Charisa Stories

Tag: gospel

  • Remember How it Feels to be Rescued?

    Remember How it Feels to be Rescued?

    You don’t have to dig too deep into my writings to know that I am a dog lover. For some reason I seem to gain spiritual insight from these wonderful creatures. On social media I follow lots of organizations that rescue dogs.

    This photo touched my heart.

    The photo on the left shows two sweet dogs one hour before they were rescued and adopted. Look at their faces and body language. On the left you see fear and sadness.

    After the miracle of rescue you see a total change. They are new creatures full of joy and excitement.

    The picture reminded me that I sometimes forget that I was once trapped in that place of fear and sadness. And then I heard the Good News of the Gospel. That Jesus came to forgive me, adopt, and rescue me. My initial photo after having that weight lifted would have resembled those joyful faces on the right. But something happens if we are not careful. We lose the joy of being rescued. We forget what God has done for us and focus on what we want Him to do for us now or get angry about something He didn’t do.

    When I do that I am forgetting the miracle and joy of being rescued. God did not have to rescue me. He chose to out of love. And He didn’t just say you are forgiven, good luck, and go on your way. He gave me the mind-boggling promise that I am now His child.

    For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

    So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. (Romans 8:14-17, NLT)

    Are you kidding me? Do we really comprehend the magnitude of that text? We aren’t put in a foster home with the hope someone might come along to rescue us. We are adopted as His own child and become heirs to God’s glory. That hope is my guiding light as I endure the sadness and trials of this world. God’s amazing promise is also framed with honesty about living in a fallen and sinful world. The last part of verse 17 gives us a reality check.

    But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

    Satan comes along and tries to make us focus only on the suffering. He tells us that if God really loved you this wouldn’t be happening. Or how can a loving Father treat His child this way?

    Sorry not sorry Satan. Your lies are completely destroyed by the next promise from our Father in Heaven.

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

    Our rescue is eternal. Our hope is assured. Whatever difficulties I have to navigate until I make it to my eternal home will be nothing compared to the glory that awaits.

    Remind yourself of where you once were and how Jesus came along to rescue you. That should shift your attitude toward gratitude.

  • See You Later!

    See You Later!

    Just to clarify I am not planning on stopping my Monday Musings. I don’t want my tens of followers to be concerned. I wanted to explain in this week’s musing why I have adopted “see you later” whenever I leave the presence of a loved one. I might add “love you, see you later” to my departure. That phrase “see you later” became very intentional after a dear friend passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. When my friend died the loved ones in his life had no idea they would not have a chance to see him again in this life. Because of his deep and abundant faith his family and friends cherished the hope of seeing him again in Heaven.

    When I go to the memorial service for a follower of Jesus there is, of course, sadness. But every time I leave these services I am full of hope and peace that I will see them again. Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Thessalonians.

    And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, NLT

    What a difference it makes to have that hope of victory over death. Paul rejoiced in that hope with the Church at Corinth.

    But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

    Without a doubt the death of a friend or family member leaves a deep sadness and earthly emptiness. It takes time for that to heal and the truth is it never heals one hundred percent. The hope of reuniting with them in eternity is one of the greatest comforts I have found.

    In the early 1970’s my three year old nephew Dean developed childhood leukemia. Our house was a halfway point between his home and Children’s Hospital so we spent a lot of days and nights together. I was incredibly close to Deanie.

    I remember visiting him at Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He was not doing well but I still held out hope for healing. As I left Deanie looked at me from from his hospital bed and said, “See you later, Uncle Dave”. I got the news the within a couple of days that Deanie had gone to be with Jesus. I was devastated. Sad. Angry. Depressed. But over time those words begin to resonate.

    “See you later, Uncle Dave”.

    I began to find comfort and peace in those words and in that hope. I heard a wonderful testimony from a Christian woman here in Dallas. Alvanetta was the wife of a local high-school football coach named James Jones who died in 2001. Sympathizers told Alvanetta that they were sorry she had lost James. She smiled, looked at them, and said, “I didn’t lose him. I know exactly where he is.”

