Disney: Come Over to the Dark Side

 

“In a dark place we find ourselves…” Yoda 

  Okay, I’ll confess, I’m an avid Star Wars fan. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you probably know that a new series has been released in the Star Wars saga. Ahsoka Tano first appeared in the 2008 TV series, The Clone Wars and has since appeared in several other shows. She now is the protagonist of the new show on Disney Plus, Ahsoka. Disney is hoping for a hit to rival its last big fan favorite—The Mandalorian after Disney canceled the star of the show Gina Carano for having “politically incorrect” views.   
  Please understand, I’m not suggesting that you not watch Ahsoka. Yet, what I find hypocritical is that the heroes in Star Wars are those who resist governmental edicts, stand up for freedom and personal rights. They refuse to be cloned into the thinking of the Dark Side and Empire. 

  But ever since George Lucas sold the rights to Star Wars to Disney, they have acted more like the Empire than the Resistance. For example, one is not allowed to be a star and have an opinion in your private life that doesn’t goosestep with the “Empire.” Gina Carrano discovered that and was cancelled by Disney. She shared an Instagram story that compared “hating someone for their political views” to the treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust. While I’m not defending Carrano, I find it ironic that other celebrities can refer to opponents with similar slurs of “Hitlers” or “Nazis” and no one blinks.

  Even innocuous fairy tales are targets of the cancel crowd. Disney has been criticized for the kiss the prince gives Snow White without her consent while under the witch’s spell. The reasoning is that it can’t possibly be true love if only one person knows it’s happening. While Disney has not “cancelled” some popular movies, many are currently appended with an advisory notice warning of “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures…These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.” What movies are objectionable? Dumbo, Aladdin, The Aristocats and Peter Pan, and even Swiss Family Robinson.

   A vital part of a healthy culture is an open dialogue of ideas and differing worldviews. As Christians, we believe that “truth does not fear scrutiny.” Cancel culture though is the deadly byproduct of both political correctness and postmodernism. Political correctness is the attempt to minimize social and institutional offense through policing speech (and thought), forcing the use of certain words and banning other words. Postmodernism asserts that all truth claims are subjective (“what is true for you is not necessarily true for me”). Truth becomes a matter of preference. “Tolerance” is promoted as a supreme value. Ironically, the more “tolerant” a culture becomes, the more intolerant it is of anyone it perceives as intolerant. People deemed “intolerant” or potentially giving offense must be silenced. Cancel culture is the outcome of such distorted reasoning. Unless intellectual and moral sanity returns to our culture, Christ-followers with a biblical worldview will potentially find themselves cancelled.

  So how do we who love Jesus respond to those who cancel us? Do we fight fire with fire? Personally, I believe our model is found in the example of our Savior who experienced cancelling and was crucified because He was on “the wrong side of history.” His followers have followed His example throughout the ages, and we must do the same.

  We respond with grace. Cancel culture shames an individual for something they’ve said or a belief they hold and claims that they no longer have a part in a social context. Instead of fighting back, we offer grace. Grace is undeserved favor that’s not earned. As we’ve received unmerited favor from God, we must extend His grace to others. We were once God’s enemies but through the blood of Jesus, we’re now His friends. Understanding the grace, we’ve received (Ephesians 2:8-9) gives us the ability to offer it to others. Jesus said, “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” We must extend God’s grace so those who mistreat us, so they see Jesus in us.

  We act with humility. In a cancel culture there’s someone “right” and someone “wrong.” Those seen as “right” do the condemning. Those seen as wrong are condemned and shamed. Yet Jesus was known for His humility, and we must be known for that same trait. We must examine ourselves, our actions, and beliefs and align them with God’s Word before judging someone else. It takes humility to do that. A heart of humility allows us to listen first and avoid arguments. If we’re being judged without an opportunity to explain our beliefs, we have the opportunity to act humbly and avoid an argument.

  We strive for unity. Cancel culture promotes division, an “us vs. them” mentality. Christ-followers are to seek to live in unity with unbelievers “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). We are for work and ethical businesses prospering. We are for personal safety, care for the poor, disabled and disenfranchised. We are for a basic education to be available to everyone. We are for justice. While we may disagree on some moral issues, there are many things that we can join with even those who disagree with us on our faith.

  We offer forgiveness. Cancel culture teaches holding grudges and excluding someone for what they’ve done or said. The gospel calls us to offer forgiveness. As we’ve been forgiven, we must offer forgiveness to even those who hate us and offer the opportunity to be redeemed from their sins. The gospel implies that we were undeserving, yet we received another chance, and we must offer the same forgiveness to others.

  While we must resist being cloned or silenced by this world’s system, Jesus’ mission for us is to share God’s plan of redemption. His ways will seem more and more otherworldly. As His followers, we must offer grace, practice humility, remain united, and extend forgiveness even to those who treat us horribly. It’s what Jesus did. It’s what He has called us to do!

