Charisa Stories

Tag: Jesus

  • DIY is bad theology

    Joni and I watch a lot of HGTV shows together. I love how they take a house that is dysfunctional and ugly and make it useful and beautiful. The process is intriguing. 

    Identity the problem. Come up with a new plan. Demo the old stuff. Rebuild with hard work. 

    Results? Amazing. 

    Too often we take that process and convert it into a do-it-yourself project to grow as followers of Jesus. The results? Not so amazing.

    I tried executing the DIY blueprint over and over. 

    I am dysfunctional. Check. I have identified the problem. I believe God has a plan for my life. Check. 

    Now I need to rebuild my spiritual dwelling place. This is where I veered off the Biblical script. I thought the self-demolition of my sinful behaviors and personal remodeling of my life would be based on my hard work.

    Bad plan. Jesus doesn’t remodel a messed up structure. He builds a completely new one on the day the contract is signed.

    ”So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come!“ (2 Corinthians5:17, NET)

    Not recreated. A NEW creation. We are not remodeled. Jesus came to create a brand new structure. And that new house is built on the firm foundation of Jesus.

    Honestly, I am not sure if I didn’t understood that process or just couldn’t trust it. I tried self-demolition of my fleshly behaviors. It seemed to work for a bit. But as I returned to my DIY rebuild there were new walls of wrong actions and bad motive structures that needed removing. It felt like every time I reviewed my spiritual house there was more junk to be dealt with. This DIY show went on for season after season.

    I kept thinking if I put the right plan in place and worked diligently I would see a beautiful improvement in my spiritual house.

    On the sidelines the enemy told me I would not be having these problems if I would;

    • Read God’s Word more faithfully
    • Pray more fervently
    • Love and serve others more consistently
    • Tell others about Jesus
    • Give more to the church

    All of those things on that list are good and valuable. But that list is not what makes you righteous. You are righteous because of Christ. 

    Period. 

    When you trust that and believe that you have a new identity as a new creation then the list above becomes a grateful desire and not a begrudging obligation to try and be better. All of the guilt and shame and sin that used to define you is no longer true. That old house is demolished. You are a new structure. New life has begun. 

    My life was changed over four decades ago when I decided to trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It took me way too long to understand that I was completely remade as a new creation at that very moment. I spent many frustrating years trying to fix something that Jesus had already fixed. My life was completely revamped when I began to fully understand who I am in Christ and that I just need to live my life daily trusting in His grace and love.  

    My DIY days are over. Now my desire is build on the foundation of Jesus and decorate my spiritual home with truth, love, and grace. 

    Remind yourself daily who you are. You are a new creation when you trusted in the finished work of Jesus. Your sin was completely demoed on the Cross. God has delivered righteousness to that new structure on day one. Your yard sign says you are a saint. I know. Your neighbors might be surprised but they don’t see what God sees. Jesus has built a new life.

    My job became so much better. Live joyfully and without condemnation. Trust His new creation and enjoy the beauty of forgiveness and grace. I can’t do it myself.


  • 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.

  • Why Me Lord?

    Why me Lord? I suspect that most of us have cried out to God with that question. I would also guess that approximately ninety-nine percent of the time we are asking God why some trial has come our way that we feel is undeserved.

    The same question has been asked throughout history. “Why me Lord? Why me?”

    A song by Kris Kristofferson cycled up on on my satellite radio today and reminded me of a better perspective. I have loved Kristofferson’s song “Why Me?” since I was a young believer and, if you do the math, you realize that I am not so young a believer anymore. The truth is I am still trying to apply the wisdom of these lyrics.

    Why me Lord, what have I ever done
    To deserve even one
    Of the pleasures I’ve known
    Tell me Lord, what did I ever done
    That was worth loving you
    Or the kindness you’ve shown

    So true. What have I done to deserve even one of His blessings? I did not deserve forgiveness. That was a gift of grace from a loving God. I did not deserve to be born in the United States into incredible comfort, religious freedom, and opportunity. I did not deserve to be born healthy when others live with chronic afflictions. Those things were blessings that I received without complaining to my Creator.

    The “why me Lord” question we so often ask should have an entirely different focus.

    Why me Lord? What have I done to deserve your blessing?

    It is true that some seem to suffer a disproportionate amount of affliction and difficulty. It doesn’t seem fair. The theology that faithful Christians will experience nonstop prosperity, perfect health, and green lights at every intersection is a lie from the pit of Hell. Suffering is a part of the process that God uses to refine our faith and ultimately to glorify Him.

    My high school basketball coach was a winner and a great teacher. I remember Coach Tom Cuppett yelling at me. A lot. It seemed I could never do anything right. We would run a play and the whistle would blow. “Burchett….what are you doing?” Then he would grab me and the other forwards and walk us through what was supposed to happen. After my senior season Coach Cuppett called me in to his office.