    I cannot imagine living without that hope. That hope should affect the way I live in a profound way. We live in world consumed by fear and especially the fear of death. That is not how Jesus wants us to live. Paul summarized it beautifully while addressing the Roman Church.

    If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:8, NLT)

    God is in control. He loves me. My eternal hope in Him is secure. So I can say “see you later with great confidence” to my fellow followers of Jesus. To those who don’t share my hope in Christ I pray you will honestly examine the life and claims of Jesus. In Jesus I have found forgiveness, love, comfort, identity, and joy even in difficult circumstances. I hope you find that in your journey. I cannot describe the peace it gives me to believe it when I say “see you later”.

  • I’m Done!

    I’m Done!

    I have reached and exceeded my saturation point.

    I’m done.

    Done with what? I am done with negativity. Our leaders, the media, and social media platforms spend a ridiculous percentage of their energy on what is wrong with this world. Their solutions are often soul-sucking condemnation, judgement, and summary dismissal of people who simply ask questions. Perhaps the most distressing thing is that many in the church have fallen into the same dark space. Christian social media responses to cultural and doctrinal issues may be slightly less profane but not much, if any, less negative.

    Brothers and sisters, we are supposed to be light! But please don’t take my word for it. Your argument is with Jesus.

    “In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will
    praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16, NLT)

    What I see too often is this very sad paraphrase of His words demonstrated through social media platforms.

    “Let my sharp words shame or demean you so that everyone will see how clever I am and praise me.”

    Paul addressed why we should be eager to be light in the world in Ephesians 5:8.

    “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!“

    My heart breaks when I see how many followers of Christ seem to have forgotten they were once full of darkness. It is only because of God’s grace that you have light.

    So I am done with negativity and it is not because I am naive about the condition of the world. I am done with negativity precisely because of the condition of the world. This hurting, fearful populace needs hope, light, and grace. They need the positive message of the Good News. That is my goal for the rest of my days. I feel quite comfortable that the negative side will be well represented by countless others.

    Everyday I need to make choices.

    I can be judgmental or I can be joyful.
    I can be pessimistic or I can be prayerful.
    I can be condemning or I can be caring.
    I can be fearful or I can be faithful.
    I can be grace-filled or I can be graceless.

    We make those choices and I know they are not easy. Making the choice to eat better is hard. Making the choice to work out is even harder for me. Those are decisions with good but temporal benefits. But making the choice to be a positive, loving light in this world has eternal impact. Warren Wiersbe is one of my favorite writers. His book Be Joyful: Philippians): Even When Things Go Wrong, You Can Have Joy is a great study to reorient your negativity.

    “When you have the single mind, you look on your circumstances as God-given opportunities for the furtherance of the gospel, and you rejoice at what God is going to do instead of complaining about what God did not do.”― Warren W. Wiersbe

    That response ain’t natural my friends. That is a mindset based on who God is. It is a choice grounded on the grace He has lavishly given to each one of His children. I’m done with negativity. I don’t know if I have two weeks or two decades left on this planet but I don’t want to spend my time wallowing in pessimism. I remember joking with my television production crew a few years ago that I was in the 4th quarter of life. One of my dear, encouraging friends said this with a smile on his face. “What if you’re in overtime?” That could well be but no matter how much time is on the life clock I want to be a positive light. I want to remember and live out the truth of John 13:35.

    “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

    The choice to love and be light is infinitely more important than winning online arguments, getting social media likes, and racking up followers. I want to be a loving light for the Good News of the gospel. Anyone want to join me?

  • Another One of My Heroes Finishes the Race

    Another One of My Heroes Finishes the Race

    An alert came across my phone this week.

    Former Cleveland Brown great Bill Glass dies at 86.

