Basics on Toxics

 

“Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light. 

Try not to take it personally.”  Kamand Kojouri

 
This morning we’re beginning a several week series, “Dealing with Toxic People.” The dictionary defines Toxic as: “containing or being poisonous material especially when capable of causing death or serious debilitation.” Applying our spiritual nature to this definition gives us the reality that toxic people are those who are capable of causing mental and emotional injury and death, or serious debilitation, to both their lives and ours.
  We all have toxic people in our lives. Because of sin, at some level, we’re all toxic. For some reason, memes about toxic people, narcissism and broken relationships have exploded on social media. Yet, toxic people have always been around. Probably the acrimonious cultural divisions we’ve seen in recent years have heightened our awareness of toxic relationships.
  Genesis 4 is one of the first toxic relationships. Cain’s anger at God erupted with his murdering his brother, Abel, who’d done nothing to antagonize Cain. Abel was simply seeking to please God, but his commitment to God enraged Cain and Abel ended up as the first victim of rage and cold-blooded murder. Like Abel, sometimes you don’t have to do anything other than exist to find yourself the target of someone’s toxicity.  
  As I’ve watched the obsession with toxic people on social media, the thought occurred to me that “if your best strategy in dealing with toxic people is memes, you’re in big trouble.” Add to that, we tend to throw around terms and use a broad brush. Do those using these terms even know what they mean? That line by Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride seems apropos. “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.” Before we label someone, we should be certain of our own understanding of the label and what the term actually means.
  For example, someone may be labeled a “narcissist.” The dictionary defines it, “A person full of egoism. One who shows extreme love and admiration for himself or herself. Someone in love with themselves.” Have you ever met someone who isn’t full of pride at some level and loves and admires themselves? We’re all guilty. Now someone who is truly a narcissist takes that to extremes. Yet, traits of toxicity that so bother us in the lives of others are frequently ones that we also are guilty of. Toxicness is true of all of us at some level according to Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Be aware that as we work through this series, there are some themes that we’ll return to each week.  
  When it comes to a toxic trait, first suspect the sinner you know best. Stop for a moment and answer this question. Who is the worst sinner that you know? Chances are that you know hundreds, even thousands of people. Think of all those people and ponder: Who is the worst sinner of all?
  Perhaps you thought of a parent who did great damage to you as a child. Maybe a co-worker who delights in her own vileness, or a friend who is imprisoned for what he has done. If you were honest though, you admitted that you know someone who is a far greater sinner than any of these – YOU. When I stop and think about the greatest sinner I know, I must admit that it’s me. I’m the greatest sinner I know…and you’re the greatest sinner you know. There is seemingly no end to the depravity of my own heart. As William Law said, “Self is the root, the tree, and the branches of all the evils of our fallen state.” So, as we work through these toxic traits, please first look in the mirror of your soul. Frequently, we have blind spots and would be wise to ask those closest to us: How do you experience me?
  Then, be warned. Because of our own toxicity, we can project what we are onto others. King Ahab did that to Elijah, accusing God’s prophet of being the source of Israel’s trouble. For example, if someone is a habitual liar, they assume that all others are liars. The same is true of someone who is manipulative or has an anger issue. We assume others think like us.
  If you are in a toxic relationship whether in your marriage, family, workplace or wherever – God put you there. Read the first two chapters of the book of Job. Who allowed Job to go through all that misery? God. One of the most toxic families in the Bible is that of the patriarch, Joseph. Yet, God used that dysfunctionality to “send” Joseph to Egypt to preserve the nation of Israel (Psalm 105:17).
  As much we may hate it, God uses fire to melt away our own sinful habits and traits to make us trophies of His grace. I know that’s true in my life. I doubt that I’d be in the ministry today and love the Lord, if I had not grown up in the family that I grew up in. As Job observed, “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:10).
  I love those words of Joseph at the end of Genesis as his brothers were terrified that Joseph would execute justice and take revenge on them for the evil that they’d done to him. “But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today’” (Genesis 50:19-20).
  There is always hope! There are times when the best decision is to walk away or at least limit the toxic individual’s influence in your life. Yet, the tendency in our culture is to bail too soon. We know little of what the Bible calls longsuffering and perseverance.
  Living in the heat of a toxic relationship must drive us to prayer. While it’s appropriate to pray for deliverance. Yet, God never wastes our pain, so we should also pray that God will, as He did in the life of Joseph and many others, use the pain to produce spiritual fruit in our own lives.  
  Then, if there is no relief, we’re confident that the very worst toxic situation for the Christ-follower is temporary. The Apostle Paul endured terrible fiery trials. Notice the contrast in his words between temporal trials and life in eternity. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

 

True Hope

 

“Hope is the only tie which keeps the heart from breaking.” Thomas Fuller

 When was the last time that you had the experience of getting into a new show highly recommended by a friend, but just a few episodes into it you’re bored to tears and are like, “Am I missing something? Am I dumb? Does everyone else have a much more sophisticated entertainment palate than me?” Or you wonder how the storyline of a movie can possibly end well? Things are a mess now, but you hold out hope…“I know they’ll pull it back around at the end; it will all make sense.” But then it doesn’t. 

