Charisa Stories

Tag: faith

  • Comprehending The Gift Of God’s Grace Is Mind Boggling

    I write a lot about where our hope truly lies and how we need to be a positive light in a negative world. I came upon this wise advice for social media posters from the Gospel of John.

    “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. (John 6:43)

    I laughed when I read that and thought this might become my new life verse for this very negative political season. The verse follows a section where Jesus talks about how He is the bread of life and has come from Heaven. This was just too much for the locals who knew Him as the kid raised by Mary and Joseph down at the carpenter shop. But the message is timeless. I need to stop grumbling and start living out of who God says I am as His child. Maybe that is why God calls me His child because I sure can be childish at times.

    The grumbling verse reminded me of one of my favorite grace parables. A vineyard owner hired some workers early in the morning to help bring in the harvest. Jesus continues the story.

    “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’ “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard. (Matthew 20:6-7)

    So far the story is nice. A kind and compassionate man wants to help some poor folks who had no work. They could work an hour and at least get a tiny bit for their effort. But Jesus is about to turn the “fairness” doctrine over like a table in the Temple.

    “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

    “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

    “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.” (Matthew 20:8-16, NLT)

    Can’t you just see it? The grumbling of the sweaty and exhausted all day workers decrying that they had been treated unfairly yet the truth is they got exactly the wage they agreed upon. I wondered about the reaction of the latecomers. Did they gloat about their luck? I don’t think so. I imagine they wept at the kindness of an unmerited gift given by a unexpectedly kind man. At 4 pm they faced the prospect of going home with nothing to provide for their family but two hours later they had been given, not earned, a full days wage! Think of the joy as the men went home and excitedly told about this amazing generosity. The family likely gathered around and touched the denarius like a sacred gift from Heaven. What a contrast of joy from a once forgotten group of men juxtaposed against the grumbling of the people who had done the “right” thing and expected to be treated better. What a picture of grace! We don’t earn grace by a full day or one hour effort. Grace is a gift. Grace is an unearned gift of love to be savored, appreciated, and treasured. 

    My old nature screams that people who make bad decisions over and over get what they “deserve.” They don’t “deserve” to be pursued and loved and restored. They made their bed—now let them lie in it. But there is a small quiet voice in my heart that tells me that they have value. That they are loved by their Creator. And that voice asks who am I to decide who “deserves” anything? Did I “deserve” this amazing gift of grace? The honest answer is no way. Remembering that comprehending God’s amazing grace makes it way easier to love and treat kindly that person who disagrees with you. 

    Would you open the outrageous gift of grace and accept it as a mind blowing outpouring of love from a Father who delights in you? Grace doesn’t make sense in our performance based culture. Grace is outrageous. And the amazing thing I find over and over is this simple truth. Grace changes hearts. It is the word the church in America needs to model more than ever. We are given inexhaustible grace. We have more than enough to share.

  • The Worst Day of Peter’s Life

    There is much written about Good Friday. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is incomprehensible to my puny human intellect. There is much written about Easter Sunday. Christians around the world rejoice and proclaim that “He is risen!”. But there is not nearly as much written about one of the saddest and most confusing days in history. The Saturday between the Friday horror of Jesus on the Cross and the Sunday mystery of the resurrection. Some churches do observe Holy Saturday but it was never a tradition in my faith upbringing.

    I have been thinking about what that day must have been like for those who dropped everything to follow Jesus. How crushing those events had to be. I imagine the fear they felt that they would also be killed. And for what? On Saturday they feared they had given their careers and their very souls for a false hope.

    I think in particular of Peter. I identify so much with him. Like him I throw down bold statements of loyalty to the Lord and then let Him down. Like Peter I am a generally sincere but desperately needy follower of Jesus.

    You know the story about Peter before the arrest and mock trial of Jesus. Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him three times before the rooster crows at dawn. For many years I breezed by the setup to that prediction.

    “Simon (Peter), Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22, NLT)

    Jesus had already prayerfully pleaded for Peter to be used in a powerful and redemptive way before the failure, shame and repentance that Jesus knew was about to happen. Our sin does not take Jesus by surprise. Why does His grace and forgiveness surprise us?

    Like me, Peter did not hear the tender words of encouragement from the Lord. Nope. He blustered.