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. 

 

60 years for $4.80

 

“Sometimes, little things make a big difference…”  Nino Varsimashvili

 

  What would you be willing to give up for $4.80? How long would you be willing to give up something of significance for a little less than $5.00? 

  For 60 years Ted Sams regretted missing his high school graduation. Now that he’s 78, Sams can finally call himself a high school graduate, On Friday, May 27^th, he donned a cap and gown and received his diploma with the class of 2022 at Southern California’s San Gabriel High School. 

  Back in 1962 when Sams was a high school senior, he got in trouble, was suspended five days before the end of the school year, and ended up missing a crucial final exam that he had to make up over the summer. 

  He recently told a local TV station, “When I went back with my grade, they wouldn't give me my diploma because I owed $4.80 for a book, and so I just walked away and said forget it.”

  Fortunately, the high school still had Sams’ original diploma locked away in an old filing cabinet. He beamed as he walked across the graduation stage at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and received his diploma. He said, “over the years, I complained to my kids a number of times about how $4.80 kept me from having my diploma.”

  It’s amazing how something small, like $4.80, can cause us to make a big, bad decision with lifelong ramifications?

  God has matured me a lot over the years (I still have a long ways to go) but I remember a day when someone giving me a one-finger wave would cause me to go nuclear. When I was growing up, my Dad would chew us out if someone forgot to turn a light off. Have you seen one of those Youtube clips of McDonald’s or some other fast food joint and a customer got the wrong order? Some of them are of a customer crawling through the drive-thru window or over the counter to attack the cashier who messed up their order. It’s a $5,000.00 reaction to a $5.00 problem.

  There’s a verse tucked away in the Song of Solomon that describes this, “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards…” (2:15). A little fox – big damage! 

  Many a parent has had a meltdown with a child over something insignificant like spilling a drink or leaving a toy out. Married couples fight over the trivial, like putting the toilet paper on the wrong way or forgetting to empty the garbage…or a truly major crisis, leaving just a bit of milk in the jug without replacing it.

  I wish that I could say that I never get angry over the small but unfortunately, I’m guilty, too. My lack of patience with slow drivers is a continual area of spiritual growth. My sanctification is still working its way down to my right foot.

  Personally, I think pride was part of Ted Sams’ problem and it was further complicated by stubbornness. Stubborn is defined as “having or showing persistent determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so.”

  The Bible contains several examples of stubbornness. Probably one of the most well-known ones was Pharaoh. Remember the story? God told Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” but Pharaoh was stubborn and wouldn't let them go. So God sends plague after plague, and after each plague, Pharaoh cries out, “OK, I'll let the people go.” Yet after God lifted the plagues, the Bible records that Pharaoh “hardened his heart” and wouldn’t let God’s people go. The end result was the 10^th plague, the death of the first born in every Egyptian home. It was the end result of Pharaoh’s stubbornness. We lose a lot when we’re foolishly stubborn and needlessly dig in our heels.

  Ted Sams lost sixty years because of stubborn pride. I wonder how many relationships suffer needless estrangement because of the same thing. Often there’s been an argument, then a rupture in the relationship. It may have gone on so long that the combatants no longer even remember what the original offense was. They just know that they’re angry at the other person.

  In his book, The Preaching Event, John Claypool tells a powerful story about identical twin brothers who never married because they enjoyed each other’s company so much. When their father died, they took over his store and ran it together in a joyful collaboration.

  One day a man came in to make a small purchase and paid for it with a dollar. The brother who made the sale placed the dollar on top of the cash register and walked the customer to the door to say goodbye. When he returned, the dollar bill was gone. He said to his twin brother, “Did you take the dollar bill I left here?” “No, I didn’t,” answered the brother. “Surely, you took it,” he said, “There was nobody else in the store.” The brother became angry: “I’m telling you,  I did not take the dollar bill.”

  From that point, mistrust and suspicion grew until finally, the two brothers could no longer work together. They put a partition right down the middle of the building and made it into two stores. In anger, they refused to speak to each other for the next twenty years.

  One day a stranger pulled up in a car and entered one of the two stores. “Have you been in business very long here?” the stranger asked. “Yes, 30 or 40 years,” was the answer. “Good,” continued the stranger, “I very much need to tell you something...Some 20 years ago, I passed through this town. I was out of work and homeless. I jumped off a boxcar. I had no money and I hadn’t eaten for days. I came down that alley outside and when I looked into your store window, I saw a dollar bill on the cash register. I slipped in and took it. Recently though I became a Christian. I was converted and accepted Christ as my personal Savior. I know now it was wrong of me to steal that dollar bill...and I have come to pay you back with interest and to beg your forgiveness.”