  Sociologists tell us that the primary American emotion is disappointment. Disappointment is the cause of much of the hidden trauma in American life. Another word for it is “hopelessness.

  Did you know that the Bible mentions the word hope over 120 times? Hope is one of the most important foundations for the Christian. Biblical hope has as its foundation, faith in God and His Word. So while the word hope in English often conveys doubt, for instance, “I hope it won’t rain tomorrow,” that’s not the meaning of hope in God’s Word. Biblical hope is a reality, not a feeling. It carries no doubt. It’s a sure foundation upon which we base our lives, believing and knowing we can trust God no matter what.  

  There are many reasons why people become hopeless, but God and His Word answer every one of them with His sustaining hope. These are some of the more common sources of hopelessness.

  You feel alone or abandoned. On October 4, 1970, famed rock star Janis Joplin, at the age of 27 was found dead in her hotel room. Questions arose as to whether the cause of her tragic death was suicide or an accident. Just before the incident, Janis had confided to a friend, “When I am not on the theatre stage I just lie around and watch television and feel very lonely.”

  You can be in a crowd and feel overwhelmed by loneliness. One can be married or have a family, and struggle with loneliness. Amazingly, in a culture with so many ways to stay connected, loneliness is an epidemic.

  The Lord Jesus understands our feelings of loneliness. He faced them, too. His closest friends – the disciples – didn’t help Him when He needed them most. In the darkest hour of His life, He was all by Himself, crying out to God. His friends weren’t praying with Him, instead, they fell asleep. When He needed them most, they abandoned Him. Yet, to those of us who have trusted Him as our Lord and Savior, He’s promised:  “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

  You feel like life is out of control. We typically experience this in one or more of five different areas of life:  time, money, family, relationships, aging/health. Many are experiencing a growing sense of being out of control in some area of life. While days are twenty-four hours in length, we constantly feel hurried. We seem to have more to do and less time to do it in. Though our world is very affluent, many struggle with intense worry that there won’t be enough. There is often a growing sense of despair.

  Jesus told us that He came to give “abundant life” to those who follow Him. The abundant life is one that’s free of hurry, worry, loneliness, anger or despair.  Jesus put it this way in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” A very real part of being a Christ-follower is the experience of a qualitatively different way of life, a fulfilled one. While our lives may at times feel out of control, our Heavenly Father has the smallest detail under His complete control and we can trust Him.  

  You’ve done something terribly wrong. With the Lord Jesus, nothing is beyond being made right. On the cross, He died for our worst mistakes – all of our sins – past, present and future. Yet, what could be more hopeless than to have murdered someone and then be sentenced to death?

  Karla Faye Tucker was an accomplice to a brutal ax murder of two people and sentenced to death. Soon after being imprisoned, she took a Bible from the prison ministry program and read it in her cell. She later recalled, “I didn’t know what I was reading. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of my cell floor on my knees. I was just asking God to forgive me.” Karla Faye became a Christian in October 1983. Though in 1998 she was executed for her crimes, in one of her last interviews she gave glory to Christ for transforming her life. Some of her last words were: “...I would like to say to all of [the family of the victims] — that I am so sorry. I hope God will give you peace with this…Everybody has been so good to me. I love all of you very much. I am going to be face to face with Jesus now…I will see you all when you get there. I will wait for you.” As the lethal chemicals were administered, she was praising the Lord. It’s the same hope our Savior gave to the dying thief. We too can have that hope.

  You’ve been deeply wounded by someone. Family members are frequently those we trust the most. Our mate is the one we expect to be closest to—until death do us part. We have a deep love for our children, but they can often turn on us. We expect even the closest person in our lives to die eventually, but as painful as that is, it’s not betrayal.

  Betrayal by a spouse, child, family member, or close friend is devastating. It produces a feeling of worthlessness for having trusted an untrustworthy person. It breeds anger and depression. It causes us to second-guess ourselves and raises questions about our judgment. Because of this person’s knowledge of our heart, it’s a devastating wound.

  Many Bible heroes experienced this hurt during their lives: Joseph, Moses, David, Paul, and Jesus. They show us that we’re not alone. They also show how to handle betrayal and not succumb to bitterness. Jesus’ words from the cross must become our words, “Father, forgive them.”

  One of the wonderful traits of our Heavenly Father is that He will never turn on us or break a promise. Sin cuts us off from God, but He provided a Savior for us. And though God may step back for a little while when we need to learn lessons about the cost of sin, He still loves us and will never forget us or abandon us. We’re His children and He loves us no matter what, even when we’re a hot mess. So while this world may be hopeless, our heavenly Father is the God of hope – our hope! Always remember that!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

 

 

Try a Little Kindness!

