Unlike Jill Cummins, this is a scenario you’ll likely never face.

Jill’s 50-year-old husband, Tad Cummins, was arrested on April 20 after he kidnapped 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas and fled the state of Tennessee. They were found unharmed in Northern California. After his arrest, Tad called Jill from jail. In Jill’s words: “He told me he was sorry. He told me he loved me and to please forgive him.”

What are we to make of a saga as strange as this?

First of all, “there but for the grace of God go I.” All of us should be humbled by the reality of sin. Its tentacles are tenacious, and it never sleeps. I don’t know Jill Cummins personally, but I do know that her husband’s grotesque sin impacted her, forever. He also harmed their children and grandchildren. Jill has filed for divorce. She says that she absolutely can’t respond in kind to Tad’s declaration of love.

Is Jill wrong? What would Jesus do?

What if she can forgive, but never forget? Is that really forgiveness?

What if Jill forgives Tad, but divorces him anyway?

The reason I’m asking so many questions is to demonstrate how real – and sometimes downright awful – are the practical issues surrounding the subject of forgiveness. Describing Tad’s attempt at expressing remorse, Jill explained: “He pretty much just over and over said, ‘I’m sorry.’”

What if Tad just said that, but didn’t mean a word of it?

Must Jill forgive?

What if Tad had never said he was sorry? Would that have made a difference regarding Jill’s responsibilities? What if Tad never tells the truth, anyway? What if we’re just as bad as Tad?

Maybe Jill is right: “I won’t let him hurt me like that again. I will not let him betray me like that again. I won’t give him the opportunity, ever again.”

Maybe Jill can forgive, but still protect herself – and her family – from further pain. Is that a Biblical way forward? You and I may never find ourselves in a situation where our spouse is facing state and federal charges of aggravated kidnapping, sexual contact with a minor, and transporting a child across state lines for illicit purposes …

But we will be faced with the challenge of forgiveness.

Maybe it’s more than a challenge.

I’ll look forward to seeing you Sunday morning as I preach the next segment of our FORWARD series: “Forward in Forgiveness.” This is real and relevant. This moment may count for eternity.

Pastor Charles

You may not think of yourself as a creative person, but you are! Each one of us was created – literally – as a creative being. In fact the very first chapter of the Bible informs us (Genesis 1:26): “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The Lord even repeats that important bit of information two more times in the very next verse alone. Our creativity reflects God’s creativity. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:1-3). Our book of beginnings captures God as the Sovereign Creator, and as the ultimate example of creativity.

We know from the days of the wilderness tabernacle (Exodus 31:1-11) that the Spirit of God fills men and women so that we can create. The first recorded “filling” was in the life of a construction superintendent – a Spirit-anointed contractor and craftsman. The Lord has more than preaching on His list of things that need to be done. When it’s all said and done, He wants more done than said. Christ calls and empowers each of us to move from instruction to construction.

It’s been thrilling for me to lead our church through the “FORWARD” series. I see creativity erupting in our midst! Creativity for the glory of God.

I see men and women, and young people, seeking to minister Christ’s timeless gospel in new and creative ways. This is good, because you and I have been invited to participate in what God is doing in the world. He’s still creating! For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised … Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:14-21).

This passage highlights several dimensions of God’s creativity in the Person and work of Christ. Because of His perfect sacrifice on our behalf, we are made new creations in Him! God’s work of creativity includes our spiritual rebirth, and goes on to include grace upon grace in our sanctification: we are conformed to His likeness (Romans 8:29). Did you ever think of yourself as a creative masterpiece? You are! Not only that, but God calls us to join in His work of redemption by sharing with others His message of reconciliation.

And we have more newness to look forward to – the good news of Christ’s cosmic plan for the ages just gets better and better! Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:1-5a).

Our God has promised to make all things new. Sin and death will be banished from Christ’s eternal kingdom. This is our certain hope as His people. God’s creativity will forever reflect His matchless power and glory, and call forth our loudest praise. Oswald Chambers said it like this: “The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from being totally surrendered to Jesus Christ.”

So, friends, by all means keep on creating!

Pastor Charles

I don’t have to tell you about all of the political feuding in America. You need no more updates. You don’t need to hear anything else from me on that subject, so I won’t go there.

I found it fascinating that President Trump’s tweet – in which he remarked that James Comey had “better hope that there are no tapes” of their conversations – grabbed so much national (and even international) attention. If you’re unfamiliar with the context, in the wake of Comey’s firing, it was all about Comey assuring the President that he wasn’t under FBI investigation.