    “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”

    After the arrest of Jesus a suddenly less bold Peter followed the crowd. He denied to a servant girl that he knew Jesus. He denied his alliance to another bystander. The crushing sorrow and shame of what happened next is hard to fathom.

    About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”

    But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

    At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

    I imagined what the expression might have been on the face of Jesus when He turned and looked. I suspect it was a look of sadness, compassion and longing to comfort His friend. But what Peter probably saw was only disappointment and failure. Peter’s tears likely flowed until they could no longer flow. I suspect it was hard to even breathe. His heart literally ached within his chest. His mind could not imagine any future hope. I wonder if he thought about running away or even ending it all. I wonder if he could think at all.

    That Saturday was one of the worst days in history and Peter may have felt the pain of that awful day more intensely than anyone. He did not know what would happen the next day. Peter did not yet understand what Jesus had been telling him.

    When Luke recounts that Jesus appeared to the Disciples the only one mentioned by name is Peter. What gives me hope this Easter season is the tender story of Jesus affirming and reinstating Peter to be a leader who would “feed His sheep”. That is the grace that changes a heart.

    I can betray Jesus. Ignore Him. Live selfishly. At some point I once again recognize my desperate need for Jesus to rescue me. For the thousandth time I turn to Him. And what happens? He lifts my shame bowed head and looks deeply into my eyes. He tells me how much He loves me. That is grace. That is real. That is love. Maybe I won’t have a day quite as bad as Peter on that horrible dark Saturday but his story of redemption encourages me this Easter season.

    Saturday was terrible. But Sunday was coming with the wonderful news that He is risen! He is risen for me! Jesus is pleading for me that my faith will not fail. What a joyous hope for all of us this Easter.

  • Teeing Up Spiritual Truth from Spring Training

    An annual highlight of my sports directing career was visiting Spring Training for Texas Ranger telecasts. I started in Port Charlotte, Florida and then shifted to Surprise, Arizona. I loved the relaxed atmosphere and the opportunity to watch players at all levels work on their skills.

    I was blessed to cover the careers of some amazing players and one of those was Michael Young. In 2005 he won the American League Batting Title with a .331 average while collecting a league best 221 hits.

    What stunned me in the spring of 2006 was watching Michael Young during batting drills. The AL batting champ was hitting off of a batting tee! I remember coaching young kids who balked at hitting off a tee because they felt too “grown up” to revert to T-Ball. I wish I could have shown them how an All-Star batting champ never felt too advanced to focus on fundamental skills.

    That lesson of a star athlete focusing on the most basic fundamentals daily led to application of a familiar Scripture passage.
    When I first came to faith, I was so excited to learn the basic skills 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 no longer prioritized the fundamentals. I started looking for the ­latest trend in faith. Which trendy Christian leader should I emulate next? I too often defined myself by movements, instead of by Jesus, the Cross, and His finished work. For me, Spring Training was another reminder that I desperately need the indispensable basics 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 why the disciples 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. Here is Luke’s “pray-by-pray” 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 ADD-challenged 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 foundational aspect of this insightful prayer. The first fundamental is contained in the opening word.

    Father.

    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 called Father only seven times, and it is always in respect to the nation of 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:

    “Yet in the New Testament, at least 275 times, that is how we are instructed to speak to God. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, when we come to the sovereign majesty of the universe the word that should fall readily from our lips is Father.”

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

    I also tended to zoom by the next essential teaching.

    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 my prayer time falls into place. He is my Father who loves me and wants the best for me. He hears me, and He responds. 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.

    Here are two more fundamentals to “tee” up your time in prayer.

    Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

    Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (Philippians 4:6)

    I have come a long way in my growth as a follower of Jesus. I have a long way to go but I have grasped one important truth. I need to remember the fundamentals of my faith on a daily basis. I can’t think of a better prayer coach than Jesus. But I need to review His instruction on a regular basis.

    Martin Luther said that we need to be preaching the gospel to ourselves every day because we forget the gospel every day. That is so true especially in this disoriented culture we live in. Focus on the fundamentals. On God the Father. On who God is. On the finished work of Jesus. I can tell you that your spiritual strikeouts will be reduced.

