Dear Friends,
I invite you to read another blog: http://leapyearluncheon.wordpress.com/
You’ll find stories about what it looks like to witness for Christ as you go about the ordinary things of life. 
As you read, it’s my hope you will be infected with the same virus to do the same.
And if you do try this, keep a journal of the stories. Even the ones that don’t turn out so well.
And then share them with the rest of us!
My husband and I celebrated a milestone anniversary this past week. Our children had a lot to say about it.
“Thank you for being imperfect parents. You have shown us God sticks around as He promised,” our daughter said.
At first I didn’t know how to respond, but then I laughed out loud.
That was the best compliment she could have given us.
“Your marriage is an amazing testimony of God’s faithfulness, love and perseverance in bringing you together and keeping you together all these years for His glory and your continued sanctification,” our son wrote in a text message.
When did he become the theologian? Oh wait. We pounded it into his head while he was growing up.
We told them the credit was all God’s. That we had done our share of sinning and fighting and getting angry, but God had always been there to dust us off, forgive us, and keep us going.
It humbled us to hear how God had shown his grace and mercy to us and to our children who have been watching all these years. 
Perfect we’re not. Having it together – no way. Failing frequently, you bet. That’s really all we’re capable of doing. That’s why we cling to the gospel, knowing our righteousness is a borrowed righteousness from Another.
Thanks be to God!
A friend of mine has been asking lately what the difference is between a true Christian and a false one.
My answer is simple. A true Christian is someone who believes in Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone.
But my friend continues to ask, “But what about the evidence in his life?”
What of it? 
James says, “Faith without works is dead.” And God says the greatest work is to believe in His Son whom He has sent into the world so all men may be saved.
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” – John 6:28, 29 ESV
So if you believe that Jesus Christ is your Savior who died on the cross to pay the price for your sins, then this is counted as a good work in God’s eyes. In fact it’s the greatest work because without faith it is impossible to please God.
John 15 says, if you are a branch that is united to the vine, then you will show forth good fruit. Have you ever seen a branch huffing and puffing and sweating to produce grapes?
The same is true of you. As a Christian you are doing good works all the time, but most of the time you won’t see them because you’d be tempted to pride. But God sees them and He is pleased with you because you are in Christ. See Romans 6. Ephesians 1 & 2.
And remember, all your works are tainted with sin, even good things like prayer, witnessing, giving to the poor. They all must be mediated by Christ in order for God to accept them.
So I told my friend to stop worrying and start singing.
You do the same.
For those of you who would like a handy reminder of the truths contained in this blog, you can buy it as an eBook on Amazon:
After you’ve read it, send us your comments. We promise to respond!
At her husband’s funeral, the widow says to her adult daughter, “Your father and I would have had a wonderful marriage if only he had been someone else.”
Let’s be honest. We’ve all had those thoughts.
Your life would be so much nicer if you had a better spouse, kids, parents, boss, friends, and neighbors.
The old saying is true:
The problem with the world is the people!
All of us live with difficult people.
The trick is how to do that well.
Some difficult people are sincere Christians who love the Lord Jesus and mean to do good.
But they’re lacking in self-awareness, sensitivity toward others, discipline, or some other quality that would make your life easier.
Then there are those whose habits and quirks drive you nuts. Eating with a full mouth. Burping. Not listening. Being too loud.
What does God tell us to do?
To suffer long with them and to be kind.
What you don’t want to do is use the law. To tell them to change. To demand that they change.
Instead, remind yourself of the gospel.
You are a difficult person, too.
And yet God loves you, forgives you, shows his mercy and patience toward you.
That’s reason enough to show the same to others.
And one day, when Jesus returns, all of us will be perfect!
In the last post, Part 1, one of the things we covered was what not to do when you’re suffering. If you’re suffering through no fault of your own, then don’t waste your time trying to ask why. It will make you turn inward and brood. That’s heaping misery upon misery, which is exactly what the devil wants because then you will be paralyzed and ineffective.
So send the devil packing.
