all of the fruit and not just one or two.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Imagine how our witness would explode if we lived out of that list. What would our conversations look like at work if we went fruit shopping in expectant prayer each day? How would our social media posts read? What would these traits mean in our family relationships? How would others view your faith if these qualities were your selling points?

I am not peddling guilt here. Living this way is impossible by simple grit and begrudging compliance. It is possible only through understanding God’s grace and kindness toward His children.

Slowly I am beginning to comprehend grace and who I am in Christ. Here is a valuable insight from the book The Search For Significance by Robert S. McGee.

“Our true value is based not on our behavior or the approval of others but on what God’s word says is true. Our behavior is often a reflection of our beliefs about who we are. It is usually consistent with what we think to be true about ourselves (Prov 23:7). If we base our worth solidly on the truths of God’s word, then our behavior will often reflect His love, grace, and power. But if we base our worth on our abilities or the fickle approval of others, then our behavior will reflect the insecurity, fear, and anger that comes from such instability.”

When I trust who God says I am I begin to stock the fruit of the Spirit in my heart. God declares all of the following list to be true about me…a broken down former TV director. And all of these things became true from the MOMENT I trusted Christ. I didn’t earn any of these through my efforts.

I am forgiven. Col 2:13–14
I am a child of God. John 1:2; Rom 8:15
I received Christ’s KIND of life, eternal: John 5:24
I was delivered from Satan’s domain and into the Kingdom of Christ: Col 1:13
Christ came to dwell with me. Col 1:27; Rev 3:20
I am a new Creation: 2 Cor 5:17
I am declared righteous by God: 2 Cor 5:21
I entered a love relationship w/ God: 1 John 4:9-11
I am accepted by God: Col 1:19-22

When I meditate on those truths my heart overflows with gratitude. I am reminded how much I have been forgiven, I marvel at how patient Jesus has been with my excruciatingly slow growth. I stand in amazement that God chose to adopt me as His child. I remember that the negative things that Satan reminds me of everyday no longer define me. I am righteous in the eyes of a Holy God because of the finished work of Jesus on the Cross.

Consistently demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit is not easy. But I have found it is whole lot easier when you remember the truths above. Don’t let Covid spoil your fruit. We have a hope that others need and displaying the fruit of the Spirit makes the message attractive and real.

August 9, 2020
A Football Coach Showed Me How to Leave a Legacy

At some point in our journey most people start thinking about leaving a legacy. For some the idea of leaving a legacy means accumulating wealth or property to give to the next generation. A family business can be a legacy that keeps a memory alive through the years. Prestige and power can be thought of as a legacy.

In the winter of 2017 I became friends with Newton Texas high school football Coach W.T. Johnston. His story of courage and faith became the basis of my book “Between the White Lines“. For eighteen months the Johnston family embedded me in their lives and shared their story with unvarnished honesty. I had no idea how much that project and that relationship would influence me.

I had thought now and then about my legacy. I had always factored my accomplishments into legacy. I had a long and satisfying television directing career. I was fortunate to win a few awards. But the fact is that the moment I stood up to leave that directing chair another person was ready to sit down. The telecasts went on just fine without me. W.T. taught me that leaving a legacy was not about accomplishment. Perhaps the most emotional moment of my career happened after Johnston won an improbable second consecutive state title several months after doctors told him he would be dead. His interview on Fox Sports has been seen by millions and it helped shape how I plan to live the rest of my life. Here is a bit of that remarkable sideline moment.

