Have you ever stopped to wonder why it is so hard to forgive? Seriously. It’s such a pleasant ideal in theory, but in practice it’s the quite possibly the hardest thing to do on the planet. Why does it seem so down right impossible? Why does it feel like losing? Well, I guess that’s because it is.
Read moreI’m sitting in a small airport in Montana right now, sleep deprived and delayed. I’ve been gone from my family for what feels like forever and just want to get home. You know that feeling right? When you just want to get home? But as I sit here on the floor and stare red eyed at my computer screen, I have to remember and trust in one thing. God seldom works in the easy and comfortable. Can He? Sure. Does He? Sometimes. But more often than not, the times that shape me, the times that make me more loving and more gracious, aren’t usually what I look back on as “good times.” Isn’t that strange?
Read moreShame. It paralyzes, lies, and keeps us from each other. Worst of all, shame deafens our spiritual ears. When it rolls over us like a fog over the sea, it has a way of stifling Jesus’ voice crying out, “the healthy don’t need a doctor but the sick do! I came to save sinners!” It shuts out Paul proclaiming, “this saying is trustworthy and true, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief!!!” Even though Jesus made a point of hanging out with tax-collectors, drunks, and prostitutes, shame echoes in the hallways of our soul, reverberating our fears until we’re convinced, what we’ve done is worse than the thief on the cross. Our infidelity is worse than the woman at the well. Somehow, our cheating and lying is worse than Zacchaeus.’
Read moreI’ve been studying Jesus lately. It’s always amazing to watch Him in action isn’t it? What amazes me most is who He used His voice for. He didn’t cheer on the victorious, He campaigned for the powerless. He was the ultimate anti-band-wagoner. As an avid sports fan, I’m confused and in awe. We don’t campaign for the team with the losing record, we jump on with the champions. We remove our affiliation with the losing and make winners our new BFF. But Jesus never did.
Read moreMaybe this is melodramatic, but I firmly believe if we want deep friendships it will cost us more than a quick glance at our phone. Yes of course, the internet and online friendship have their place and can be used in incredible ways, but at some point, to love like Jesus, we will have to embrace the ministry being interrupted. We will need to let ourselves be intruded upon. We will be asked to waste time with people who don’t boost our public profile. It will cost more than a text, and more than an email. It will require our entire life.
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