  • We Should All Pray to be “Troublesome” Christians

    Because of my career path in secular television I have a lot of people very dear to me who do not share my faith and hope in Jesus. Some are simply disinterested. Some think their good works will outweigh their bad deeds and they will be granted entry to Heaven. Some think that faith in God is a foolish pursuit that no intellectually honest person would consider. Some have witnessed horrible actions of people claiming to be Christians. Some have experienced harsh and legalistic religious types who make living a life of faith miserable and emotionally damaging. Some are pushed away by those who share sincere beliefs in a way that does not show the love of God.

    Any combination of these factors can cause people to step away or not pursue what it means to follow Jesus. I get it. I have struggled with many of those things over my long journey of faith.

    Brennan Manning wrote this very convicting observation. “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

    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. That is what any follower of Jesus should pray to become. Troublesome. When others look at your life they see kindness and grace when the circumstances call for anything but that response. That is troublesome to those observers. Or how about being a positive light when you are going through a difficult valley? My Pastor Jeff Denton showed that trait throughout his difficult cancer journey that ended this week. Jeff modeled that when you trust God completely and faithfully through trials you will be a light in the darkness for those around you. He trusted that God would redeem his difficult journey. Jeff didn’t know what that would look like but he lived everyday with the belief that God was present. The way he lived out his faith as cancer racked his body impacted his church, his doctors, his medical caretakers, and people all over the community. It seemed impossible for anyone to show that much strength on their own. Pastor Jeff never once took credit for that strength. So many people were amazed by the way Jeff navigated his painful journey with joy, love, and concern for others facing far less serious problems. How did he do it? When he ran his closing credits Pastor Jeff gave all of the credit to Jesus. You can wonder how Jeff somehow managed to muster supernatural personal strength or you can believe that his strength came from God. That is being a “troublesome” Christian to those who dismiss faith as a crutch for the weak.

    How about when you love and serve others without looking for anything in return? That is being a “troublesome” Christian by simply following the commandment of Jesus.

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

    That was not a helpful suggestion. Jesus made that command the cornerstone of following Him. So that is my desire. To love others as I have been loved by Jesus and be a “troublesome” Christian to those who aren’t sure about following Him. You can Google yourself away from faith by looking to find people who claim to follow Jesus and have failed dramatically. What the Enemy tries to hide are the millions of faithful and loving followers of Jesus who make a difference every day without any fanfare or credit. They can be troublesome to those who desire to dismiss Jesus. I encountered troublesome believers in my early season of doubt who caused me to examine why they were so different, loving, kind, and graceful. God used them to open my heart toward Him. I want to be a troublesome Christian that God can use for His glory. And I want every bit of the credit to go where it should go.

    Jesus.

  • Another Spiritual Hero is Heading Home

    I have written tributes over the years to men and women who have significantly influenced my spiritual journey. Too often those tributes come after those inspiring followers of Jesus went home to Heaven. I have another spiritual hero who will soon be united with Jesus. My friend and my pastor Jeff Denton is near the end of his cancer journey. I wanted to write this while he is still able to hear what his testimony has meant to me because too often we save those words for memorial services.

    Waterbrook Bible Fellowship Lead Pastor Jeff Denton has been one of the most amazing leaders I have ever had the opportunity to serve under. His skill set would make me jealous if he wasn’t such a kind and grace filled friend. Jeff is a talented preacher, visionary director, administrator, counselor, creative writer, and inspirational leader. I know! How does a medium size church in Wylie, Texas find a leader like that? Clearly it was God’s sovereign plan to bring Jeff to Waterbrook Bible Fellowship fifteen years ago.

    Pastor Jeff took a church at the crossroads of success or failure and built a solid foundation of community, grace, and love for one another. As the church was poised to explode in growth the pandemic hit. Once again, Jeff provided leadership that was exceptionally wise. Waterbrook came out of the pandemic quagmire and was again ready to thrive. No one was prepared for the news we received in June of 2022. Pastor Jeff was diagnosed with a rare form of bile duct cancer that was inoperable and medically incurable. The doctors said his time remaining could be as little as five months.

    The diagnosis was devastating to the congregation. The volume of prayer was amazing but the cancer Jeff was fighting was incredibly difficult. Jeff dealt with nausea and severe pain on a daily basis. I was privileged to drive him to his treatments on many days and the conversations we shared are a treasure to my heart. I could write my longest blog ever about the impact Jeff has had on my life and faith but I want to focus on a couple of things.