    A flood of memories came over me. Bill Glass was a truly great defensive end on the only Browns team to win an NFL Championship.

    Jim Brown runs to daylight against the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL Championship Game.

    I was just a kid developing my sports loves when Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, QB Dr. Frank Ryan, and All-Pro defensive end Bill Glass led the Browns to a title against the Baltimore Colts. Current Browns fans will see the irony in the location of that opponent. Little did I know that 57 years later I would still be waiting for the next championship moment.

    I obviously have fond football memories of Bill Glass. He is also in the College Football Hall of Fame as a Baylor Bear star.

    That just added to his status when I adopted the Baylor Bears later in life.

    His influence on my life was profound and Bill Glass had no idea how God used him. He was an outspoken Christian who actually practiced what he preached. My perception of Christian men was not necessarily positive in my early years. It seemed like no strong men that I admired were Christians. And then one of my football heroes changed my perception forever.

    Bill Glass hated the notion that “Christians are weak.” He spoke boldly that the opposite was true. Being an authentic Christian was a hard journey that forced you to make difficult decisions about priorities in life. When he wasn’t studying playbooks and scouting reports Glass was immersed in seminary courses at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

    Cleveland sportswriter Terry Pluto wrote a moving tribute to Glass. He recalled a conversation with Glass.

    I first encountered Glass in 1997, when I was writing Browns Town 1964 about that championship season. We talked on the phone.

    He laughed when I said several of his teammates told me stories of Glass drilling a QB for a sack, then picking up the poor soul and asking the QB if he was OK.

    Glass pursues Y.A.Tittle

    “That’s true,” said Glass. “I did hit them hard, but I never wanted to hurt them. I hate dirty plays.”

    Pluto recalled a life lesson from Bill Glass that we should all embrace in today’s divided world.

    “If you don’t know whether to go negative or positive in a situation, go positive. You can always be negative later if needed.” He also said “Look for reasons to bless people.” He meant to compliment them. Look for something good about them. “You spread the love of Christ that way,” he said.

    Amen.

    Bill Glass went on to have an influential public speaking career. I heard him speak and his message left an impact on my heart that was key to me trusting Jesus as my Savior. Bill planted a seed and overcame some false impressions I had about Christians. He had no idea that some young Browns fan in Southern Ohio would change his life in part because of the words of his sports hero.

    I think that will be one of the biggest blessings in Heaven when God reveals how he used us when we had no clue He was moving. Those expressions of unselfish service that the Holy Spirit uses without any awareness on our part are moments that give every bit of the glory to God. I am sure that is what Bill Glass would say about his influence on my life.

    Glass started down a path to have large public evangelism events like Billy Graham. But God led the ultimate team guy to a much less glamorous calling. Bill Glass developed a prison ministry called Behind the Walls where he spent the last four decades plus of his life serving.

    “I was thrown into it kicking and screaming, but the response from the inmates was just unbelievable.”

    If you want to be a part of the amazing outreach to some of the most ignored and unloved people you can donate here to help make a difference.

    I look forward to seeing my childhood hero in Heaven some day. I will get to thank him for speaking boldly but, more importantly, living a life that earned my respect. I suspect I will still be looking for that second Cleveland Browns championship so I will give him an extra hug for that first one.

    Bill Glass leaves a great reminder for leaders and people of influence at any level. How you live your life matters. How you treat people and how you are willing to serve and care makes an eternal impact. How you impacted the bottom line or climbed to the top does not matter in the algorithm of eternal significance. Bill Glass was a difference maker. The beauty of the glorious grace of Jesus is that everyone of us can choose to follow Him and make a difference no matter what season of life we are in.

    Terry Pluto remembered this longing from Bill Glass.

    “One of his greatest wishes was to hear the words from Matthew 25:23: “Well done, good and faithful servant” after he died from his Lord.”

    I am certain my childhood hero had his wish come true this week. Thank you Bill Glass for your faithfulness and selfless service.