Both Jesus and Peter explicitly stated that tribulation is part of the journey of living in this world until we get to heaven.
Nobody escapes it.
So don’t be shocked by it.
Paul, who never did anything half-way, took it a step further. He said he wanted to share in the sufferings of Christ.
There is a deep fellowship to be had with Jesus when we suffer.
Paul mentions three advantages:
1) Paul said he suffered the loss of all things in order to gain Christ. He gave up his Jewish lineage and education and status for the richness of knowing his Savior.
2) Paul no longer counted on his law-keeping to gain God’s approval. Instead, he threw that away for a life of faith in Christ because he wanted the Lord’s righteousness as his garment, and not anything he conjured up.
3) Paul’s life of faith depended on the power of Jesus’ resurrection and with that came suffering. Suffering the death of all things that the world esteems dear. Suffering persecution, rejection and humiliation for the sake of Christ. And finally, suffering in death itself.
There is a deep mystery in all of this and few enter into this circle.
If God calls you to this, you are indeed on sacred ground.
How do you handle suffering? (If you’re like me, I want to run and hide until it all goes away.)
Do you doubt God’s love for you? Feel his withdrawal? (You bet.)
Do you think he’s punishing you for something wrong you have done? (That’s what I think of right away.)
The truth is we’ve all done everything wrong, all the time, all our lives. That’s why we need a Savior. As Romans 3 says, none of us seeks God.
If we keep to that logic, we would deserve to be punished everyday of our lives. But even that would not be sufficient to a holy God.
The truth is we cannot pay for our sins. They are too awful, too deep, and too pervasive.
That’s why Jesus came to pay for them in our stead on the cross.
God isn’t angry with us anymore.
Let me say that again. God isn’t angry with us anymore if we have placed our trust in Jesus.
Jesus paid for every sin we have committed, are committing now, and will commit in the future.
If we believe in Jesus as God’s solution to our sin problem, then all of our sins are forgiven. We are adopted children of God. God now is our Heavenly Father. He loves us.
So with that in mind, trials and suffering are meant to mature us and build the image of Christ in us. There’s a real purpose to them. Read Romans 5 & James 1.
Don’t waste this opportunity to stretch your faith.
Are you overwhelmed, defeated, rejected, disappointed, and depressed? You’re in good company. So am I.
I wrote to Steve Brown of http://www.keylife.org/about it. He’s a radio talk show host. He’s always upbeat. Funny. Honest about life. I love him.
Here’s what he said to me:
“As for where is God when you’re feeling like this, there are no easy answers. I wish that there were.
“I see people struggling and in pain every day who, if I loved them, I would treat them better than God does.
“Charles Spurgeon said that ‘when you can’t trace God’s hand, trust His heart.’
“The alternative to this is only bitterness, rejection and meaninglessness.
“Always remember that your faith is based on the suffering of Christ on the cross…and it doesn’t get any worse than that.
“God’s tears really do mix with our own and He says, in essence, ‘If I could have done it another way, I would have.’
“One other quote, this one by C.S. Lewis:
‘The terrible thing is that a perfectly good God is in this matter is hardly less formidable than a cosmic sadist. The more we believe that God hurts only to heal, the less we can believe that there is any use in begging for tenderness. A cruel man might be bribed – might grow tired of his vile sport – might have a temporary fit of mercy, as alcoholics have fits of sobriety. But suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good? The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more he will go on cutting. If he yielded to your entreaties, if he stopped before the operation was complete, all the pain up to that point would have been useless. But is it credible that such extremities of torture should be necessary for us? Well, take your choice. The tortures occur. If they are unnecessary, then there is no God or a bad one. If there is a good God, then these tortures are necessary. For not even a modestly good being could possibly inflict or permit them it they weren’t. Either way, we’re in for it.'”
The bottom line is: God loves us so much that he’s determined to make us like Jesus. That’s what we signed up for when he took us out of Adam and placed us in Christ.
“So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” – 1 Peter 4:19 (New Living Translation)
Messy Christians 