Here’s what kept coming to my mind as the news kept trending in the direction of the “tapes.” There are tapes. Maybe that’s why people across the globe get so rattled by even the thought of it. There are tapes, friends.

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Revelation 20:12). Sounds a lot like tapes to me. Except a bit more revealing, perhaps. Written transcripts. All the details. Hard evidence. You get my point.

Jesus didn’t soften the blow. Not one bit. “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37). And in Luke 8:17 Christ warns us that “nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

Likewise, the Apostle Paul (Second Corinthians 5:10): “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

God certainly doesn’t ignore wrongdoing. He not only records it, but He takes it so seriously that he sent His only Son to die for our sins – in our place. It would have been much less costly for God to pretend that our sins weren’t real (or that they weren’t a big deal). But that would contradict the righteousness of God’s own nature. God pays close attention to our sin in fact. He confronts us with our sin. He holds us accountable for our sin. The wages of sin is still death.

So that we might be cleansed and set free from all our sin, Christ has saved us, that we might sin no more! In the end, God chooses even to forget our sins (Jeremiah 31:34). But that’s not the same as pretending that they never happened. The “forgetting” of grace happens only after God has dealt with sin through the new covenant secured by the blood of Jesus. You and I experience that grace when we repent and put our trust in Christ.

What good news! Let’s get out there and make it known, that many may find hope in Christ. We pray for our President. We pray for all of those who are in authority over us. We pray for our nation. And we recognize, with gratitude, that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).

No place to hide? Well, there is One.

Pastor Charles

This morning First Baptist Paducah – as part of the National Day of Prayer observance – enjoyed the honor and privilege of hosting the 2017 Mayor/Judge Executive Prayer Breakfast in our Great Room. It was standing room only, and for that we are most thankful to our gracious God.

The theme of this year’s annual observance of the National Day of Prayer is “For Your Great Name’s Sake! Hear Us … Forgive Us … Heal Us!” – inspired by Daniel 9:19. If you haven’t yet taken the time to pray for America, and for those in authority over us, I would urge you to do that today (First Timothy 2:1-4).

Just a bit of history, if you’ll indulge me. On April 17, 1952, a bill initiated by Mr. Conrad Hilton (of the Hilton hotel family) and Senator Frank Carlson of Kansas was passed (Public Law 82-324). The law stipulated that the President of the United States was to set aside an appropriate day each year, other than Sunday, as a National Day of Prayer. The first National Day of Prayer observance happened in 1983 at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall in Washington D.C., with featured speakers Vice President George Bush and Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie (who went on to become Chaplain of the United States Senate). And the National Day of Prayer has been happening ever since.

The proceeds from today’s event at First Baptist Paducah will be directed to Hope Unlimited. You may know that Hope Unlimited Family Care Center is one of our local ministry partners, and we are so blessed to be able to serve Christ alongside them. Begun in 1989, Hope Unlimited supports and empowers the entire family, assisting women with pregnancy tests and prenatal medical services, engaging fathers in the parenting process, and educating school-aged youth. Free and confidential services are available from Hope’s Metropolis and Paducah centers.

The spirit in the Great Room this morning was: “WE LOVE PADUCAH!” And it’s true. We extend a special word of thanks and heartfelt appreciation to Mayor Brandi Harless and County Judge Executive Bob Leeper. It is an honor to serve our city, and our community, with you.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We love Paducah.

Pastor Charles

North Korea may be the most oppressive place on Earth for Christians. It’s a totalitarian communist state, where believers are forced to hide their faith entirely – even at times from their own spouses, parents, and children. Due to tyrannical and ever-present government surveillance, gathering for Christian worship or fellowship is next to impossible.

What’s worse, gross idolatry is mandated by lethal force. Worship of the ruling Kim family is required of every citizen of North Korea. Those who don’t comply are arrested, imprisoned, tortured, or killed. Entire Christian families are banished to hard labor camps, where unknown numbers die each year from beatings, overexertion, and starvation. Those who attempt to flee to South Korea through China risk life imprisonment or execution.

Not only is North Korea cloaked in spiritual darkness, but the nation announced on Sunday that it is prepared to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier in order to demonstrate its military might. From Pyongyang, the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un seems ready to wage war. Jong-un will ensure his regime’s survival at all costs. One emotional, impulsive outburst on the part of this very unstable man could result in hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of casualties.

Rehearsals for an impending disaster have long been underway. Every two months, always in the early afternoon, the sirens begin wailing in Seoul. Cars and buses screech to a halt, civil defense officials take up their positions at busy intersections, and volunteers wearing yellow armbands guide pedestrians into the nearest shelter. There are literally hundreds of shelters in the South Korean capital.