  When the stranger finished his confession, the old storekeeper began to weep as he said, “Would you do me a favor? Would you please come next door and tell that story to my brother?” Of course, with the second telling, the two brothers were reconciled with many hugs and apologies and tears. Twenty years of hurt and pain and a broken relationship based not on fact, but on mistrust and misunderstanding, but then healing came; reconciliation came, because of that stranger’s love for Christ.
  I’m glad Ted Sams humbled himself and got his diploma. But he still lost sixty years. How about you? Is there someone you need to reconcile with? How much more time do you want to lose? Please humble yourself and fix it…today!

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. 

FORGIVENESS!

 

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable
because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you”  C.S. Lewis 

  It was the slap heard around the world. What was to be another self-congratulatory Academy Awards Ceremony went viral after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the midst of the ceremony. Social media and pundits debated “should he?” or “shouldn’t he?” on whether Smith should have reacted or if Rock overstepped boundaries with his cruel joke. Yet, what was missed by many was something that distinguishes Christians and the Church from every other segment in society – FORGIVENESS. 

  Denzel Washington did something increasingly rare these days. He sought redemption for someone who’d made a serious mistake. After the incident, Washington and actor/director Tyler Perry reportedly put their arms around Smith and prayed with him during a commercial break. Why? During an interview, Washington said, “But for the grace of God go any of us. Who are we to condemn?”

  It appeared that most of the rest of Hollywood, after at first giving Smith a standing ovation when he won “Best Actor” for his role in the film “King Richard,” quickly turned on him and condemned his behavior. Smith apologized to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and later apologized to Rock. But the Academy has banned Smith from attending a ceremony for ten years and he’s now resigned from the Academy.

  The Academy doesn’t understand God’s forgiveness. God’s desire is redemption. It’s what’s wrong with our world today. Relationships from marriages to parent-child ones to work ones to even our penal system know nothing of forgiveness, repentance, redemption, and restoration.

  Condemnation is the norm in our politics and culture these days. Condemnation only leaves people condemned. It never gives hope or produces life change. Instead, it has the effect of hardening hearts, both of the one who condemns and the one on the receiving end.

  The message of the Cross, Easter’s message is that there’s a better way. It’s what we celebrate today! It’s what believers celebrate every Sunday.

  In her book, Hope Has Its Reasons, Rebecca Pippert, shares of counseling a woman that could not forgive herself for aborting her unborn child. 

  The woman told Pippert, “I cannot forgive myself! I have confessed this sin a thousand times, and I still feel such shame and sorrow. The thought that haunts me the most is how could I murder an innocent life?”

  Pippert took a deep breath and said what she’d been thinking. “I do not know why you are so surprised. This is not the first time your sin has led to death; it is the second.”

  The woman looked at her in utter amazement. Pippert continued, “When you look at the cross, all of us show up as crucifiers. Religious or non-religious, good or bad, aborters or nonaborters-all of us are responsible for the death of the only innocent One who ever lived. Jesus died for all of our sins-past, present, and future. Do you think there are any sins of yours that Jesus did not have to die for? It does not matter that you were not there two thousand years ago. We all sent Him there. So if you have done it before, then why could you not do it again?”

  The woman stopped crying. She looked Pippert straight in the eyes and said, “You are absolutely right. I have done something even worse than killing my baby. My sin is what drove Jesus to the cross. It does not matter that I was not there pounding in the nails, I am still responsible for his death. Do you realize the significance of what you are telling me? I came to you saying I had done the worst thing imaginable. And you tell me I have done something even worse than that.”

  Pippert comments, “I grimace because I knew this was true.” Then the woman said, “If the cross shows me that I am far worse than I had ever imagined, it also shows me that my evil has been absorbed and forgiven. If the worst thing any human can do is to kill God’s Son, and that can be forgiven, then how can anything else-even my abortion-not be forgiven?”

  Pippert concludes: “I will never forget the look in her eyes as she sat back in awe and quietly said, ‘Talk about amazing grace.’ This time she wept not out of sorrow but from relief and gratitude. I saw a woman literally transformed by a proper understanding of the Cross.”

  Smith’s slap is a minor misdemeanor compared to Deicide, the murdering of God. If we’re honest, we can all relate to the Apostle Paul’s confession of 1 Timothy 1:15: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and I was the greatest of them all” (Living Bible). I too am the worst sinner that I know. I am responsible for murdering God and so are you. The reason that we can forgive is that we have been forgiven of so much. There is nothing that Christ’s death on the Cross didn’t pay for.

  A constant theme of the New Testament is that Christians, the forgiven, are the forgivers. We’re following Jesus’ example who from the Cross said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

  Ephesians 4:32 commands us, “ forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” The first Church martyr, Stephen, prayed for the forgiveness of the ones hurling stones at him. The history of the Church is a constant thread of forgivers. One of the greatest indications that one is truly a Christ-follower is that one has not only been forgiven but is also a forgiver.