“We got together in August right before we started practicing and I told them I probably wouldn’t make it through the season. I was only given eight months to live in January. And I wanted them to be aware of what was going on. And then we got going and there was about two or three weeks during the season I didn’t think I was going to make it. And we talked about that.
“I always told them this was the last lesson I was gonna teach them. I’ve been around these guys and their dads and their mothers since 1991. And I told them the last lesson I would ever teach them is how to live before you die, and where you put your strength and where you put your belief. The Lord has done so much for me. It’s unbelievable what Jesus has let me do and see through these kids. And I tell everybody—they don’t understand this—I’ve been given a great gift. I’ve been able to see how my life could affect people before I die. These guys, they’ve touched my life. It’s been a mutual thing. But I’ve been able to teach them a lesson that you don’t get to see most times.
“Last night they were talking about wanting to win for me. I’ve had my time. This is their time. This is all for them. I told them to do it for their teammates, to do it for themselves. Because fifty years from now, this will be something special they’ll always remember. I mean, they’ll remember me—if I’ve done right, a part of me is going to live in them and that’s what I’ve always thought—if I’ve done things right.”

What a succinct and brilliant definition of leaving a legacy. If I’ve done things right a part of me is going to live in them.

Leaving a legacy is not getting to the top of your profession. It is not being the most successful or the most wealthy. Billy Graham had a pretty good resume. It is estimated he spoke to over 200 million people in live audiences over sixty years. He wrote over thirty books. His television and radio programming reached millions more with the Gospel of Jesus. I would say that is a pretty powerful legacy. But here is how Graham defined the word.

The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.

That is the legacy I hope to leave. Leaving a legacy is being kind to people who can do nothing for you. Leaving a legacy is being fair to everyone and not just the powerful and privileged. Leaving a legacy is making each person you engage feel important and valued. Leaving a legacy is serving selflessly with no expectation for reward. Leaving a legacy is loving your wife, children, friends, and neighbors with forgiveness, patience, humility, and grace. Leaving a legacy is modeling what it looks like to walk with Jesus faithfully through both triumph and tragedy.

Peter talked about how to live in dark times.

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

(1 Peter 4:8-10, NLT)

Another coach I admire, Tony Dungy, said this about legacy and significance.

God’s definition of success is really one of significance-the significant difference our lives can make in the lives of others. The significance doesn’t show up in won-loss records, long resumes, or the trophies gathering dust on our mantels. It’s found in the hearts and lives of those we’ve come across who are in some way better because of the way we lived.

Paul offered a good starting point for this legacy project in his letter to the Church at Philipi.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8, NLT)

If you live like that you will find that my friend W.T. Johnston is one-hundred percent correct when he said a piece of you will live in others forever.

Missing football? Between the White Lines is an inspiring story of a great coach and how faith challenged and changed a town and team.

August 3, 2020
Signs of the Times

My daughter-in-law Caroline runs an online sign business called Vine & Branches that features lots of creative, fun, and inspiring designs. Last week I checked in on the online store and received an unexpected blessing. Her latest designs touched my heart and seemed so appropriate for this season we are enduring.

This is a hard time. Turn on the news and all you see is the threat of disease, disheartening discord, and heartbreaking violence. Fear seems to be the predominant emotion and the embers of that fear get stoked constantly by sensational reporting and angry social media.

The first sign I saw in the store was a great reminder of God’s character and how trustworthy He is.

I have been on this planet three score and seven years. Over and over and over I have seen God’s faithful hand during difficult times. I know from His Word that God is faithful to His children even in the darkest storm. The writer of Hebrews gives us a starting point to overcoming fear.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23, NLT)

He will keep His promise. We know the Author of the next chapter of our life. We know that God sees us as His beloved, adopted children. We can trust the next chapter when we remember His sovereign Hand is writing our story.

The next sign reminded me of my ultimate hope and the reason followers of Jesus find victory even in the darkest storms.

Even in this difficult season there is much beauty and goodness to be found in this world. I love life and I try to find sacred moments every day. But I sense in my spirit that there is something more. Something better that awaits someday.

C.S. Lewis explained that longing in Mere Christianity.

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

I believe that. I have hope in the finished work of Christ no matter what my current situation might be.

The final sign I noted was simple and profoundly true.