As two Japanese navy ships joined a U.S. carrier group for exercises in the western Pacific, President Donald Trump ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail to waters off the Korean peninsula in response to rising tension over the North’s nuclear and missile tests – as well as its threats to attack the United States and our Asian allies. The stakes are now high, and this is a somber moment in world history.

As of this blog posting, North Korea remains defiant: “Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike,” threatened Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party. Friends, where there is no God, there is no peace.

One may question North Korea’s military capabilities when it comes to effectiveness on the ground, ballistic missiles, or even nuclear capabilities, but most experts agree that the artillery units being tested this week present a “clear and present danger” to many parts of the world, including American allies. It’s a wake-up call for everyone who’s breathing.

Now is the time to pray for clear-headedness to prevail. Now is the time to pray for those in authority over us to govern, lead, and respond wisely. Now is the time to pray for spiritual revival in our own land – that we may once again export to the ends of the earth the greatest news the world has ever known!

Christianity once flourished in the north as well as in the south of the Korean peninsula. And, despite extraordinary persecution under the Kim dynasty, Christianity has survived in North Korea – even under the most brutal of circumstances. Let’s face it: Christianity’s continued existence challenges the current Kim’s rule. That’s one of the reasons why his behavior is so unpredictable, and one of the reasons why he hates America. You see, when it comes to pride, the gospel is also a clear and present danger.

Pastor Charles

Rashad Jennings was released by the New York Giants on February 13. That makes him an NFL free agent running back. You may have seen him on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. What you might not know is that Jennings displayed his Christian faith on the national stage. It happened on April 10, when Jennings and his dance partner Emma Slater danced to Katy Perry’s “Unconditionally.” The pair earned a rare score of 39 out of 40 from the four-judge panel.

Jennings was raised in a family that was far from perfect. Mostly due to serious alcohol abuse on the part of his father, Jennings’ childhood was filled with anguish – as he longed for the acceptance of his dad. Growing up, Jennings describes himself as an “overweight, chubby, asthmatic kid with these big red rim glasses.” His father provided financially, but Jennings wanted a close relationship with his dad – a relationship which seemed always to evade him. For many years, the emotional connection between father and son was strained at best. Maybe you can relate.

But as the performance ended that Monday night, Jennings left the dance floor and did the unexpected. He rushed into the crowd to hug his wheelchair-bound, double-amputee father. The two openly wept as they embraced. As the people jumped to their feet, it was like a real-life scene from Christ’s Parable of the Prodigal Son.

No one reading this blog posting can escape the need to forgive and to be forgiven, including the writer. Like you, I’m tempted to manufacture a million good reasons why I don’t need to extend forgiveness when I’ve been wronged. But God’s Word teaches us, and in fact requires us, to forgive: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31–32). As you know, this is seldom easy.

As Rashad Jennings danced to “Unconditionally,” he was attempting to make an important point: “All the things that I’ve been able to achieve have been because of … unconditional love that we all have for one another in our family, but especially between me and my dad.” It was a powerful moment.

Truth is, grace is conditional. Forgiving love is possible only because an important condition has been met. Because of His great love for us, Christ has satisfied the righteous requirements of God’s Law (Romans 5:19; 7:6). Christ has fully accomplished this for us, and His righteousness has been credited to us. Our sins are no longer held against us. We’ve been released from sin’s penalty and power. And one day we’ll be fully released even from sin’s presence. We are free!

So now, in Christ, we are free to love as we have been loved. Thank you, Rashad, for reminding us.

It takes a real giant to forgive. Jesus showed us on the cross (Luke 23:34): “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Pastor Charles

Hopefully you will allow me just one more blog posting on the subject of This Is Us. Thank you for bearing with me as I’ve attempted to draw some important parallels between the popular television series and typical church life. In short, loving each other – and sticking with each other through thick and thin – will sometimes test every fiber of the fabric of who we are. But we can do it: we are Christ’s body.

If you have a Bible handy, take a look at First Corinthians 12:21-27. “Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.” This body illustration is powerful stuff. What is the Apostle Paul driving at? Simply this: we need each other! We desperately need each other! That’s why the eye can’t tell the hand to get lost. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” That’s how the church is designed to function in real life.

You may be wondering why I picked a sad scene from the series for this last posting. My reasoning is simple: we have to be “in it” for the suffering too. Today our U.S. military dropped America’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS targets in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. It’s the first time that this type of weapon has been used in battle, according to officials. It was A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), which is nicknamed the “mother of all bombs.” Other than that it’s been an ordinary day.