  • Opening the Gift of Grace

    Opening the Gift of Grace

    “Lord I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup uncertain in asking any small drop of refreshment. If only I had known you better I’d have come running with a bucket.” -Nancy Spiegelberg 

    That quote may be the most indicting summary of my misunderstanding of grace for decades. I am indeed Waking Up Slowly to the mystery and majesty of Grace. 

    Grace.

    It is a word that has lost some of its power through misuse and overuse. We banter about the ridiculous concept of cheap grace as if we must be wary of receiving a gift from our Father in Heaven. Are you kidding me? If we view grace like a sales pitch for a time share resort we are listening to the wrong voices. There are no strings attached with grace. No fine print. No hidden costs. No promises to lure you in that cannot be delivered in reality. Grace gives you full title to the resort and every benefit of the place. Even when you one star the facilities on Yelp!

    Grace

    Grace understood can never be viewed as a cheap gift. It cost Jesus everything. If you think grace is cheap I challenge you to kneel at the foot of the Cross and look up. There is nothing cheap about the transaction that Jesus suffered for you and me. I know that some people misuse grace. There is a word for that. Sin. The truth is that grace is the only real antidote for sin and should never, ever, ever, ever be the excuse for sin. Paul addressed the heresy that grace gives us license to sin. Here is a sampling of the translations of Paul’s undisguised dismay expressed in Romans at the very thought that the sweet grace of the Gospel would be abused.

    God forbid! (KJV)
    Of course not! (NLT)
    Absolutely not! (NET)
    May it never be! (NASB)
    By no means! (ESV)

    So I think we can all agree that no matter which translation you choose rationalizing grace as a sin excuse is abhorrent. I would suggest that line of thought is  only possible when you fail to understand the amazing power of this gift.

    Grace.

    If I was given the opportunity to communicate one message to every person in the world it would be a no-brainer for me. I would beg every person to open their minds and heart to the outrageous grace gift that God offers freely to each one of us. And do my best to convince the world that all you have to do is open that gift in faith. 

    I wish that everyone who hears the Gospel message would comprehend the one-way love that God demonstrates to everyone who will receive that love. Instead of turning His back on sinners who deserved just that God chose to reach out to His creation with a radical plan for forgiveness. A plan that is unlike any other religion in history. Man-made religion always demands something to earn salvation. God’s plan for redemption requires the lost to bring nothing to the table other than sin and need. Nothing. Any other presentation of the sweet Gospel of Jesus Christ is a lie.

    Edwin Lutzer describes the prerequisite for grace.

    “When the mask of self-righteousness has been torn from us and we stand stripped of all our accustomed defenses, we are candidates for God’s generous grace.” 

    How differently we would live if we remembered the gifts of grace. We are saints wrapped in the robe of righteousness. We are new creatures who are forgiven, accepted, and wrapped in this incomprehensible gift of grace. Even in our failure Jesus loves us anyway.

    Tim Keller wrote this very annoying sentence. “The deeper the experience of the free grace of God, the more generous we must become.”

    I can’t ignore the obvious action steps in that simple statement. As I write about grace and begin to understand the miracle of grace I should begin to demonstrate what grace looks like to a hurting world. If I am receiving grace I must also give it. If I welcome the generous gift of grace I must become more generous. If I accept the gift of forgiveness I must forgive. If I marvel at God’s unfailing love I must also love others. That is what the doubting world is looking for from the church. Grace, forgiveness and love.

    As Jesus faced the horror of the Cross He offered this command to His disciples.

    So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. (John 14, NLT)

    I ask myself as I write these words. Does my love prove that I am a follower of Jesus? Does my heart reveal that I comprehend the magnitude of His grace? Living out of grace is not a tiring burden. It is a joyous response of gratitude if we stay focused on the source of that grace.

    Jesus offers this gift to anyone who chooses to follow Him. All you have to do is trust, open His amazing gift, and enjoy true freedom.

