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A story of grace

9/8/2015

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I wanted to share a quick story I was reminded of by my grandmother, Nana, at lunch the other day.

For those who knew me growing up, you know that I was a child full of energy....lots and lots of energy.  One afternoon, while at my grandparents, I was expending some of this energy...in their sun room...with a ball. See where this is going?

Well, after a few minutes, it happened.  The ball collided with the fragile lamp on the end table shattering it to the hard floor.

This sound was like a dinner bell to hungry people, only it was a broken lamp and the people were my family members who feared what they would find.

They found a shattered lamp and a very sorry me, who never planned to break the lamp, it was just a matter of time.

While most had very normal reactions "Why did you do this?"  "You knew better." "We told you not to." 
And while all of these responses were completely appropriate, Nana's was not.

During all the crazy, Nana grabbed my hand and took me to her room.
Things did not look good for me.

But upon entering her room, she sat me down and kneeled before me and said, "I want you to know that my love is so much bigger for you than a lamp. I am not mad, but I love you and it is ok." 

WOW!  This story is exactly what God's grace is.  Grace is love beyond anything else, grace is undeserved and unmerited love; grace is a God who loves us, period.

My response to Nana in this moment of grace was one of pure relief and love: "Look at the wallpaper, see all the hearts? This is how much I love you, Nana!"  

Too often we hear words of correction and judgement.  While none of us are perfect, God doesn't care, God's love for us is so much bigger than a lamp, and our response can't help but be one of love and relief.

My questions to you, is what lamp has been blocking your ability to feel this love?
Hear the good news, that God's love for you is so much bigger than....

Go now and share this grace with the world as Nana did with me.

-Chris

1 Comment

I have doubts...

7/29/2015

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Hi, I’m Chris and I’m a minister…and I have doubts.

Some days I have doubts about faith.
Some days I have doubts about the church.
Some days I have doubts about my calling.
Some days I have doubts about humanity.

For years, I thought that in order to truly be a person of faith you had to have NO DOUBTS.

There is this idea in the faith community that if you have doubts, it means that you don’t believe enough, or that Satan is attacking you, or that you need to ask forgiveness for your sins.

I have to be honest, the times in my life I have grown in my faith the most, the times that I have felt closest to God are the times that I had doubt.

Doubt makes me wrestle with my faith.
Doubt makes me wrestle with my beliefs.
Doubts leads me to own my faith more than I ever have before.

Doubt isn’t a lack of faith or a hindrance, but rather doubt makes us swim deeper into the water of faith.

There is this odd belief that somehow Christians have to have it all figured out, that we have all the answers, that we have never doubted.  I am here to tell you that this is false.  We all are still walking the journey of faith, we all have questions, and we have doubts.

When I have had doubts, instead of walking away from the church or faith, I ran to it.  I knew that it was through the community of faith that God would grow deeper faith within me.

So let me encourage you that if you have doubts, it is a good thing as long as you are willing to wrestle with them.  Find a community of faith or a friend in the faith to walk alongside you and wrestle with you, and you might just find that your faith is stronger because of doubt.

About 2 years ago, I came in from my workshop to find that my dog, Shalom, had destroyed my Bible.  As you can see from the picture, she must have really had fun with it.  I captioned this picture: "How would you react if you found your Bible like this? Would you be completely lost or angry? It is good to be reminded that the Bible is not God, but it is a very important way that we better understand and know God. Now, to find a new Bible..."

I was sad because I had so many notes in that Bible, but it challenged me to start anew on scriptures that I was just relying on old notes for.

So my challenge to you is to own your faith.  Ask the questions that have been stirring in your heart. Do your own research and study. Read different translations. 

But most of all, do it with others around you doing the same thing; for this is what the Christian faith is all about: People wrestling with God and the world in order to partner with God to redeem the world.

God is big enough for your questions and doubts and destroyed Bibles.
-Chris

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