“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.”

Joseph Joubert

Okay, I’m as confused as everyone else on why there was a buying frenzy on toilet paper. Yet, I totally understand why all of the frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and other easy to cook items were scooped up.

  Once the announcement was made about schools being closed, many parents reacted. This was the thinking of many: “I have to go to work. My kids have to eat while I’m working. The only thing that I feel comfortable with my kids cooking is pizza or chicken nuggets and the only thing my kids will eat without me standing over them is pizza or chicken nuggets.”

  It made total sense to me. We’re in the midst of a crisis. This is the Pearl Harbor of this generation. It’s unchartered territory for the whole world. It’s a time for compassion, acceptance, and boatloads of patience. We’ve never been this way before. Every step forward is new and unknown.

  It’s like waiting for a hurricane. You don’t know what category it is going to be. The worst is a Category 5. Listening to the media, you’d think that this one is going to be a Category 50. You don’t know when or where it will make landfall. You don’t know what it will destroy or potentially how many it will kill, and you don’t know how long it is all going to last. So how can we show compassion in such tumultuous times?

  Give others the benefit of the doubt. Imagine that I see a woman buying 10 pizzas at Walmart. It’d be easy to think that she’s selfish and hoarding. What I may not know is that she’s a single Mom with a couple of kids at home. In spite of all the isolation recommendations, she still has to go to her factory job or they’ll end up on the street.

  Protagoras, the ancient Greek philosopher said, “Man is the measure of all things.” In spite of the fact that he was wrong, too many have altered his statement to: “I am the measure of all things.” We evaluate what others should do or shouldn’t do by what we do. That’s arrogant. We jump to conclusions, yet rarely have all of the facts. Our limited knowledge though doesn’t keep us from pontificating or bragging about what we’d do or even what great, kind people we are. We’re a nation of armchair quarterbacks and second guessers. The only true standard of moral right and wrong is the Bible, God’s Word. Most of our decisions are subjective ones, and with a crisis such as this, with very limited knowledge.

  Clearly, it was immoral for the Chinese government to suppress the warnings of this epidemic. It barely made the news and by most has now been forgotten. Early on though, Dr. Li Wenliang contracted the virus while working at Wuhan Central Hospital. He did the right thing and what a medical professional is supposed to do and sent out a warning to fellow medics back in December. But Chinese police told him to stop “making false comments,” then pushed forward with plans for Chinese New Year. That’s immoral. Many are dying because of their evil deception.

  Yet, how to now respond to this is difficult and subjective. No one, as far as I know, believes the virus can be stopped. The best hope is to slow it down so it won’t overwhelm our medical resources. Unless someone is clearly violating a moral right or wrong, because we’re all sorting through how to respond, we should graciously give others the benefit of the doubt.

  Be gracious rather than oversensitive. Someone recently was a bit offended that I wouldn’t shake their hand. When we were in Taiwan two years ago, I was surprised at how many wore face masks as part of normal life. Because this is new and unknown, people are frightened and stressed. You may have noticed that people are driving more aggressively and more in a hurry than normal. More are on their phones in stores, checking in to make sure that they don’t miss something that’s needed. Or, to get suggestions on alternatives when the item they were to buy is unavailable.

  Fear results in a drop in normal people skills. Clerks in the stores are tired and often have been verbally nuked by stressed-out shoppers. People are worried about their jobs and finances. Look at most people’s faces when you go out and you’ll see the strain and stress. Rather, than being self-focused, this is an opportunity for us as believers to live out Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.”

  In the midst of scaremongering, it’s time for caremongering. Scaremongering with this crisis is a huge problem. Let’s be part of turning that around. Facebook, texting, and emails are lower forms of communication when people are isolated. Harried parents with children at home need someone just to listen, not necessarily give solutions. Those who are isolated and frightened need to hear a caring, kind voice. A short five-minute conversation to touch base and see how someone is doing can make a huge difference.

  Share hope, not despair. The only way to move from despair to hope is to look up, turning our focus from problems to our loving Heavenly Father. Instead of being anthropocentric, we must be theocentric. God doesn’t change. He’s already taken care of our biggest problem – sin. The One Who sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place, and raised Him back to life by His omnipotent power, can be trusted with our future. We serve a mighty God Who is faithful.

  Constant remembrance is a necessary habit for the people of God, particularly during times of distress. It’s not enough though to remember what God has done, we are to be sharers of His hope. It’s the greatest act of compassion we can give a hopeless world. We know that all those who know Jesus will get Home before dark. We must share that hope. Our friends and family members who are hopeless can have that same hope if they will trust in the only One who died to give us hope and security.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

The “Other” Message in Christmas Movies

“Look for Christ and you will find Him. 