Followers of Jesus have the comfort that God will redeem darkness with light and sadness with joy. Jesus was completely honest about the trials of this world and the hope He offered.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NLT)

Jesus didn’t come to flatten the curve on sin and death. He overcame it. That is why I can be hopeful when the world looks dark. And that is why I finish this musing referencing the sign I used in the title. Psalm 71:14 offers a way to focus on Him and not on our fear.

“But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.”

I rarely use this space to endorse a product but I will make an exception this week. You can find beautifully crafted and inspiring signs at Vine & Branches that make wonderful gifts for the upcoming Christmas season or anytime.

July 26, 2020
“Trash Talking” in Community.
Last week we moved out of the house that our family had called home for thirty years. We experienced a lot of love, laughter, and memories in that house. There was also a lot stuff. Tons and tons of stuff. My amazing wife Joni organized a multi-week campaign leading up to the move to decide what needed to be sold, donated, re-homed, or trashed. It was a daunting task.

Last Wednesday marked the final day of Operation Downsize as we finished cleanup at the old house and moved a few things to temporary housing. Several people from our church small group came to help us finish up. At our home church, Waterbrook Bible Fellowship, we call these groups “Home Teams”. We wrapped up some final packing and loaded a few fragile items into friend’s vehicles to be transported.

But one embarrassing problem remained. The trash overflowed the capacity of our trash container. The solution was surprising. Several of our friends volunteered to take a bag of trash home with them to dispose of.

Later Joni commented about the day. “Our Home Team is amazing. They even took our trash.”

My first thought was this was a very practical metaphor for what community should be. We all wish that we had people who would be willing to take on the “trash” in our lives willingly and without judgment. My friend John Lynch has a saying I have quoted so much I should pay him residuals.

““What if there was a place so safe that the worst of me could be known, and I would discover that I would not be loved less, but more In the telling of it?”

Or to use our moving metaphor “what if there were a few people who knew I had more trash in my life than I could handle, but they were not disgusted or repelled but moved to take on that trash and help me get rid of it.”

That is a room of grace where there is no condemnation. Joni and I have been a part of three different small groups that were transformational. They all had the following characteristics.
1. Leave your politics on the porch. Most of us have strong convictions about political issues but these gatherings are about Jesus and how He relates to our journey together. Jesus spent zero time on politics except to tell the Pharisees to give Caesar his tax money.
2. Make your gathering a safe place. Nothing shuts down trust more that sharing private things without permission. We make a rule that nothing is shared outside of our meeting without permission. That includes the sneaky Christian way of gossiping by sharing “prayer requests” out of “concern” for others. Get permission. Building that trust will help amazing things to happen.
3. Learn each other’s stories. We make it a point to find out the life and spiritual journey each member of our group has taken. Hearing what a person has gone through in life will often change your heart attitude from judgment to deep admiration for their courage and resilience.
God knows that we need others to make it through this often difficult journey. Scripture is full of exhortations about caring for and loving one another. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25, NLT

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. Colossians 3:13-15, NLT

This passage in 1st John summarizes the why for living in community and loving others. We do it because Jesus first loved, served, and sacrificed for us.

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.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. 1 John 4:9-11, NLT

All of us have excess trash in our lives. A lot of us are not quiet sure what to do with it. If we trust Jesus and others to help us with that trash you will find joy and liberty that you cannot imagine.
July 20, 2020
Time for a Family Conference!

While our three sons were living under our roof there were five words that struck fear in their hearts.

“Time for a family conference”.

They knew that I was about to have a conversation with them and I was going to do most of the talking. I suspect they felt I was being punitive when I called for a conference. The truth is I was pursuing protective love and not punishment. Protective love sees a family dynamic that is hurting someone in the family and when one in the family is hurting all of us are hurting.

When I see the current dynamics of my Christian family I wish I could call a family conference with a heart of protective love. I see social media posts from friends who identify with Jesus that are downright mean and ungraceful. Some repost things that are supposed to be funny but are disrespectful. Others repost sensational stories without verifying them. All of those actions dim the light of our witness.