  It’s the only way you can explain the wives and children of the five missionaries killed by the Auca Indians in Ecuador who returned to share the gospel of forgiveness with the ones who’d murdered their husbands and fathers. Other than the power of the gospel and God’s forgiveness how else do we explain the response of the families of those slaughtered by White Supremacist Dylann Roof? Roof murdered nine people during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but the survivors and relatives of the victims extended grace and forgiveness to him, his wife and his children, shocking the nation!

  Easter reminds us that two things distinguish Christians from a hateful, vengeful world. We’ve been forgiven and we forgive! That’s real power! That’s the gospel! Have you met the One who can truly transform your life? Have you met Jesus, the One who died in your place? Have you been forgiven? Are you a forgiver?

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. 

  

Revenge or Forgiveness?

 “It is more honor to bury an injury than to revenge it.”
                                                                                    Thomas Watson

 

  During the Korean War, two American soldiers were stationed a long distance from the conflict and were allowed to rent an apartment off base. They hired a local Korean boy to do their housekeeping, and were immediately impressed with his positive, joyful spirit…so they began playing pranks on him. They nailed his shoes to the floor, put water buckets over doorways, smeared grease on stove knobs. And the boy would smile and pull out the nails, dry himself off, clean off the stove, with never a word of complaint. Finally, they became ashamed of themselves and told him they would stop their pranks. He said, “You mean, no more nail shoes to floor?” “No more.” “No more water over door? No more grease on stove?” “No more.” He smiled again and said, “Okay, then, me no more spit in soup.” 

  That story came to mind recently as I read about the social media war between Bette Midler and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice. Revenge is enticing. It’s hard to be a person of peace. 

  In December, Midler had tweeted that West Virginians were “poor, illiterate and strung out” in response to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan. To her credit, she later apologized, though she should never have said it. But that didn’t keep West Virginia Governor Jim Justice from taking a shot a Midler during his State of the State address. At the end of his speech he lifted up his family’s bulldog, Babydog, showing off her derriere, while saying, “Babydog tells Bette Midler and all of those out there, ‘kiss her hiney’.” Of course, Midler had to respond by shooting another tweet back. 

  It’s embarrassing when leaders and celebrities behave like childish junior-highers. No one is surprised when a junior higher has a potty mouth – they’re an adolescent. Governor Justice is seventy years old and has been elected governor twice. Bette Midler is seventy-six and is a world-renowned singer and actress. Isn’t it time for these two to grow up?

  Tragically, crudeness, childishness are too often the normal fare of those in the limelight when someone disagrees with them. None of this is new but it does seem to be growing worse. Consider though what might have happened, if instead of taking a potshot at Bette Midler, the Governor had thanked her for her apology and invited her to visit West Virginia to use her influence to assist the State in combatting their poverty and drug crisis?

  As believers, we cannot keep a lost world from wading in the mud but we are to be different. While it’s socially acceptable for pagans to use slurs, insults, and slander – it must not be true of the people of God. We are not to fight fire with fire. Perhaps in the day in which we live one of the most powerful and challenging passages in Scripture is Romans 12:14, 17-21:

   “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

  Frederick Buechner wisely defined anger: “Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.”

  Please understand, I’m not suggesting that we are to be Christian doormats, but we are to be the people of grace. We are to be the ones who turn the other cheek, who don’t have to respond to every slam or insult.

  Why? We have something that they don’t have. We can tell Daddy what they’ve said and done. The best way to handle our critics and opponents is to “Tell our Father” and leave it all with Him. Let God be their judge, while you offer longsuffering kindness. But you can’t do this alone, you must ask the Spirit to help you. Let Him miraculously work through you. 

  Corrie ten Boom, the famous Holocaust survivor and committed Christian experienced this miracle. Here’s her story in her own words.  

  “It was at a church service in Munich, Germany, that I saw him, the former S. S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there—the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, my sister’s pain-blanched face. As the church was emptying, he came up to me. ‘How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein. To think that, as you say, [God] has washed my sins away!’ “His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? ‘Lord Jesus,’ I prayed, ‘forgive me, and help me to forgive him.’ I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer: ‘Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.’ As I took the man’s hand, the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on God’s. When God tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.”

  Christians are the forgiven ones. We have experienced grace! We must be the ones who share His grace and forgiveness just as we have received it!

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. 

Christ's Resurrection Gives Us Hope

“Hope is called the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19) because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a ‘wish’ (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.” R.C. Sproul

   Henri Nouwen told a story in his book, Turn My Mourning into Dancing: A solder was captured as a prisoner of war. His captors transported him by train far from his homeland. He felt isolated from country, family, and anything familiar. His loneliness grew as he continued not to hear anything from home. He could not even know if his family was even alive or how his country was faring. Thus, he lost a sense of anything to live for. But suddenly, unexpectedly, he got a letter. It was smudged, torn at the edges from months of travel. But it said, “We are waiting for you to come home. All is fine here. Don’t worry.” Everything instantly changed. He did the same difficult labor on the same meager rations, but now he knew someone waited for his release and homecoming. Hope changed his life. That’s what Easter is about – Hope! If the cross had ended it all. If Jesus had not risen bodily from the grave, we would have no hope. That’s the thesis of the great chapter on the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15. 