And with Him everything else.”

C. S. Lewis

  So, what’s your favorite Christmas movie? There are some wonderful ones. There are also some horrible ones but no one will deny that there are lots of them. Essentially, all of December is filled with Christmas movies but then it comes to a screeching halt on December 26^th.

  Though I don’t want to read something in to Christmas movies that are not there, as I was mulling this over, I do think that there’s more of a redemptive element in many of these classics than perhaps we’ve noticed, elements of the real Christmas story are there even by those who may have never intended to put them there. For example…

  We’re all sinners and really messed up. I love Home Alone, but is there any character that you’d want to be “home alone” with in that movie? They have a huge, beautiful house but they’re mean, cruel and vicious to each other. They’d be dubbed dysfunctional. That seems too kind. They illustrate that bucko bucks and a fabulous vacation to Europe won’t transform sinful people into good ones. Miracle on 34^th Street also shows the emptiness of what most consider to be success.

  The difference one person can make. It will be forever debated whether Die Hard is truly a Christmas movie. While John McClain is heroic, he has lots of serious issues and is certainly not an example of how to live. Yet, in spite of that, he’s willing to sacrifice his life and everything else for others. Wonderfully, our Savior who came and entered space and time is truly a hero, a White Knight with no chinks in His armor. Jesus is the perfect, sinless lamb of God who sacrificed Himself for us.

  All of us must be prepared for death. He’s only a snowman but every child is saddened that Frosty’s clock is ticking and he’s headed to his soon demise. Frosty shows us that the seasons of life can’t be stopped. As much as we seek to freeze ourselves in youth, death is imminent for all of us and we need to prepare for our all too soon coming end.

  Unrealistic expectations always leave us empty. Both Christmas Story and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation are about expectations and the frustration of unrealized ones. Clark Griswold wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife and children, as he tries to make sure everything is perfect. But it will never happen and things quickly go awry. His redneck cousin, Eddie and family show up…unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Worse, Clark’s employers renege on the holiday bonus he’s planning on and desperately needs.

  You can’t judge the overall plan on your little piece of information. One of my favorites is White Christmas. Yet, what a comedy of errors and anger that’s a result of misinformation and not having the “big picture.” If we only look at today and this world, we too will become quickly disillusioned and angry. What a wonderful encouragement those words from Isaiah are, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord” (55:8). It also shows how we muck things up when we manipulate and try to force things. Often we attempt to “help” God out only to discover that we’ve created a bigger mess.

  What a dark and different world this would be if Jesus had not come. Christmas doesn’t seem like Christmas unless I’ve watched It’s a Wonderful Life and I spring a leak every time. It’s considered, not just one of the greatest Christmas movies, but one of the greatest films ever made. Frank Capra, the director, confessed that it was his personal favorite among the films he directed. He screened it for his family every Christmas season.

  George Bailey is the classic antihero. After setback after setback, he repeatedly gives up on his dreams to help others. His attempted suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence who shows George all of the lives he’s touched, and how different life in his community would be if he’d never been born.

  Think about that. Our world is so dark and evil now, but what would it be like if Jesus had never come. No churches, orphanages, hospitals. Think of how many organizations, including most Ivy League colleges, were birthed by Christians seeking to serve the Savior. What if Jesus had never come? It’s a very dark concept.  

  Hope and redemption for the seemingly unredeemable. Another longtime favorite is the original Grinch. The theme song nearly makes the movie. He’s a surly character with a heart “two sizes too small” who especially hated Christmas and determines to stop it from ever coming to Whoville. He steals Christmas from the Whos and returns to his mountain,  waiting to hear their sad cry. Instead, the Whos joyously begin to sing Christmas carols, proving that the spirit of Christmas doesn’t depend on material things. The Grinch begins to understand the true meaning of Christmas and his heart grows three sizes. He brings everything back to the Whos and even participates in their holiday feast.

  Christmas movie after Christmas movie repeats the same theme of hope and redemption from A Christmas Carol to Christmas with the Cranks and even Elf. Yet, the fictional tales are nothing compared to the real one. The real Christmas story, the one found in Scripture, is about hope, forgiveness and redemption. As the angel told Joseph, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

  How about you? Has He saved you from your sins? Is your life story His redemption story and the great plan of salvation? Because He came for you, your life can be one of the greatest Christmas stories of all time, too. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

The Greatest Christmas Gifts

“The greatest Christmas gifts aren’t wrapped in paper.”

  Do you remember Christmas gifts that you received as a child? Was there that “one gift” you just had to have? One Christmas gift that sticks out in the corridors of my mind was a Hot Wheels set I received one year. I must have been 8 or 9 yet I still remember even that day, after playing with it for a bit – feeling disappointed. I think I played with it a few times over the course of the next few weeks and then it was retired to some shelf or box in our basement, rarely, if ever to appear again.