As our Air Force deploys a 21,600-pound bomb to target an ISIS cave and tunnel complex, we may be sailing into some choppy waters. And I haven’t even mentioned North Korea. But here’s the deal friends: the Lord reigns! He is so not surprised by any of this. As a matter of fact, “He’s got the whole word in His hands.”

Afghanistan is a troubled part of the world, and its people are desperately in need of the gospel of Jesus. Since the last king of Afghanistan was overthrown in a coup in 1973, there have been decades of fighting, killing, bombing, invasive wars, and absolutely devastating civil wars. But – make no mistake about the events of today – the seas may get rough here too. The storm clouds may gather. The winds may howl.

In the end, the story of God’s world will not be written by the media. Neither does Afghanistan, in the ultimate sense of reality, belong to the Taliban. Nor to al Qaeda. Afghanistan does not belong to warlords or tribal elders. And America does not belong to politicians or pundits. The story of Afghanistan, just like the story of America, is being penned by God – and the glorious end of the story has already been written.

The same is true regarding our story as the church. No matter how turbulent things may appear: globally, locally, or personally. We have each other, and Christ has us. And we are resurrection people, every day! God never intended for any of us to walk the road of life alone. And we don’t.

We are His, and this is us.

Pastor Charles

I’ve been focusing on the This Is Us television series featuring Jack, Rebecca, Kate, Kevin, and Randall – and the drama of their relationships across multiple generations. I have likened the show’s fictional family to “us” as a church family. Sometimes we can be a bit emotional and “multilayered” in our own drama, but we’re still committed to each other as a family of believers – no matter what. We’re a real family. It’s a human family, but it’s also Christ’s family. Our worth is in Him. So is our perseverance.

One of the strengths of This Is Us is the writers’ ability to keep the viewers guessing. One episode feeds into the next, and we’re left waiting for “the rest of the story.” We’ll even put up with a little saccharine as long as there’s enough intrigue. Sounds like church life to me! But, in all earnestness, we owe it to each other to hang in there when the drama of congregational life does erupt. None of us is above being the source of the drama, and none of us is immune from being swept up in the drama. How can I say it nicely? Sometimes we need a Savior to save us from us.

So here we are, charged with bearing one another’s burdens. That’s where I left you in my last blog posting, and it leads me to say something which may seem obvious to you, but I must say it: we can only lighten another person’s burden in the power of the Holy Spirit! I would not be shepherding well if I admonished you to take care of each other, but then left you with the false impression that you could do that in your own strength. Simply stated, you can’t. Neither can I. We need a power source that isn’t us. And that’s what separates “us” from any TV drama.

In the power of the Holy Spirit, you and I become paracletes on behalf of each other. A paraclete is an advocate, a counselor, and an ally – one who will represent you well when you can’t represent yourself. After Jesus announced to His disciples that He would be leaving them soon (John 14:16-17), He then gave them a word of tremendous encouragement: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” With and in.

The Greek word translated “Helper,” “Comforter,” or “Counselor” is parakletos. This form of the word properly means “one called to the side of another.” Like a good attorney who sits next to the one whom that attorney represents. The very presence of the lawyer indicates the strongest of support. The most capable representation. The very best case that can be made. In John this Counselor, or Paraclete, is God the Holy Spirit – the third Person of the Trinity who has been “called to our side.”

On any given day, we may be very hard to love. Others in our church family may be difficult to love. But, as we learn to love and take care of each other, we rely upon a “power from on high” (Luke 24:49): the ultimate Paraclete – who always desires the best for us, and who always represents us in the best possible light. He is that light. The Holy Spirit represents us in the light of what Christ has done for us on the cross. That, my friends, is just plain old gospel good news.

There’s no room for gossip in the church of Jesus Christ because everybody’s got everybody’s back. So go ahead and love the dickens out of your church family! I will too. I’ll share more thoughts on this subject in my next blog posting. Please stay tuned.

This is us.

Pastor Charles

I’ve been focusing on the This Is Us TV series featuring Jack, Rebecca, Kate, Kevin, and Randall – and the drama of their extended family across multiple generations. I have likened the fictional scenario to “us” as a church family: highly fallible, yet committed to each other – through the years – no matter what.

In my last blog posting, I unpacked the responsibilities which are ours when we have to confront another member of the family. That’s real life. Grace and truth are required of us (Ephesians 4:15) – and that’s not always such an easy task. But we’re learning to do it right because we’re learning to love.