  Christ’s resurrection gives us hope in the face of death. Read the Gospel accounts for yourself. Until His disciples met the risen Christ, they had no hope. The only explanation for their radical change from the terrified to the bold was meeting the risen Christ. It’s why one of our favorite Psalms is the 23rd where it says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” (vs. 4). Because Jesus is alive we know that we will not be left in death. The moment that the born-again Christian closes their eyes on this life, they wake up in heaven with the Lord Jesus for all eternity. “Absent from the body…at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).

  Christ’s resurrection gives us hope to see those who died in faith again. Heaven becomes sweeter for me each year. For over 50 years now, I’ve longed to see my Mom once again. In 1970 she was taken in a tragic car accident into the presence of her Savior.

  One of the burdens of long pastorates is that you have to bury your friends. But they’re not gone. They’re not dust and ashes. No, because of the resurrection I know that they are waiting for me and you. They are more alive today than they have ever been. The longer that I am a Christian, the more that I understand the Apostle Paul’s heart when he said, “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Who but a Christian would believe that death is gain. Because of Christ’s resurrection, we know we leave a temporal world of pain and suffering for eternal bliss.

  Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that we are forgiven. Because Jesus died and paid for our sin, we know that we’re forgiven BUT if He had not risen from the grave, we would have wondered if it was enough. Because of His resurrection, Romans 8:1 is not an empty promise, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” When I look back at my life and my dark, evil heart. It’s hard for me to believe that a holy God loves me and forgives me. For years it haunted me that my last words to my Mom a few weeks before she died were: “I hate you!” Sure, they were uttered by a 10-year-old, but they were words that I never had a chance to apologize for. Even the night that she was killed, they came ringing back in my heart. But because of Jesus’ cross, because of His resurrection, I know that I’m forgiven for that and my innumerable other transgressions. It’s not because I’ve done anything to balance things out with God. It’s because Jesus paid my sin debt. He paid it all. It’s all of grace that I’m forgiven. If you’ve trusted Him as your Savior, so are you!

  Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that we have a new body. My earth suit is wearing out and so is yours. Every year there are more parts that creak and groan with aches and pains. It has an expiration date. But I’ve got a new one waiting for me. “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:54-55). Jesus’ resurrection and His glorified body gave us a peek into what God has for us in our new and eternal ones. 

  Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that there will be a new earth. The Creative Mandate requires that we not abuse this planet (Genesis 1:28). We’re managers of God’s creation and property. Because of sin, we know that mankind has miserably failed. We’re terrible managers of God’s property. We pollute. We abuse. We burn and pillage. We wreck and ruin. But someday there will be a new earth, better than Eden, better than the world contaminated by sin (Revelation 21:1).  

  Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that there will be a new government. Too many Christians have placed their hope in human political leaders. Even the best governmental leaders have hearts contaminated by sin. Too many believers wring their hands over what temporal leaders do. Should we be involved? Yes. Should we vote. Yes. And we must pray. Yet, we know that all government has a very short shelf life. 

  In the midst of sometimes shocking political upheavals, we know that  Jesus Christ is the ruler of all the kings and presidents and chiefs and premiers and governors and prime ministers. If President Biden says to Jesus, “How can you be the ruler over me? I have my office by the election of the people of the United States, a sovereign nation, and by virtue of a constitutional inauguration and installation.” The Lord Jesus will answer, “I have my office as ruler over you by God’s sovereignty and by virtue of my resurrection, my indestructible life, and my installation at God's right hand.” When Jesus rose again, God the Father exalted Him and gave Him a “name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee might bow” (Phil. 2:9-10). That includes all the rulers and kings of the earth. Jesus is alive today presiding from heaven over the rulers of the earth. It’s a breathtaking thought and something most today do not believe, but it’s at the heart of biblical truth. Jesus Christ is alive and reigns. It should revolutionize the way we watch the news and live out our lives. Because of His resurrection, we watch the events of this world through the eyes of faith. His resurrection turned the 1st-century world upside down. It must revolutionize our lives! Easter is God’s reminder of that.

  As John Donne wrote, “Death, be not proud.” God won’t let death win. Jesus is alive and we will live with Him forever and ever!

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 Field of NEW Dreams!

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment

until it becomes a memory.”

  It seems that nearly every snowstorm, my friend, Tim Mocarski, posts on his Facebook wall, “Pitchers and catchers report in __ of days.” As we’re having a bit of “November-mas,” let me share a story happening next summer. On August 13^th of 2020, the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees will play in Dyersville, Iowa,—that field made famous by the movie, Field of Dreams. It’s being dubbed “MLB at Field of Dreams.”