  Are other Christmas gifts all that different than my Hot Wheels set? Some of the “must have” gifts for women this year are: Tiffany Signature Pearl Earrings, A Vitamix Ascent Blender, Personalized Luggage, An Audible Subscription, A Monogrammed Cashmere Throw. For men it’s…a Casper Nap Pillow, Temperature Control Ceramic Mug, Square Portable Bluetooth Speaker, Touchscreen Italian Leather Driving Gloves or The Modern Snap Backpack. Then, commercials on TV tell us that the “must have” gifts are traveling or a cruise, or jewelry, a new car or even the latest perfume.

  If we’re honest, we’ll admit that none of those things bring fulfillment. They’re nice for a moment, but not a very long one. The gifts with true meaning and significance, money can’t buy because they’re priceless! But Jesus wants to give us gifts that bring true meaning and fulfillment.

  Jesus came to give us the gift of peace. It’s what the angels said that first Christmas Eve: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom [God] is pleased!” Outside of the U.N. there’s a renowned bronze sculpture “Let Us Beat Our Swords into Ploughshares,” by Soviet artist, Evgeny Vuchetich, and presented to the U.N. on December 4, 1959. In nearly 75 years, the U.N. is no closer to bringing about world peace than it was on the day it was born. There’s little peace in our own country. Crime is a major concern. The workplace is not a place of peace with conflict between management and labor, or inner office squabbles. For many, the home is not a place of peace. 2 million couples have used a lethal weapon on their spouses in their lifetimes. Another 4 million wives are beaten by their husbands each year. Some 3 million children are beaten, maimed or murdered annually in our country. While the majority are not places of violence, yet what most marriages and families have is far from peace. More often, it’s a cold war. Many seek to find peace in workaholism or some other addiction. Anything to quell the volcano in their own souls. There’s no peace “out there,” which is why the Prince of Peace came to bring us peace. It’s only in a relationship with Him that we have what the world longs for – peace. Longfellow, in his poem, Christmas Bells, later turned into one of our favorite Christmas Carols caught the picture of our true source of the gift of peace as he penned:

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

  Jesus came to give us the gift of joy. “And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people’.” How many do you know that have joy? Do you have joy? C.S. Lewis called joy, “The serious business of Heaven.” Joy is the difference between merely existing and truly living. The presence of joy upgrades survival to being. I’m not sure because I love so many of them, but I think that my favorite Christmas carol is “Joy to the World.” It’s just brimming over with joy! Remember those first words: “Joy to the world, the Lord is Come! Let earth receive her King!” Yet, until that only Child of God…the One who came from eternity into time…that Child of God Who grew up and died for you…until He comes into your life, you won’t know joy. It won’t be “Joy to the world the Lord is come…to ME.” Joy is directly connected to Jesus. It comes from inviting the Christ of Christmas into your life. It begins when you ask Him to forgive you of all your sin that He died to pay for on the cross for you. Do you want joy? Decide today to follow Him as your Savior and Lord. Joy comes when He rules MY world.

  Jesus came to give us the gift of hope. During World War II, six pilots took off from an aircraft carrier in the North Atlantic to look for enemy submarines. While gone, the captain of the carrier was forced to issue a blackout alarm. The ship went totally dark. When the pilots tried to return, they couldn’t find the ship. They radioed, “Give us some light, we’re coming home.” The ship’s radio operator replied, “Order: blackout. I cannot give you light.” In turn, each pilot desperately radioed the same message: “Just give me some light and I’ll make it.” Each time, the operator had to radio back, “No light—blackout!” Because there was no light from the ship, those six pilots perished in the North Atlantic. Ours is a dark world that desperately needs light. The birth of Jesus Christ brought the light that offers hope to a world in darkness. He came to give us hope.

  When Aaron left for East Asia on a missions trip some years ago, he asked, “Dad, what if something happens to me?” I answered in confident hope in the cross that I knew Aaron had trusted in for his salvation, “Then, I’ll see you later.”

  When you accept God’s gift of hope, as beautifully written of in Romans 8:35-39, NOTHING can separate you from the love of God and hope!

  The greatest gifts aren’t under a tree. God’s gift was nailed to a tree so we could have peace, joy and hope. Have you opened God’s gift to you?

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Easter Brings Hope

“More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”   Woody Allen

  Is there anything worse than hopelessness? I’ve been down that dead end road more times than I want to remember. It seems there is no way out, it’s futile…all hope is gone.

  Can we even then begin to imagine what the disciples and Jesus’ followers must have felt when He cried out, “It is finished!”? It was the death of hope. No wonder they hid out in the upper room. Sure, they were frightened of the Jewish leaders but I think they huddled together in mutual hopelessness.

  Jesus’ resurrection is a message of many things. One of the greatest has to be that there is hope! The greatest enemy any of us will ever face is death, yet Jesus conquered death when He arose bodily from that tomb. And with His victory, He gave us hope.

