Charisa Stories

Tag: Jesus

  • How A High School Football Coach Taught Me To Live Before I Die 

    How A High School Football Coach Taught Me To Live Before I Die 

    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 sat right 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.

    Here is a verse to start you on the path to leaving a “part of you” in the lives of others.

    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)

    In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus outlined how to be light to a dark and hurting world. 

    “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:14-16)

    That is how W.T. Johnston lived his life. My friend went to be with the Lord three years ago this month. He was one-hundred percent correct about his impact because a piece of his courage, strength, wisdom will live in me forever.

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

  • My Biggest Mistake?

    My Biggest Mistake?

    Years ago I wrote a book with the provocative title of “When Bad Christians Happen to Good People”. In that book I was incredibly candid about the damage that Christians often do in the name of Jesus. I expected to get roasted for my candor about my faith. For the most part that didn’t happen. Perhaps those who most needed to read it didn’t recognize their need to read it. A couple of fans of one heretical televangelist decided I was on the express train to hell. Who knew they could read?

    I took the most heat for a chapter where I cleverly (I thought) tried to use a political situation to make a spiritual point. Bad idea. I mean a bad idea along the lines of tank tops for middle-aged men and Spandex for almost everyone. 

    I learned my lesson. 

    I regret the political references I made in that book. I was able to revise and replace those words in a later version. I learned the hard way how much political remarks polarize and deflect the message of the Cross. I tried to make it clear that Christians were making a mistake by trying to change the culture through politics instead of by changing hearts for Jesus. But my entire message was ignored by some because of a poorly executed illustration.

    I expect to see Democrats and Republicans and Libertarians and Independents in heaven. But the common link will not be political ideology. The common link that will bring us eternally together will be Jesus.

    Jesus chose to work by starting his own grassroots movement of faith and discipleship. He could have chosen to work in the lives of leaders and politicians. He could have chosen to concentrate only on people of power and influence. That is likely what I would have done. Jesus could have encountered Caesar on a Roman road instead of Paul on the Damascus road. But He did not. He chose to work through common men and women. He taught a radical message of grace and humility and service. He valued women, children, the poor, blind, crippled, and ethnic outcasts in a way that was revolutionary and threatening to the status quo. Jesus was an off the charts revolutionary. You generally don’t get crucified for just being annoying. 

    He served instead of demanding to be served. He loved the unlovable and forgave the unforgivable. He taught that to a group of men and women in the first century who, with NO political power at all, turned the world upside down. 

    And that is where we as His followers have fallen short. We have fallen short by making righteousness about behaving the way we think you should behave instead of by modeling the One who makes righteousness possible. If the body of Christ had demonstrated His grace in a lifestyle wrapped around discipleship and serving I suspect we would not be fighting Washington to change the culture. It would be happening in the hearts of men and women and that would be the ultimate trickle-down effect. 

    I am not smart enough to decide what God has called people to do. If He has placed a desire for people to impact the culture through political action I am not about to question their motives. But my hope is in Christ and my trust is in a God who is in control even when I cannot see it.

    So this writer will steer clear of politics in my humble ramblings about faith. God’s Word taught with truth and love will mold followers of Jesus to view social issues wisely. Moralizing on sexual issues has produced guilt but not real results. Jesus forgave the woman caught in sin and THEN said go and sin no more. My goal is to tell people about the grace and love of Jesus, disciple them into a real relationship with Him, and then  watch as the Holy Spirit changes what my sermonizing cannot. Their hearts.

    The body of Christ is about Jesus. About being a good citizen that respects authority. And about demonstrating His amazing grace to a desperately needy world. The message should be grace, redemption, and the forgiveness available to everyone. All political parties are welcome at the foot of the cross. We need to spend more time there…for the good of America. Jesus left us with these words that would be good to remember when you get discouraged by the cacophony of twenty-four hour news.

    Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. (John 16, NLT)

    I pray that you will believe and trust that truth. And share your hope with joy.