I totally understand that there are cultural trends that dismay followers of Jesus. I support standing up for the truth. But I am convicted more than ever that the only way to have an impact is to communicate that truth in love.

I already know the push back from some readers. They remind me that Jesus got angry and even destructive when he overturned the tables in the Temple. Fair point. So I have compiled a brief survey to complete. Please check each statement that is true about you.

_____ I have never sinned.

_____ I know with 100 per cent accuracy the heart and motives of those I disagree with.

If you can check both of those statements then I will happily grant you the “Jesus Exemption”. For the rest of us I would suggest that we concentrate more on following the words of Jesus.

“Do to others as you would like them to do to you. If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that?” Luke 6:31

Or maybe we should follow the example of Paul. He found himself in Athens surrounded by people that had to upset him. His strategy was brilliant and instructive for social media today. I wrote about it in When Bad Christians Happen to Good People.

What if we decided to be a kinder and gentler culture warrior, fearlessly and boldly confronting the culture with a great and incomprehensible love? I can tell you in advance that the results would be mixed. Acts 17 documents the apostle Paul’s visit to the city of Athens, a city that caused him great distress (the Greek word, roughly translated, means “ticked off”) because the city was full of idols. Yet, instead of arguing with or maligning the Jews and God-fearing Greeks, he reasoned with them and others who came to listen. Paul was introducing them to some strange ideas, and they wanted to know more. Verse 21 notes that residents of Athens spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas. Their pastime could be considered an ancient version of our talk-radio format. I love what happens next. Paul met his audience where they were. He stood up and said, “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship [notice no condemnation of the idols that Paul obviously found distasteful], I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you” (verses 22-23).

Brilliant! In broadcasting this is known as packaging your idea. You set up a common interest and then tease the audience with the coming payoff to keep them tuned in. But what if Paul and the early believers had approached Athens with some of the strategies we use today? Several believers would march throughout the marketplace defiantly holding up placards:

“If you think you are stoic now, wait till the Lord returns!”

“Hey, Epicureans…the party’s over!”

What if Paul had stepped up and announced, “Repent, you pagan, godless sons of the devil, before you burn in a fiery hell. Take your idols and put them where the goddess of sunlight doesn’t shine.”

I don’t think Paul would have had much of an audience, let alone success. When he finished speaking to the crowd in Athens, the Bible records the box score. It’s pretty much what you and I can expect when we sincerely and lovingly explain our faith. Some of them sneered. Some of them said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” And a few “believed.” Paul endured all that he did for those who believed and those who wanted to hear more. He could not have enjoyed the sneers. While that response is not unexpected, it is never fun.

The early church had no chance to “win” the culture war. Instead they built a community of believers that infiltrated the culture.

Winning hearts almost always works by communicating the truth with grace and love. Truth communicated as law will harden hearts. Truth communicated with grace and love has a chance to soften and change them. To wit, I have never seen one single example of a person persuaded by a Facebook rant. I have seen hundreds hardened in their beliefs (right or wrong) by those tactics.

Change happens when the God’s love breaks through the hurt and confusion of the past and shows the future hope of grace and forgiveness. I will buy you coffee if you can show when a change of heart happened by being harangued and called names. Change happens when the gentle and quiet voice of the Spirit touches a wounded heart. So my plea to my fellow followers of Jesus is to realize you represent Him when you proclaim your truths in the name of Jesus. If you can’t be graceful you might prayerfully consider removing the Jesus tags from your bio. I don’t say that to be mean. I am simply saying if you are representing Jesus you have this standard to follow.

God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9

And I might call in Paul for backup at my family conference.

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29

Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. Colossians 4:6

I know how easy it is to get riled up with internet threads. Remember who you represent and respond accordingly. Jesus makes it clear.

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45

All followers of Jesus need to prayerfully examine our hearts before we hit send.

July 13, 2020