  It’s one of my favorite movies. If you’re like me, it brings tears to my eyes every time. Though called “a baseball flick,” the real story is father-son relationships. At the end, Kevin Costner’s character asks his dad, “Have a catch?” World Magazine editor, Marvin Olasky writing on this:

  “My lifetime catches with my father: zero. He had no interest in baseball. I never played until I was 11. At that point I was a fat kid with a lazy left eye, so my batting average during one year of Little League was .182, if I generously count as hits what were probably errors. Still, I wanted to get better. Become a better fielder. So I nagged my father to come out on the street and throw me some ground balls. I said ‘street’ because we lived in urban Massachusetts and had no back yard or nearby green space. That meant a missed ball would go rolling and rolling. One day, finally, my father agreed. We stood in front of the house in which we had an apartment. I walked 20 yards away. He threw me a ball that bounced twice before it should have hit my glove—and I missed it. Embarrassed, and blaming my father rather than myself, I ran after it, yelling something like, ‘Why didn’t you throw it straight?’ By the time I reached the ball and turned around, he was walking up the steps to our front door. He went inside. That was it. We never again even started a catch. Nor did we talk much—and once I became a teenager, we spoke hardly at all.

  Cut to October, 1984. I was 34. He was 67—and dying of bladder cancer. I lived 2,000 miles away and flew to Boston with the public goal of providing some comfort and help, but my private motive was selfish: To learn how he’d transformed from a brilliant student to a person who had spent the last 30 years disengaged and defeated. One evening we sat on a Danish Modern couch in their apartment. After some perfunctory remarks I threw him a question about his dropping out of graduate school. The question was harder and curvier than a polite inquiry should have been. He got up and walked away, saying over his shoulder something like, ‘Why don’t you mind your own business?’ I put away the conversational ball and went to sleep. The next day I asked no more questions. My father and mother drove me to Boston’s Logan Airport. He wore a baseball cap because chemotherapy had left him bald. I pulled my suitcase out of the trunk, shook his hand, leaned over, and whispered in his ear, ‘I love you,’ because that seemed the right thing to say to a dying parent. I never saw him again.

  This October is the 35th anniversary of our non-conversation. It still haunts me. In the magic of Field of Dreams, the son and the dad finally have a catch. That catches my tears, every time.”

  That touched me. One of the great regrets of my own life is the fractured relationship with my Dad. During my formative years he was a great business success, yet a prescription drug addict. Later he cleaned up his life and even became very active in his church. But he and I seemed unable to ever resolve our unresolved issues. Though I’d love to point a finger at him, like Marvin Olasky, I’m sure there are many fingers pointing back at me. And now that my Dad is gone, it truly is unresolvable. There’s not anything specific that I know of, yet I’ve prayed to my Heavenly Father, “to the extent that I sinned in my relationship with my Dad, please forgive me.” Based on Scripture’s promise in 1 John 1:9, I know that God has.  

  Some situations, as Romans 12:19 reminds us (“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all”), are unresolvable. Yet, many others are. And if you can, please do solve them. Still, many others should just be buried and forever forgotten.

  Looking back I truly believe my Dad did the best he could and he really did a lot for me. His own father was a drunk, horribly abusive and even ended up for a time on a Georgia chain gang. Yet, my Dad paid for his children to attend private schools and also paid for me to attend high school in Wisconsin. He didn’t have to. Yes, he was difficult to live with and left scars on our lives. Yet, I truly believe it was out of ignorance, not malice.

  Sadly, I know that I too have left wounds on my own children’s souls. All parents do. None of us are perfect. We’re all sinners. With my own children, I’ve sought to own my sinful failures and asked their forgiveness. I don’t want unfinished business between us.

  As we come into the Holiday Season old wounds tend to resurface. Many of us need to forgive and move on. As believers, we ourselves have already been forgiven an unpayable debt, so, we too must forgive, “forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). Most of our parents did the best that they could or knew how to do.

  As parents, though we determined to parent better than we were parented, we too have our own failures. It’s why we all need grace and grace is not something to horde, it’s given to be given away.

  During this Holiday Season when you’re tempted to let loose, remember again how much grace you’ve received. Not only that, you and I would not be who God has shaped us into if we’d not first been wounded. Years ago I determined to have the spirit the Patriarch Joseph had toward all of the evil his brothers had done to Him, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” (Gen. 50:20). That’s so freeing!

  Whether it's a parent or a sibling – choose to be a person of grace! While we can’t change yesterday’s memories, we can make new ones. If we build it, maybe they will come. Make new memories while you still can and thank God that His grace is enough for yesterday, today and tomorrow.

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. 

Forgiving the Unforgivable

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a permanent attitude.”