    “I have to let you in on something. Remember how I always yelled at you and walked you through the plays?” He asked.
    I responded with a smile. “Pretty hard to forget that you can’t do anything right.”
    “The truth is that a lot of the time it was not you who messed up. But (redacted) couldn’t take the criticism and you could. So I yelled at you and then grabbed him and walked both of through the plays so he would learn without losing his confidence.”
    “It would have been nice to know why I was the target so often.”
    “I couldn’t tell you at the time. But I trusted you to keep going and you did. Your ability to handle adversity made him and our team better.”

    The lesson never left. I trusted a good coach and accepted what I had to endure to achieve our goal of winning. Later I found out that I had gained honor in his eyes by trusting him even when things didn’t seem “fair”. How much more so can I trust a God who loved me enough to offer grace when I was completely without merit? What if that trial is given to me because God deems me able to remain steadfast and through that faithfulness others will be impacted for good? What if I get called into God’s office someday and find out that He gave me the gift of trials to reflect His glory and now my rewards will far exceed that temporary pain? If I can trust an earthly coach then I can certainly trust my Heavenly Father with all of me.

    Kristofferson writes about what many of us regret.

    Lord help me, Jesus
    I’ve wasted it so help me, Jesus
    I know what I am
    But now that I know
    That I’ve needed you so help me, Jesus
    My soul’s in your hand

    That is the amazing thing about our God of redemption and second chances. It is never too late to start trusting and living in His grace. It starts with believing your real identity. Henri Nouwen says it well.

    “You can deal with an enormous amount of success as well as an enormous amount of failure without losing your identity, because your identity is that you are the beloved. Long before your father and mother, your brothers and sisters, your teachers, your church, or any people touched you in a loving as well as in a wounding way-long before you were rejected by some person or praised by somebody else-that voice has been there always. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” That love is there before you were born and will be there after you die.”

    Paul wrote this to the Church at Ephesus.

    Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.  (Ephesians 1, NLT)

    Believing that makes it possible to ask “why me” in a very different way.

  • 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.


  • Don’t Pack Joy Away after Christmas

    This week we finished one of my least favorite tasks of the year. Taking down the Christmas decorations always fills me with melancholy. I love Christmas and the message of hope and joy it brings. That God entered human form and gave us hope in a Savior who understands our struggle.

    We packed up a treasured Nativity creche that has been a part of our family tradition for decades. That miracle in a Bethlehem stable is where I place my joy as I head into a very unstable New Year. I find my joy in the Messiah, the Lord – who was born in the city of David. It is so easy to remember the reason for hope during Christmas. It also easy to forget that when things turn dark. 

    We also packed away a decoration that spells out JOY. Now that we are past this wonderful season it would be easy to pack away joy in the attic and concentrate on cultural concerns. The twenty-four news cycle feeds on negativity. Hearing the message of gloom and doom over and over has it’s effect on even the most steadfast believers. The news anchors peddle darkness and fear and I choose not to be paralyzed by it. The angel of the Lord told the shepherds not to be afraid. Jesus talked a lot about fear.

    “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. (Matthew 10 – NLT)

    And these words from Jesus could have been in response to the news reporting hysteria we hear every day.

    “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?…Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”  (Luke 12, NLT)

    So I have made some decisions. I don’t make vows because I know I will fall short at some point. Choosing a direction allows me to stumble off course but then get back on track.

    I have decided to direct my time a little differently this year. I want to spend less time watching and reading the news and more time reading and meditating on God’s Word. I want to Bipartisan pray for our leaders in Washington but I am going to trust God to provide my hope. I want to live joyfully in each precious moment that God gives me and not live in paralyzing fear of the future. I agree with C.S. Lewis when he wrote these words. “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.“

    We have packed away the decorations for this year but I want to continually unpack the joy that Christ can give me every single day in 2024. You can do that too. May you have a joyful New Year in spite of your circumstances. And remember where your true hope resides.

    Happy New Year!

  • My Christmas Wish for You

    Amy Grant recorded “My Grown-up Christmas List” for her “Home For Christmas” album. The lyrics imagine an adult going back to Santa with a different perspective on what matters most in life. Instead of material things the writer now asks for good things for others. I love the sentiment of the song.

    No more lives torn apart
    That wars would never start
    And time would heal all hearts
    Everyone would have a friend
    And right would always win
    And love would never end
    This is my grown-up Christmas list

    I thought about my “grown-up” Christmas list this week. I would love for all of the things in the lyrics above to come true. But I have lived enough to know they will not. Everyday lives are torn apart. Wars start too frequently. Time does not heal every heart. Some who are reading this are lonely. Right seems to lose way too often and love ends for many.