  Sadly, we’ve tamed or domesticated Easter. It’s become just another holiday. It’s often devolved into little more than Easter egg hunts or baby chicks, rabbits or ducks. It’s about new clothes or family get-togethers. BUT it’s not! Sadly, even in the Church we’ve re-made Easter into something dull and bland. I heard of a church a few years ago where on Easter the pastor threw out beach balls, making it a big party. But Easter is not about springtime and renewal. It’s not gentle or warm and fuzzy.

  Read the biblical account. The Gospels shout at us with words and phrases like “terrified,” “bowed their faces to the ground” and “amazed by what had happened.” Those followers of Jesus had just gone through an unimaginably traumatic experience. Their beloved leader, who’d been called the Messiah and the King of the Jews, had been horribly tortured by Roman soldiers in Jerusalem only three days earlier and then publicly executed by the cruel, gruesome act of nailing Him to a cross. These were the most despondent and demoralized of people. They fled and sought to not to be associated with Jesus at the end. They were nowhere to be found – leaving only a few loyal women like Mary Magdalene and His mother, Mary, at the foot of the cross.

  Author, Annie Dillard, in her book, “Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters,” catches our domestication: “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping God may wake someday and take offense, or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return.” Easter is so awesomely powerful that we need a bomb disposal suit and a crash helmet. Easter is power beyond what we can imagine apart from Scripture and the eyes of faith, because Easter is true hope.

  Easter means that a holy God is satisfied! Jesus died to pay for our sins, the world’s sins, all sin – past, present and future. And a holy, just God is satisfied – the debt has been paid. For those who have come to the Cross and trusted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, there is no more guilt. The debt has been wiped clean. Jesus paid it all, (Romans 8:1). The only reason a believer confesses sin is for renewal of fellowship, but the relationship is secure and eternal. Nothing else needs to be done. There is absolutely no more debt to pay. “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

  Easter means that all our suffering is temporary! All of us know or have a loved one who’s suffering with a broken, decaying body. Easter reminds us there is hope, because every believer has a new and perfect body awaiting them (1 Corinthians 15:53). No more suffering, no more pain, no more sickness.

  This past week I hit a wall. Being sick for so long began wearing on me. I cried out to my Heavenly Father and began to sob because I was so weary of this sickness. Yet, my time of sickness has been so limited compared to someone who’s been disabled or born with a handicap, or dealing with cancer or some other dreaded disease. And it’s all temporary! It will all ultimately end and there is a new and glorious body awaiting every believer which we will have for all eternity!

  It also means mental anguish is temporary. Many struggle with depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder or some other mental/emotional malady. They grow so weary of the struggle, longing for relief, even death. Easter means even that any and all suffering is temporary. Easter is God’s dynamite ultimately blowing all our suffering away. It means we have pure joy everlasting awaiting us!

  Easter means that our worst situations are all fleeting! God has blessed me with a wonderful marriage and family. I have the greatest job in that I have the privilege of sharing the Word each week. On top of that, God has blessed me with the privilege of being your Pastor. Yet, this joy was not always my situation. As a teen, I felt my circumstances with an addicted, volatile father and as a motherless child were eternal – they weren’t. And neither is your situation. I know some are in miserable marriages. Some carry the heartache of a wayward child or a fragmented family. Some struggle in horrendous work situations. Yet, because of family obligations or because they’re nearing retirement, they’re trapped. Yet, it’s all temporary. Someday there will be no strained or contaminated relationships. Easter is the power that shouts into our soul – “The worst of this world is transient!”

  Easter means that our sin and the curse of death are conquered! Please read 1 Corinthians 15. At the end Paul seems to shout, ““O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (vss. 55-57).

  Not only is the penalty of sin totally paid, the power of sin has been eradicated and ultimately, the very presence of sin will be removed. It means as I stood recently by the casket of my adopted Mom and so many other loved one through the years who have died in Jesus, it is never “Good-bye.” It is instead only “Good night! I’ll see you in the morning, that great Resurrection morning!”

  Easter is power! Power beyond anything in this broken world. Christian friend, let the Spirit unleash its power in your life (Philippians 3:10-11). Live in Easter’s power! And please share this power and the message of Easter, the only message of true hope with a dying hopeless world!

Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI --  262.534.3500. 

Hope...waitin' for the light to shine!

 

“Upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die, I risk my whole eternity on the resurrection.”  Charles Spurgeon

  Our world is becoming more and more hopeless. Talk to someone about nearly any subject, whether the economy, education, world peace, crime, environment, public morality, work conditions, the Church, health, disease, government, marriage and divorce. Have a conversation about any of those subjects (and a host of others) and you’ll soon find that you’re drowning in a sea of negativity and pessimism.