All of this assumes that we’re pursuing healthy relationships with each other. Are we? The Millennials among us speak of wanting to “do life together.” That is in fact a very Biblical way to view the body of Christ (First Corinthians 12:26). We’re in it together! But we will never be able to “do life together” unless God enables us to create the space where trust can be developed. Real trust. We have to be around each other long enough to know each other. Once we know each other, we can really invest in each other. At the very least, we will have to sacrifice some of our time (and who has much of that to spare?) in order to make it happen.

Are you willing to give some of your time to this body? Are you willing to pour yourself out in meaningful investment of you in relationships which will last for eternity? Are you willing to devote precious time to really know – and to be known by – your brothers and sisters in this place? If you’re struggling with answering any of those questions in the affirmative, I’ll remind you of something penned by Oswald Chambers: “There is no such thing as a private life, or a place to hide in this world, for a man or woman who is intimately aware of and shares in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. God divides the private life of His saints and makes it a highway for the world on one hand and for Himself on the other. No human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We are not sanctified for ourselves.”

The gospel message is never about what I want or what I can accomplish on my own. Foolishness! The good news of Jesus is all about what He has done for me. Accomplished. Finished. Done. I now owe Christ my all. If He calls me to invest in others, and He does, then I must choose to be identified with Christ in this way. Will it cost me some time? Absolutely.

Could it be that James Taylor is an accomplished theologian? Perhaps the old guy’s onto something …

You can play the game and you can act out the part
Though you know it wasn’t written for you
But tell me, how can you stand there with your broken heart
Ashamed of playing the fool …

Oh, father and mother, sister and brother
If it feels nice, don’t think twice
Just shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna work out fine if you only will …
You can run but you cannot hide
This is widely known
And what you plan to do with your foolish pride
When you’re all by yourself alone?

For some reason I feel like goin’ to Carolina in my mind. But I digress.

Private life, overrated. Family life, priceless. Greater love has no one than this (John 15:13) …

We need you. The you God made and gave to us. I’ll share more thoughts on this subject in my next blog posting. Please stay tuned.

This is us.

Pastor Charles

If you missed my last writing, I centered on the This Is Us national craze: the TV series which follows Jack, Rebecca, Kate, Kevin, and Randall – and the drama of their extended family across multiple generations. I likened it to us as a church family: highly fallible, yet committed to each other no matter what.

I focused on Galatians 6:2, where Paul instructs us: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” And I left you thinking about all of our divinely-appointed situations and circumstances – all of the nuances of our own lives through which Christ is teaching us how to love. How to really love.

I’ve been thinking about love, and I want to give you something to ponder as well: To truly bear the burden of another person is directly contrary to every prideful “religious” impulse in us. Think about it. To really care about someone else – to the point of actually doing something to help their predicament – is the exact opposite of what Jesus observed on the part of the Pharisees. Those Pharisees were the religious leaders, for sure, but they were lost as a goose. Consider, for example, the statement of Jesus in Matthew 23:4, where our Lord described the Pharisees like this: “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.”

Ouch!

What are we to learn? For starters, simply this: sometimes we can be blinded by our own zeal. Perhaps you’ve heard the adage: “People don’t care how much you know ‘til they know how much you care.” So true. Sometimes those around us need more than our verbalized theology, but the need may be for something as simple as a listening ear, a word of appreciation, or an offer to take their kid to the ballpark. What’s one more in the van, anyway? My point is that the gospel of Christ can sometimes be lived out by us in ways that require very little of us. But we must be living it out! The good news of Jesus was never meant to be words alone (James 2:17).

We must also make certain that we’re not emitting false impressions of our own “goodness” or our own “spiritual success.” You’ve heard it like this: “Never believe your own press.” Sometimes we try so hard to look our very best that we become unapproachable in the eyes of others. Let’s avoid that kind of smug superiority at all costs. It only weighs people down, and it never lifts them up.

If all we’re doing for others is constantly telling them how they “should” live as a “good Christian,” then we’re doing more harm than good. We’re no better than the Pharisees. Our hope is not in who we “should” be, but our hope is in the finished work of Jesus Christ. His yoke is easy because He has already carried the heaviest burden for us. The Pharisees so majored on life’s “should’s” that they lost sight of the bigger picture of grace.

And, if we must on occasion point out the wrongs of another, we better get our own house in order first (Matthew 7:3-5)! After all, the only right reason for pointing out another’s imperfection – Jesus made it quite clear – is so that we can help our brother or sister rise above it. I’d call that love.

I’ll share more thoughts on this subject in my next blog posting. Please stay tuned.

This is us.

Pastor Charles