    The first lesson is when you trust God completely and faithfully through trials you will be a light in the darkness for those around you. Pastor Jeff trusted that God would redeem his difficult journey. He didn’t know what that would look like but Jeff lived everyday with the belief that God was present.

    I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who have been encouraged, blessed, and inspired by Pastor Jeff’s unrelenting faith. When he received his daily infusion treatments the oncology nurses would introduce other patients to Jeff for prayer and encouragement. Some of those hospital staff members visited Waterbrook Church to hear him speak. Jeff’s heart and concern for others as his own health deteriorated rapidly was so touching. I watched him live out what it looks like to apply the words that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi.

    ”I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.“
    ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

    Pastor Jeff showed me and countless others how that verse looks when applied in tough trials. Most of us have read and commented on that verse. But that truth impacts others for the Gospel when you actually live it. That is what my friend Jeff has done. He preaches it. He lives it. He showed that he was content because of the strength he received from Christ. That is why his life has touched so many people in our congregation and in our community.

    The second thing I learned from Pastor Jeff’s journey is you make a choice when life takes a tough turn. You can either quit or you can live fully in each moment for as long as you can. We have witnessed Jeff showing up for church and church events when he clearly did not feel his best. But he showed up with joy in his heart and spirit. Pastor Jeff’s favorite scripture about God’s will is found in 1 Thessalonians.

    Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:15-18, NLT)

    Jeff shared the verse with us. Then he lived it. In the deepest valley he still showed joy, a prayerful spirit, and a heart of gratitude. That is what I want to do as I honor my friend and pastor for the rest of my journey. We prayed for healing. God granted us much more time than the original prognosis. I will be forever grateful for that extra time.

    Soon I will have my last opportunity to visit with Jeff. Here is the thing that gives me the most hope and joy in this difficult moment. My last word to him each time I leave will not be goodbye. I will say this with 100 percent confidence.

    “See you later.”

    I am already looking forward to that reunion some day.

    Note to those going through deep valleys. Jeff Denton wrote an amazing real time journal through his early cancer journey. I keep copies around to share with anyone facing a hard medical diagnosis. Click here to find out more about God is Bigger than the Valley.


  • You Can End Groundhog Day Faith

    You Can End Groundhog Day Faith

    Every year they rudely awaken Punxsutawney Phil long enough for the reluctant rodent to let us know if six more weeks of winter awaits. Phil always looks as happy as I do when when I am disturbed in the morning. Twenty-eight years ago a funny and underappreciated movie came on the scene. Groundhog Day told the story of a self-absorbed news reporter (redundancy alert?) that finds himself stuck in an endless repeat of the same day. Bill Murray is perfect in the role of reporter Phil Connors.

    The premise of the movie is that Phil Connors is doomed to live the same day over and over and over. For Connors, Groundhog Day begins each morning at 6:00 A.M as Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” blares out from his alarm clock radio. The twist is that his (and only his) memories of the “previous” day remain intact, trapped in a seemingly endless “time loop” to repeat the same day endlessly. 

    I thought of another famous Bill Murray quote…this time from Stripes.

    And then depression set in.

    So what is the point of these ramblings? Is it to impress you with my cerebral movie tastes? The point is that too many followers of Jesus are stuck in a Groundhog Day life of their own. They wake up every day and feel trapped in a repeating pattern of frustrating behavior. And then, depression sets in. Why is that? I lived a Groundhog Day kind of faith for years. The Apostle Paul wrote about this very thing (not the giant rodent part…the repeating behavior part) in his letter to the Romans.

    I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. (Romans 7, The Message)

    Wow…can I relate to that. A bit later Paul writes…I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

    That is the real question. And there is a real answer offered by Paul.

    The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

    So what can you do to get out of this sin spiral?

    Nothing.

    Wait!  Don’t let depression set in. This is good news! You and I can’t do it. I am incapable in my own efficacy to escape my spiritual Groundhog Day. Only Jesus can enable me to escape this endless loop of frustration. Further advice from Paul follows in Chapter 8 of his amazing letter to the Romans.