    Today’s musing was excerpted from Waking Up Slowly. Click here for more information.

  • Can We All Move to Mr Roger’s Neighborhood?

    Can We All Move to Mr Roger’s Neighborhood?

    The day after a wonderful Thanksgiving Eve family gathering we checked out the new movie about the iconic children’s star Fred Rogers. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is based on the real life relationship between Rogers and Esquire magazine writer Tom Junod.

    In the movie the cynical journalist has been renamed Lloyd Vogel. Known for his unflinching exposes of people and events, Vogel chafes when receiving an assignment to do a “puff-piece” on television’s Mr. Rogers. Vogel approaches this story determined to find out if this gentle man is a fake. His skepticism prompts one of the best exchanges in the movie with his long suffering wife.

    Lloyd Vogel: I’m profiling Mr. Rogers.
    Andrea Vogel: Lloyd, please don’t ruin my childhood.

    I will not offer any spoilers. I will say the movie was not what I expected. It was much, much more.

    I have a confession to make and an apology to offer. I was “too cool” for Mr. Rogers. I mocked his sweater, slippers, and unique delivery. As a fellow Christian I am sorry I did not see what the one time aspiring Presbyterian minister was creating in his special neighborhood.

    Fred Rogers took the truths of grace and quietly created a place of acceptance and safety.

    His principles are straight out of the Gospel. And like the Jesus he studied in seminary Rogers also chose to focus his patient words toward children and those who could be tough to love.

    Fred Roger’s offered this wisdom to Vogel. “I think the best thing we can do is to let people know that each one of them is precious.” That is the overriding theme of the Gospel. That Jesus was willing to give up His life for every person because they are precious.

    There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13, NLT

    In this neighborhood Fred Roger’s addressed the difficult topic of forgiveness. “Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love. Like all of life’s important coping skills, the ability to forgive and the capacity to let go of resentments most likely take root very early in our lives.”

    It is hard to imagine what a cultural bombshell this teaching was from Jesus. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

    And Jesus told the mind boggling parable of the Prodigal Son who did every single thing wrong and slithered home to find his father running to embrace and welcome him back to the family. Why? Because he was precious in his father’s eyes.

    Roger’s smile radiated as he repeated this line over and over. “I like you just the way you are.” You didn’t have to try and be someone different to be in his neighborhood. And you don’t have to do anything special to be welcomed in the into the family of Jesus. Simply bring your need and trust. Just the way you are.

    Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29, NLT

    Fred Rogers never shied away from tough topics like divorce, death, and pain. “There is no normal life that is free of pain. It’s the very wrestling with our problems that can be the impetus for our growth.”

    Contrary to the heretical prosperity teaching of some, Jesus never once said this journey would be without pain. He did give a priceless promise that gives me hope.

    33 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

    None of us gets out of this life unscathed. Followers of Jesus have the hope that those trials will be redeemed as we grow more like Him. Perhaps one of the greatest truths of grace is summed up by Rogers

    “Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people.”

    That is what grace does in the journey of a believer. Because of Jesus we are a new creation, loved exactly as we are on our best or worst days, forgiven and loved as His precious child.

    Jesus also had something to say about neighbors.

    “…an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

    37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

    I can’t believe I didn’t recognize the principles of grace that Fred Rogers instilled through characters and stories into his gentle neighborhood. As I left the movie I voiced a minor complaint to Joni.

    “That was really powerful but I wish they would have made a bigger deal out of his faith.”

    Her reply was spot on. “He didn’t make a big deal out of his faith. He just lived it.”

    And maybe that is the biggest message Fred Rogers left with his fellow believers in Christ. Maybe we should quit worrying about how others view our faith or if we are getting a cultural fair shake. Maybe we just need to live it.




  • Hump Day Hope – Religion vs Relationship

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

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

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

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

    Performance

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

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

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

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

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