  • How God Sees Me Is Hard To Accept

    How God Sees Me Is Hard To Accept

    Perhaps it was my early church teaching that causes me to struggle with the concept that God loves me. I believe He can love others. I believe He loves the homeless person on the street and the struggling inner-city mom trying to hold her family together. But I am less sure that He always loves me. I know me. I know what lies hidden in my heart. I know my reactions. I know my thoughts. God knows all of that too. So in the sad and difficult moments I wonder how He could possibly love me.

    Perhaps that is your struggle as well.

    Philip Yancey wrote these thoughts in What’s So Amazing About Grace. “Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: you become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible’s astounding words about God’s love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?”

    I am learning to look into the mirror and see someone that I accept by faith and not by my feelings. I see a saint. That’s right. Many (maybe all) of Satan’s accusations about me are true. But what I now see is a man who is a saint. I found twenty-nine references to the “saints” in Paul’s writings. I am pretty sure from the content of his writings that they were not always behaving like saints. They were saints because of Christ and not by meticulously following the law.

    God sees those who trust Jesus as holy. No matter how many accusations are thrown at me God sees me as holy. Amazing.
    All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 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. (Ephesians 1, NLT)

    That is my (and your) identity. Holy and without fault in His eyes. I will be accused again and probably sooner than later. But I am learning to simply say this to myself.

    “That is not who I am anymore. I am a saint who sometimes sins. I am holy because of Christ.”

    There may be no more important element to living fully in the moment with God than accepting that you are loved by Him right now just as you are. That is so counterintuitive to how “love” so often works in our experience. I will love you while you are attractive. I will love you when you make me happy. I will love you when you do what I ask you to do. Human love is almost always conditional. That is not God’s love.

    The attributes of God’s love are mind boggling. It is personal. We can relate to God the Creator of the universe as our Father. Think about that. I mean really think about that. I love this thought from Brennan Manning. “We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that he should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at his love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.”

    We are conditioned to believe that if something seems too good to be true that we are being deceived. That is what the aforementioned accuser would have us to believe. But the stunning radicality of grace is that what seems to be too good to be true is more true than we can imagine. This unconditional love from God is unrelated to the emotions, expectations and desires that taint our human love.

    • God’s love is offered to the undeserving and unworthy.
    • God’s love does not consider status, gender, color, nationality, wealth, or educational achievement.
    • God loves us first. He is the one who woos us to Him.
    • God’s love is one way. He is the patient lover who never leaves and is always there when His child finally comes home.
    • This love is ours by simple faith. We don’t have to do a single thing except bring our wounds and sin to the loving Great Physician.

    I am choosing to believe that today. I am going to allow God to love me today. I am not going to attempt to earn that love. I am not going to remind myself why I am not worthy. I am going to open my arms and my heart to His love. My feelings ebb and flow. God’s feelings for me are an eternal fountain of grace. Jump in the fountain today. Splash around. Laugh. Rejoice. You are loved. You are cherished. You are adored. You are the child of the King. Live like it today.

    Excerpts taken from Waking Up Slowly – 21 Ways to be More Connected to God and One Another. 

  • Jesus Will Meet You There

    Jesus Will Meet You There

    Being in community with others means you share in their joys and their sorrows. Sometimes the sorrows come in tsunami waves and all you can do is care, pray, and be present. Good and decent people deal with financial, emotional, and physical suffering all around us and it is easy to lose heart. The news seems to be only tragedy and heartbreaking sadness. What can be redeemed of all of this suffering?

    A song called “The Hurt and the Healer” by MercyMe resonated when I first heard it but now that same song touches my heart even more. The lyrics ask the question we all struggle with.

    Why?
    The question that is never far away
    The healing doesn’t come from the explained
    Jesus please don’t let this go in vain

    I can’t explain why things happen. Sometimes it is sin. Sometimes it is simply life. I have learned in my years of following Jesus that He does not let suffering go in vain. I have seen over and over how God redeems sadness and tragedy. He does bring beauty out of ashes. When I cannot see how any good can come out of a trial I trust my Abba Father in faith. Believe me I don’t “feel” that but I can move forward in faith. God has never let me down. And I believe He never will.