    But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. 

    Allow the truth of that verse to soak in.

    Want to get out of your Groundhog Day existence? Most readers of these humble ramblings realize they couldn’t deal with their sin separation from God on their own. We needed Jesus. So why do we think we can deal with our ongoing sin issues on our own? When the Father looks at me on my very worst day this is what He sees.

    Jesus.

    That is step one. I don’t have to clean up the sin to please God. He loves me already because of Jesus. Step Two. I am learning daily to recognize that the Spirit of God has taken up residence in my life. I am learning that I am the one who limits His power by restricting access and not trusting Him with my thoughts and actions. I am learning that I don’t need to wake up to the frustrating effects of repeated self-effort. I can wake up trusting God, trusting that Jesus has my sin covered and trusting that the Spirit of God will allow me to resolve that sin. Trusting God and what His Word says to be true allows me to escape the Groundhog Day syndrome.

    The moral of the movie Groundhog Day was that Phil Connor needed to learn that he was self-absorbed and dependent on his selfish efforts to get ahead. The moral of the spiritual groundhog day is to learn that we cannot depend on our self efforts to live a joyful and free Christian life. I come to Jesus by grace and total dependence. I live for Jesus by grace and total dependence. While the other groundhog is busy predicting weather I would suggest you try this for the next six weeks.
    When the alarm jars you awake remember this truth. Instead of the Sonny and Cher song you can sing “I Got You Lord”. The two of you can end this “Groundhog Day” of frustration. I can’t help you with the weather.

  • When Thomas Jefferson Tried To “Fix” The Bible

    Thomas Jefferson is an enigma for many. Political enemies in his day accused him of being an atheist yet he started the statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom with the phrase, “Almighty God hath created the mind free.” He certainly would not have been invited to speak at an evangelical conference to share his view that most clergymen are “soothsayers and necromancers.” You likely have a bigger brain than I do but I will confess that I had to look up necromancers. It literally means one who interrogates the dead. Okay. Not sure what church Jefferson was frequenting.

    Jefferson believed that Bible needed to be fixed. He took out his scissors and cut out the parts of the Bible that he didn’t believe. He excised the virgin birth, all of the miracles and the Resurrection. He cobbled together a book he titled “The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth”. His clippers removed every miracle while leaving teachings about helping the needy and treating people as we would have them treat us. Jefferson’s called the moral code of Jesus, “the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.”

    I agree with that statement completely. But Jesus stripped of His Divinity and resurrection becomes just a really challenging life coach.

    It is so easy to criticize Jefferson. What audacity! The incredible chutzpah to modify sacred texts to fit your own views! But then I took a breath and stepped back. Do I do the same thing without the in your face honesty of Jefferson? When I choose to ignore the hard teachings of Jesus I have, in practice, done the same thing. When I say that some command in God’s Word is too hard I have essentially taken my scissors of doubt and cut that teaching out. When I point out that I cannot forgive or love or give because you don’t understand my circumstances I have clipped out the challenge of supernatural living. In my book When Bad Christians Happen to Good People I wrote a chapter called “This is a Hard Teaching” about the challenging and difficult things that Jesus taught that I tend to mentally and practically excise from my walk. For example, Jesus had this fun little proclamation.

    “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.  (Matthew 5:43-48, NLT)

    Are you kidding me? Love your enemies? Pray for them? Scalpel please…that must be removed. I often feel like the disciples of Jesus who struggled with His teaching about the bread of life.

    Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? (John 6:60, NLT)

    That is the bottom line isn’t it? Sometimes the hard teachings of Jesus offend me. Or at least annoy me. I don’t want to forgive the unforgivable or love the unlovable. I don’t want to serve the least of these because it is inconvenient, messy, and hard. But I have a choice to make. I have to accept the entire Word of God and be open to allowing the Holy Spirit to move in every area of my life. Or I have to take the scissors to my lack of faith to His Word. As for cutting out the miracles and just making Jesus a profound and amazing teacher? I don’t think He gave us that option. The famous words of C.S.Lewis from Mere Christianity dismiss that philosophy.

    “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon and you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

    So I am praying for the grace to embrace the hard teachings, trust to allow Jesus to grow my faith, and the discipline to leave the scissors in the drawer.