                                                                        Martin Luther King, Jr.

  If you haven’t seen the video of Brandt Jean forgiving and then embracing Amber Guyger, please Google it to watch it. It’s a powerful example of grace and forgiveness where humanly we’d expect hatred.  

  Amber Guyger is the former Dallas cop who mistakenly shot and killed Brandt Jean’s brother, her unarmed black neighbor, 26-year-old Botham Jean. Botham, an accountant from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, was watching TV and eating a bowl of ice cream in his own apartment. Guyger stepped into his apartment after mistaking it for her own and thought he was an intruder. She fired two shots, striking him once in the chest, killing him. Last week she was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years.

  During his victim impact statement, Brandt Jean stunned the courtroom and the world. This was his opportunity to tell Guyger exactly what he thought of the former officer after she was sentenced for murdering his brother last year. His older brother, Botham, was his best friend.

  There were only two rules for his “victim impact statement” – no threats and no profanity. Yet, what came next was a stunning moment for those in the courtroom and those who watched online. Even jaundiced courthouse veterans wept at something that they’d never seen before.

  Brandt took a breath into the microphone and began to speak. He hadn’t told his family what he planned to say, he told Guyger. He spoke for himself, not them. “If you truly are sorry, I know I can speak for myself, I forgive you.” He told her that he wanted what Botham would have wanted. “I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that Botham would want for you. I love you as a person, and I don’t wish anything bad on you.” He continued, telling Guyger that he didn’t even want her to go to prison. “Can I give her a hug, please?” Brandt asked the Judge. “Please.”

  Judge Tammy Kemp gave him the OK. Guyger hesitated for just a moment and then she rushed toward Jean and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed uncontrollably. They whispered as they embraced, words heard only by them. Twice Jean and Guyger started to pull apart, but then hugged again. Both were in tears when they finally broke away.

  Yet, that wasn’t the end. Powerfully moved by what she’d witnessed, Judge Kemp stepped out of the room for a moment and returned with a Bible. She embraced and whispered to Botham’s mother, “I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you for the way you modeled Christ.” She then stepped up to the now-convicted murderer, placed the Bible in front of her, and gently said, “Read this.” Guyger jumped to her feet and embraced the judge, who in turn, hugged her back, whispering something inaudible in her ear.

  Not surprisingly, Madison, Wisconsin organization, the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct that Judge Kemp had overstepped her authority when she prayed with and gave a Bible to Amber Guyger.

  Yet, without the moral absolutes of the Bible, there could be no true justice system. Right and wrong would be subjective or cultural. The Bible says that murder is always wrong (Ex. 20:13). America’s Founding Fathers recognized the need for moral absolutes found in Scripture. It’s why the two tablets of stone symbolizing the Decalogue are portrayed at the United States Supreme Court Building. Amber Guyger was judged and found guilty of murder by the moral absolute standards based on Scripture.

  While human courts rightfully demand justice, the only hope of forgiveness is also found in God’s Word. It would have been an injustice for Guyger to have faced no penalty in a human court of law. Wonderfully for Guyger and for all of us, God has another court and is the final Judge.

  When Jesus died on the cross, He took all of humanity’s punishment upon Himself. He took the guilt of our sins and carried them for us. In a prophetic portrait of the future Christ, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Hebrews 9:22 says, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

  The horrible weight of sin is so great that only shed blood can atone for it. Only by the sinless Savior’s death can we understand the extreme consequences of the price of sin. Only by His substitutionary sacrifice can there be forgiveness. If we do not embrace the Cross, we can never receive absolution from guilt. Jesus’ cross is essential for us and for God to be just in offering forgiveness. It’s our only path to forgiveness and freedom.

  It’s because Botham Jean had personally experienced that forgiveness that he could offer it to the one who murdered his brother. And only if Amber Guyger accepts God’s salvation, can she experience forgiveness from God.

  Forgiveness is an act of love, mercy, and grace. It’s a decision to not hold something against another person, despite what they’ve done to you. But it is not automatic. Even God cannot forgive someone who doesn’t want it.  

  Do you want to have your sins forgiven? Forgiveness of every sin, even murder, is available if you will simply place your faith in Christ as your Savior. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” Jesus paid our sin debt, so anyone can be forgiven. All we must do is ask God to forgive us, believing Christ died to pay for our forgiveness, and then God will forgive us! It’s that easy! You can’t earn forgiveness or somehow pay for it yourself. You can only receive it, by faith, through the grace and mercy of God. My friend, have you asked God to forgive 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. 

The Terrorist Within

“The only reason that you’re conscious right now is because I don’t want to carry you.” Jack Bauer

  What were you doing five years ago? Was it some life changing event? Something happen to you that you’ll never forget? Were you really hurt?

