Monthly Archives: November 2016

God, Jesus, Married

TRUE Love Holds No Record of Wrongs

Love is a way of Life

  • If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
  • And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
  • If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is Counter-Cultural

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love

Uncategorized

The Journey of a Hero

suffering

If I am honest, I can be a little too comfortable and smug in my faith. I can readily quote scripture and am technically sound in my counsel to others. I have put in the time to know my theology. It’s the truth. But, I don’t want to be seen as the “know it all”. I want to be seen as an everyday, relatable guy on the street.

But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is amazing though. And I could easily think that I had something to do with my salvation. That I was somehow smart enough to accept Jesus as opposed to just being ignorant and desperate. That I can take some of the credit.

As it turns out, tragedy was to be a part of my journey so that I would never lose sight of my dependence on God. God knew that those wounded by tragedy needed hope. Who better to reach out than someone with first hand knowledge. Satan administered the tragedy but God allowed it. Satan meant it to crush me and cause me to turn from God. The Holy Spirit is using it to remind me of God’s love and how much he values me that he would chose me for such an important mission. I would have never chosen this mission on my own. It hurts – a LOT!

I prayed why? Why? Why? But there are countless people wounded by this same suffering that have no hope of it ever making sense. At least I know the suffering can be redeemed. The lost need hope too – how will they ever cope without it? Leaving them in lost AND desperate is unacceptable. So, I lean in to my pain.

Having this forced clarity really is sort of a gift. It doesn’t mean I don’t walk with a limp now though.

My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

I am seeking to embrace that daily. I am working to focus less on the tragedy and more on the opportunity to minister to others with unique credibility. I have lived it. As Christ allows me to believe in his redemptive powers through helping others, my humility and unwavering devotion to Christ become a beacon of hope to a lost and hurting world. Suffering allows deep connections that success never can.

As I refuse to run and hide,

Christ’s impact in my life shines through all the more.

This is not my story

I have a couple of friends who have endured tragedy gracefully. When I talk about them I usually use the word Heroic. The words above are mine though as I wrestle with their situations in light of the words Paul penned in his second letter to the Corinthians. Here is a link to the real version in 2 Corinthians 12:6-10