    Breathe
    Sometimes I feel it’s all that I can do
    Pain so deep that I can hardly move
    Just keep my eyes completely fixed on You
    Lord take hold and pull me through

    Most of us have been there at some point. If not, you will be someday. Peter talked about the inevitability of suffering in this life in a passage that we usually leave out of the brochure when we tell others about our faith. All of us who follow Jesus are going to suffer.

    Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. (1 Peter 4, NLT)

    Count me among the brethren who tried to dance around this truth for as long as I could. Be very glad? Seriously? But when you have nowhere else to turn but to Christ you find out that you should have turned to Him first all along.

    So here I am
    What’s left of me
    Where glory meets my suffering

    I’m alive
    Even though a part of me has died
    You take my heart and breathe it back to life
    I’ve fallen into your arms open wide
    When the hurt and the healer collide

    Jesus meets you there and not in theory. He suffered. He agonized with God the Father. He knows the human condition. He has already been where you are. When the hurt and the Healer collide something amazing happens. The pain may not immediately go away but peace and hope begin to slowly heal the pain. Peter did not end his writing on suffering with the buzz kill of Chapter 4. He wrapped it in a bow of incredible hope in the next chapter.

    In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation. (1 Peter 5, NLT)

    That is a promise that we can hold on to in times of sorrow and suffering. I am trusting that promise this week for myself and my friends who are hurting.

  • One Of The Worst Days Ever

    One Of The Worst Days Ever

    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 betray them. Like him I draw attention to my own accomplishments instead of recognizing where my accomplishments come from. 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 one millionth 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.

    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.

  • Surviving the Storms of Life

    Surviving the Storms of Life

    Real growth in relationships, faith, and maturity usually doesn’t just happen. It is so simple to blame circumstances or others for our mistakes. Rationalizations for wrong behaviors are frighteningly easy. 

    “Officer, I didn’t mean to speed and break the law. I was just going with the flow of traffic.” Think about that. My defense is that everybody else is breaking the law. Therefore, I am innocent. 

    Since the Garden if Eden the automatic answer to sin and shortcomings is that it is someone else’s fault. That may be true at times. But that thinking will never result in becoming like Jesus. So I have to be intentional about confronting my own heart. Change is hard. Sharing my need to change with others is even harder. 

    Several years ago I took the risk to trust three men with everything about me. We call ourselves the Redwood Brothers based on a unique characteristic of California’s redwood trees. A redwood alone in a forest might look magnificent but the first strong wind could destroy it. You see, the coastal redwoods have shallow root systems and cannot survive a storm alone. Their roots extend over one hundred feet from the base but just broadening the root base is not what makes these beautiful trees capable of surviving the worst storms. They stand strong by intertwining their roots with the roots of other redwoods. The winds are now taking on an entire stand of trees and not a single redwood. No matter how majestic those trees might appear God designed them to need other trees to survive the storms. 

    That is exactly how we are designed. That describes the relationship I have forged with the three other men who gather every year to share weaknesses, fears, and frustrations. We are men who desire to follow Christ faithfully and love our wives and families well. Yet we, too, can have shallow root systems, and we need the strength of one another as we go through strong winds and floods together. Sharing our imperfect journeys in a safe space has resulted in remarkable breakthroughs. We have experienced what my friend John Lynch wrote about in The Cure.

    “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?” 

    Dropping the pretense and engaging in real conversation about the difficulties of this journey with other honest wayfarers is a real way to become more like Jesus.

    The need for church community is clear. But it’s even more important to look at what Jesus modeled. Jesus knew hundreds of people. He traveled with dozens. He sent out seventy. He discipled twelve. And He invested deeply in three. Jesus’ inner circle consisted of Peter, James, and John. He confided in these three men on a deeper and more profound level than any of the other disciples. I’ve found the same results in my own life. My greatest growth has taken place since I risked trusting a small group of men.