    So what could I wish for that would be available for all? My grown-up Christmas list would have one simple wish. That every person would truly understand the outrageous grace gift that God offers to each one of us. All we have to do is open that gift in faith. Christmas is when the gift came to earth wrapped in swaddling clothes.

    I wish that everyone who hears the Gospel message would comprehend the one way love that God demonstrated. 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 their sin and the need for salvation. Nothing.

    God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9, NLT)

    Not a single requirement other than believing. A gift of grace. The plan is so radical that it feels otherworldly. Salvation is complete and God’s gift shows His desire to know us as His beloved children.

    I wish that everyone who believes the Gospel would truly believe that they are a brand new creation. Recreated as a saint with complete freedom in Christ. Adopted as a child of God. Forgiven forever. And that all of those things are completely true because of Jesus.

    I wish I could give those things to everyone on my list. Life will give us sadness, loss and loneliness but trust in Jesus gives us hope in the darkest storm. It started with the baby we celebrate at Christmas. The gift of forgiveness and hope is available to everyone. Receiving that gift is my wish for you this Christmas.

  • The Power of that Silent Night

    One of my favorite Christmas stories happened during the horrors of war. The Christmas carol “Silent Night” was actually responsible for a wartime Christmas truce.

    The year was 1914 and soldiers were having to spend Christmas Eve night on the World War I battlefields of Belgium. After only four months of fighting, more than a million men had already perished in the bloody conflict. The bodies of dead soldiers were scattered between the trenches. Enemy troops were dug-in so close that they could easily exchange shouts.

    On December 24, 1914, in the middle of a freezing battlefield in France, a miracle happened. The British troops watched in amazement as candle-lit Christmas trees began to appear above the German trenches. The glowing trees soon appeared along the length of the German front.

    Henry Williamson, a young soldier with the London Regiment wrote in his diary: “From the German parapet, a rich baritone voice had begun to sing a song I remembered my German nurse singing to me…. The grave and tender voice rose out of the frozen mist. It was all so strange… like being in another world — to which one had come through a nightmare.”

    Silent Night
    Holy Night
    All is calm
    All is quiet

    “They finished their carol and we thought that we ought to retaliate,” another British soldier wrote, “So we sang “The First Noël” and when we finished, they all began clapping. And they struck up “O Tannebaum” and on it went… until we started up “O Come All Ye Faithful” [and] the Germans immediately joined in …. this was really a most extraordinary thing — two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.”

    Christmas truce

    It is recorded that enemy soldiers greeted each other in the no man’s land that was a killing zone the day before. The soldiers wished each other Merry Christmas and agreed not to fire their rifles on Christmas Day. The spontaneous cease-fire eventually embraced much of a 500-mile stretch of the Western Front. According to the reports of soldiers at the scene, hundreds of thousands of soldiers celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace among the bodies of their dead.

    Christmas truce

    Other soldiers told of how the “enemies” exchanged badges and buttons from their uniforms. Others shared photos of wives and children and some even exchanged addresses and promised to write after the war ended.

    But the miracle of peace was temporary. Slowly, under threats from their officers, the troops returned to the trenches and the recoils of rifles split the temporary “Silent Night.” Some soldiers admitted aiming so their bullets flew well above the heads of the “enemy.”

    Perhaps those of us who celebrate the birth of the Savior could learn a lesson from this Christmas miracle as we engage those who do not share our beliefs and faith in Jesus. Those on the other side of the cultural trenches are not unlike us. The message delivered in Bethlehem was peace and goodwill toward all men. When we fight the cultural war we need to remember that the whole purpose of Jesus invading our space and time was to love and ultimately die for those on both sides of the battle. During the recent Army/Navy football game I was deeply moved by this observation.

    “This is only game where everyone on the field is willing to die for everyone watching them play”

    Jesus was willing and did die for everyone on both sides of our cultural trenches and ugly personal warfare. Perhaps the biggest miracle of that Silent Night was how the power of a unified focus on Jesus can unite even bitter enemies. My heart aches as I see Christians splitting ranks over things that don’t amount to a hill of beans on an eternal scale. I picture Jesus weeping over the churches of America like He wept over Jerusalem. I picture Him weeping over how Christians in this country divide over non-essentials and fail to communicate the joy and life-changing power of the good news of the gospel. Jesus gave this final command to His followers…

    “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 13:34-35 – NLT

    Pretty straight forward. Nothing in there about personal gain, power, or prestige. The power of what happened on that Silent Night united enemies centuries later on a French battlefield.  My Christmas prayer is that the miracle of God becoming man will unite you and me, His followers, to seek what actually matters. To really make it about Christ and not about us. While we still have the chance.