  Life for too many has become dismal and dark. It reminds me of a scene from that classic Mark Twain novel, Huckleberry Finn. Huck wrestled with the darkness in his society and his own darkness as well. In his Southern culture, it was a major crime to help a runaway slave, as Huck had done for Jim. So Huck was torn between the attitudes of those who had raised him who were pro-slavery and looked on abolitionists as those “dirty abolitionists,” and his own friendship with Jim, the slave, who had sacrificed for him, taken risks for him, and had been through all kinds of adventures with him up and down the “Big River,” the mighty Mississippi. At this point in the book, Huck sings, “I am waitin' for the light to shine. I am waitin' for the light to shine. I have lived in the darkness for so long. I am waitin' for the light to shine.”

  Isn’t that most of the people you meet, maybe it’s even you…“waitin' for the light to shine.” This world is drowning in a sea of hopelessness. But, if you’re a Christian, this is not your world!

  Apart from the Christian faith, this world and everything we know is hopeless. Only Christianity has a guaranteed hope. Otherwise, despair hangs like a cloud over our culture. Christianity though offers hope, not just in this life, but also in the life to come.

  The power of Christian hope is accentuated by the difference in epitaphs marking the tombs of 1^st century Christians and unbelievers. Along the Appian Way, which runs south from Rome, stand the disintegrating tombs of aristocratic families that fed on the fat of Rome's power. The inscriptions on those tombs reflect the barrenness of hope. The crumbling Latin on one stone reads: “What I ate and drank I have with me; what I have left I have lost.”  Another says, "A cocktail, please, for you and me." Still another: "Wine and lust ruin the constitution, but they make life, farewell."

  Early Christians persecuted by Rome, often martyred in the Coliseum, were frequently forced to live and hide in the catacombs. Excavations in Rome have revealed some 60 catacombs, containing 600 miles of galleries, 8 feet high, and from 3 to 5 feet wide. On both sides are several rows of long, low, horizontal recesses, one above the other like berths on a boat, closed at the front either by a marble slab or by painted tile. Both pagans and Christians buried their dead in these catacombs. But there’s a stark difference in their epitaphs. Pagan inscriptions read: “Live for the present hour, since we are sure of nothing else.” Or, “I will lift up my hands against the gods who took me away at the age of 20, though I had done no harm.” Another says, “Once I was not. I know nothing about it, and it is no concern of mine.” Still another, “Traveler, curse me not as you pass, for I am in darkness and cannot answer.”   

  Yet, when the graves of Christians were opened, there were skeletons that revealed that their heads had been severed from the bodies, ribs broken, bones calcined from fire. What a contrast to heathen sentiments to read the epitaphs on the Christians' tombs: “Here lies Marcia, put to rest in a dream of peace.” Or, “Called away, he went in peace.” Still another, “Victorious in peace and in Christ.”

  What made the difference? Easter! Hope that comes with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. For the child of God, our ultimate hope centers in Jesus Christ, His Resurrection and the Life of the One Who has conquered death and promised us, as His followers, "Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). Hope for the Christian is different and must be distinguished from merely waiting with bated breath, fingers crossed. Christian Hope is always a confident, guaranteed expectation. Christian Hope never just says, "I hope so." Because of the Resurrection, our hope looks forward to an unconditionally guaranteed glory, where all evil, sorrow, and pain will be banished forever, and where an unimaginable Heaven and inheritance awaits us.

  Christian Hope then is much, much more than mere aspiration. It’s a settled conviction, joined to faith and based on God's Word. When Paul said that the heathen lived "without hope," he didn't mean that they had no desires. Rather, in the truest sense, they were without hope because they lived without the definite certitude that only comes from faith in Christ.

  Ancient culture at its very best, had no long range perspective, but saw man as a prisoner of this world and of life from which there was no escape. The Christian has a guaranteed hope that is interrelated with Easter, Christ’s resurrection and His second coming. Hope, then in the New Testament, is a joyous expectation of eternal salvation. It’s a confident anticipation unmarred by doubt.

  Man innately believes in a life that survives death. Eleanor Roosevelt once wrote, "Almost every person with who I have ever talked in my world travels has believed in life after death." Even Freud called the belief that death is the door to a better life as the "oldest, strongest, and most insistent wish of mankind." Yet, only the Christian who has committed his or her life to Christ, trusting in His sacrificial death on the Cross as the payment for their sins has true hope, not just a “I hope so.”

  Do you know Jesus? Do you have hope? There are many Christian hopes that pertain to this life: hope of answered prayer, the hope of another chance, the hope of God's providence bringing triumph out of tragedy. A  Christian has both hope today and hope for the world to come. It’s what Peter refers to as a “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3-5). Our living hope is founded completely on the resurrected Christ. Earthly hopes often prove vain. The resurrection of Jesus Christ on that first Easter morning launched true hope into its high and confident orbit. Do you have that hope today?

“Always winter, but never Christmas."