    Legendary professor Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary says that every man needs three different types of individuals in his life: a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy. Paul is the older man who will mentor you and offer you his experience. It has been hard for me to find older men these days, but I have been blessed with several over the years. Timothy is the young man whom you build into. But it’s Barnabas whom I track with the most, aptly described by Hendricks.

    A Barnabas is a soul brother, somebody who loves you but is not impressed by you. Somebody to whom you can be accountable. Somebody who’s willing to keep you honest, who’s willing to say, “Hey, man, you’re neglecting your wife, and don’t give me any guff!”

    What a great description of a true friend. Someone who loves you but is not impressed with you. Believe me these men are not impressed with me. But they love me. They want the best for me. They tell me the truth because I trust them with me and I have given them permission to speak truth with grace. I keep emphasizing the grace part. That is how God desires our community to look. I can only receive real love from you to the extent that you know the truth about who I really am.

    We all have blind spots in our hearts. I need a person who loves me enough to gently point them out. 

    I hope you will find the courage to carefully trust someone with everything that is true about you. Maybe it starts with you being that person for someone else, to begin to see how it looks in practice. Finding a friend can be daunting. Being a friend is something that all of us can do. We need each other. I hope you take the risk to be known. I give the last word(s) to Paul and his message to the church on Colossae. Marinate in these thoughts today.

    Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 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. 

    Colosssians 3:10-16, NLT

  • What Are My Priorities?

    What Are My Priorities?

    I have been doing this church thing for a lot of years. I have sung hundreds of songs over the five decades or so that I have been a follower of Jesus. Some songs have great meaning to me. Some lyrics moved me to deep worship of God. Some times I really meant what I was singing. Other times I was singing through the motions while thinking about lunch and when the kick off was going to happen.

    Sometimes a song would make me really squirm.  One song in that category was recorded by the legendary George Beverly Shea in 1932.  The words were from a poem written by Mrs.Rhea Miller in 1922. Shea recalled the moment.

    At the age of twenty-three, I was living at home with my parents, continuing to work at Mutual Life Insurance and studying voice. Going to the piano one Sunday morning, I found a poem waiting for me there. I recognized my mother’s handwriting. She had copied the words of a poem by Mrs. Rhea F. Miller, knowing that I would read the beautiful message, which speaks of choice. As I read these precious words:

        I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause.
        I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause.

    I found myself singing the words in a melody that expressed the feelings of my heart.”

    Thanks to Mr.Shea I found myself going through a rather uncomfortable self-examination today.

    I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
    I’d rather be His than have riches untold;


    What a timely verse for times like these. As I watch my investment worth dwindle can I really say that I would rather have Jesus than silver or gold? Maybe our economy will make that decision for me.

    What would I have said if I was the young rich man described in Matthew? Here is the text from The Message.

    Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”  Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.”

     The man asked, “What in particular?”

     Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.” The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?”

    His response has always surprised me. That young man thought he was doing just fine. And then Jesus exposed his heart.

     “If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.”

    That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.

    I have held on tight to a lot of things. As I get older I wonder why.

     As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.”

     The disciples were staggered. “Then who has any chance at all?”

     Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.” 

    That I can do. I can trust God. I have no choice because I have a long and spectacular track record of not being able to live this journey on my own ability. The song continues.

    I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
    I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
    I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame,
    I’d rather be true to His holy name.

    Given the sales of my books I am pretty safe from the world-wide fame snare. But I do crave men’s applause if I am not careful. 

    He’s all that my hungering spirit needs,
    I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead. 

    Perhaps the uncertainty in the world will cause all of us to evaluate our dependence on Christ. I hope that I will continue to grow in my desire to echo Paul and his words to the Phillipians.

    “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”

    So can I sing the words of this classic hymn and mean it? God’s continuing faithfulness makes it possible.