  Apparently, that was the case with Freddie Prinze Jr was. Last week, during a promotional interview for the Disney XD series, Star War Rebels, Prinze shared that he’d such a heinous time starring opposite Kiefer Sutherland in Season 8 of the hit series 24, he nearly quit show business. He “hated every moment” of filming the TV series. And what made all of this newsworthy is that it happened more than five years ago. Not five weeks or months, five years! This recent revelation is the first time any issue between the two actors has ever been made public. A spokesperson for the producers of 24 responded that “this is the first he has heard of Freddie’s grievances…Kiefer enjoyed working with Freddie and wishes him the best.” Apparently, Freddie Prinze Jr’s net worth of some $19 million is just not enough to help him recover from his feelings of being mistreated over five years ago.

  My friend, Bob Loggans, has a wonderful description of bitterness that he’d act out when he preached on bitterness. He’d start with something like a huge dirty clothes bag. As Bob talked about the high price of bitterness, he’d start putting big rocks in his bag. For every incident of bitterness he’s add another rock to his bag: bitterness toward your parents, throw a boulder in the bag. Bitterness toward a sibling, throw a boulder in the bag. Bitterness toward your spouse, throw a boulder in the bag. Bitterness toward your boss or a fellow employees, throw a boulder in the bag. Bitterness toward a neighbor, classmate, coach, etc., throw a boulder in the bag for each one.

  Then, Bob would point out that many people go through life with all of this extra baggage, just like trying to carry around a huge bag of rocks. They keep adding rock after rock of bitterness. Then, they wonder why life is dreary and they feel so worn out and weighed down. 

  Apparently, Freddie Prinze Jr is carrying around a big bag of rocks. This may surprise you. The ones I felt sorriest for with the revelation of his five year grudge were his wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar and their two children, Charlotte and Rocky. When someone is carrying a load of bitterness, usually their spouse finds that they’re the most frequent recipient of that unresolved emotional acid and their children are next on the hit list. Usually, small things set them off, like someone cutting them off in traffic or a forgotten minor detail. What’s worthy of a flyswatter response for someone with a healthy handle on their emotions, is an atomic meltdown from someone with internal lava dating back years or decades. And the volcano will blow at the most inopportune times over the smallest offenses.

  Those closest to the bitter person, usually seek to placate them and even take responsibility for the explosion. They tiptoe relationally around the person, attempting as much as they can not to set them off. It doesn’t work. Life cannot be controlled. It can’t be that sterile. Soon they find the lava spewing again. Frequently, the lava victim looks back, carefully analyzing what they possibly could have done different to avert the explosion. Nothing. When you’re dealing with a bitter person, it’s not a matter of “Will they explode?” It’s a question of “When?”

  Bitter individuals are usually lonely people. They may have lots of acquaintances, but few friends. Either they avoid getting close to others, for fear that who they really are will be discovered. Or, others avoid them, out of anxiety that they’ll inadvertently do something which will set them off. Subconsciously, even unbelievers are aware of the blunt reality of Proverbs 22:24-25, “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.”

  Add to that, while the bitter person may not be cognizant of it, they’re frequently broken records. As they continually mentally feed on past toxic life events or perceived mistreatments, some real, others in their mind, the poisons consistently come up in dialogues as you spend time with them.

  Friends may foolishly suggest they do something proactive to resolve their bitterness. Yet, they’ll find the person is addicted to being bitter and seemingly seems to enjoy being miserable and making others miserable.

  Bitter individuals often struggle with depression, partially because they’ve become isolated. As they rehearse their wounds mentally, they sink deeper into self-pity. In this mental rehashing, they often exaggerate their wounds and the many good things that have happened in their life fade out, overshadowed by the acid.

  Please understand then that, All bitterness is ultimately against God. Since God is sovereign and in absolute control, then everything from our parents to our job to our government are allowed by God in our lives. God could have easily made it so that Freddie Prinze Jr. didn’t get the role or that Kiefer Sutherland was replaced. Though we don’t understand, even though the experience may have been painful, as believers, we can trust that our Heavenly Father never makes a mistake. “As for God, His way is perfect” (Psalms 18:30).

  To be free from bitterness toward others, we must be forgivers. We need to begin each day at the foot of the Cross, marveling at God’s amazing grace that sent His Son to bear the wrath that we deserved. God forgave us far more than we can ever forgive anyone else.

  Jesus graphically made this point in response to Peter’s question about forgiveness (Matt. 18:21-35). No one could have wronged us as much as we’ve wronged God. Since He freely forgave us, we must forgive others.

  Are you struggling with bitterness? Do you hold grudges and have difficulty forgiving others? Maybe it’s because you’ve never received God’s forgiveness through faith in Christ alone. That’s always the first place to start. If you have been forgiven, trust Him. Then, allow His grace and mercy to flow through you toward others.

  None of us have to be miserable. It’s a choice. Freedom from bitterness only comes as we trust God and forgive as we’ve been forgiven by Him.