  In his wonderful book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis describes Narnia as a place where it’s “always winter, but never Christmas.” Wow! And you think you’re tired of winter? Winter doesn’t bother most of us until after Christmas. In fact, when I was a child growing up in Atlanta, we’d pray for a White Christmas. We’d been brainwashed by Bing Crosby J. We never had one. Then, when I was a freshman in college, I spent Christmas with my brother and his family in the New York City area, and again, there was no snow. I was so disappointed. I’d never seen a white Christmas and thought that by being up North, I’d finally see one. Instead, it was just brown and dingy. It was a very dismal Christmas.

  Yet, when we have a white Christmas, before you can hardly say, “Happy New Years,” most of us are ready to zap away that monolithic coating of white covering the world. We can pretty much handle it through January and will even suffer with it through February, as long as we get a periodic reprieve of warmth and a little melting.

  One of the reasons that this winter has been so tedious is that we’ve not really had a reprieve. Not only have we had snow storm after snow storm, the weather has been brutally cold. It’s been always winter. Yet, though we joke, groan and grimace, we know winter will eventually come to an end. Spring will finally break through. It’s scheduled to arrive on March 20^th. I’m counting the days and hoping it comes a little early.

  Then, the snow and ice will begin to melt. The air will warm up. The grass will begin to turn green. Leaves will return to the trees. Flowers will bloom. The birds will sing. A world of dull white will give way to a myriad of bright color. Even the sun will stay in the sky longer each day. But what if it didn’t? What if it was always winter? What if there was no hope of spring?

  This past week I didn’t know it was going to snow. My heart dropped a bit as I opened the garage door to leave and found my car encased in a fresh layer of white. Jane and I still talk about the winter storm of May 10, 1990. Shortly after we moved to Wisconsin, we had a blizzard in May. I thought I was going to cry when I saw our greening world blanketed once again with white. It wasn’t a few flakes. We got a good three inches, with some areas receiving six inches. I thought that winter would never end. And that was Narnia.

  But Lewis’ tale is not just a literary fantasy. He painted for us a picture of life without Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Winter in Narnia was caused by a spell cast by the White Witch. And winter only ended when Aslan, the true king, the royal lion, returned to rescue the Narnia kingdom from the curse of the White Witch. Without Aslan, Narnia was a land without hope.

  Are you tired of snow? Is the winter getting to you? Do you find yourself feeling dismal, even a bit hopeless that it will never end? Yet, you know that it will, but what if it didn’t? Always winter, never Chritsmas is the condition of someone who doesn’t know Christ. It’s a life without hope. Jesus Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, has not given them new life and with it, hope.

  Can you imagine living in the perpetual winter of unforgiven sin? How hopeless! You’ve fought some dark habit. You’ve had victory over it for months, even years…and then you trip, stumbling back into the tar pit of that sin. Someone who doesn’t know Jesus can only remorse or worse, wallow in their guilt. They don’t know that no matter how horrible their sin is, Christ’s sacrifice is more than enough and then more. He longs to forgive us and heal our souls.

  Can you imagine living in the perpetual winter of depression? Some years ago I went through a serious bout of depression. It seemed my dark valley would never end. Yet, even in the midst of the darkness, I still had hope. Those words so familiar to me as a child echoed back to my soul, even in the midst of the shadows, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Though I hurt, though I wanted to give up in despair, I knew that there was still hope. I was not alone and even the pain was temporary.

  Can you imagine living in the perpetual winter of broken relationships? You feel so alone, so unloved, perhaps betrayed. After my Mom was killed in a car accident when I was ten, I felt so alone. My father and I never did have a relationship. I remember how wounded I felt when one of his wives felt that she needed to tell me that he had informed her that I was an “accident.” But I had another Father, who loved me and wanted me. I was no “accident,” I was part of His eternal plan. Psalms 27:10 was my anchor and is still a precious promise to me, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.” I can’t imagine facing a divorce, the death of a spouse, a broken family, a lost friendship without “a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24)…and I know His Name. C. S. Lewis called Him Aslan but He’s the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and His Name is Jesus.

    Can you imagine living in the perpetual winter of economic stress? You can never make ends meet. There’s never enough food, heat or money. A better job, some times any job is an impossibility. There are many suffering in America from poverty. Can you imagine what it’s like though in places like Sudan or North Korea? No hope. Ultimately, facing a death of impoverishment and starvation. So how do believers there survive? How do they cling to hope when it’s so hopeless? They hold on to the same promises that brought the Apostle Paul through his suffering and loss, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

  Do you ever wonder why we continually urge you to share the Gospel? Why we are so passionate about reaching our community, those around us with the Gospel? Of all the things that Jesus could have shared before He left this world, why did He give us marching orders to reach our world? Because if you don’t know Jesus, it’s always winter, but never Christmas. It’s a world without hope and when we have the message of eternal hope, spring and summer for the soul, how can we not share it?