Four Weeks of Love: Have No Fear

Scripture: Exodus 17.1-7; Romans 5.3-5; 1 John 4.13-19


I asked for volunteers and I got four big, strong, daring young men. They stood before the table, with covered items in front of them. They were about to play our little Lock-In version of Fear Factor. After the asparagus, there were only two big, strong, daring young men left standing. After the raw liver there were none. Fortunately, two daring young women burst up out of their seats and proceded to consume the raw asparagus and liver like they were eating krispy kreme doughnuts. They downed the glassfuls of raw eggs like shots of whiskey. But when they got to the live goldfish, I thought there would be problems. The last item was, indeed, a pitcher of five goldfish swimming around. They were challenged to swallow one each. To be honest, I thought the fish were safe. I thought the girls would throw in , or throw up the towel. I was wrong. I didn’t count on how competitive these two young ladies could be. I took the three remaining goldfish home to our aquarium, where they were promptly eaten by our big “oscar”. So to sum up the tale of the five goldfish – Number eaten by other fish: three; Number eaten by human beings: two.

This silly exercise, besides being slightly grotesque, was an object lesson in facing fear. Fear is indeed a problem in life. It can be our biggest problem in life since known challenges are never as formidable in appearance as the problems of unknown magnitude that fear produces in our minds. I knew a woman who was paralyzed by fear every morning her son got on the school bus. She was made miserable by fear imagining all that could go wrong between the time her son got on and off the bus. That is both an understandable and irrational fear; understandable, because we can identify with that; irrational, because we are not meant to live that way!

In 1 John chapter 4 we are told that the people of God are meant to live in the reality, not of fear but, of love. “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” (verse 16b) and then in verse 18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. . .”

I have often wondered what this verse means. How does love cast out fear? My son Michael has his share of fears and he is honest about them with me. He doesn’t like spiders or bats, and I have reason to believe he is afraid that some day a girl might kiss him on the lips. But like most kids, he has an ingenius way of confronting his fears and the monsters under his bed – he befriends them. He is friends with Bat Man, Spider Man, and the Incredible Hulk, the giant green and purple monstrosity that goes into a rage. One day last summer I was sitting on the back porch and Michael was carrying the phone around with him. He assured me he was “just playing”. Occasionally I would hear his imaginary conversations on the phone. I heard snatches of “hello, hello. . .I heard a few words about the Hulk. And then the phone in his hands rang. Michael brought me the phone. I answered. It was the 911 Emergency Dispatcher returning the call made from this number. I assured the dispatcher everything was fine here. I asked Michael what he said to them when he, presumably, accidentally dialed 911.

“I told them that the Hulk was attacking me in my backyard.”

“Michael!” I said. “You can’t call someone and tell them that.”

Then he smiled and said, “I told them I was just kiddin’. The Hulk doesn’t really live in our world.”

The secret of conquering our fears is to know not only what is real and what is false, but to know we are not alone. We are loved. We are loved by others and we are loved by God.

It helps to know that you are not alone. Fear tends to separate us from others (or at least give us that impression) and fear magnifies our sense of loneliness. Fear has had a heyday in these modern times of rugged individualism and existential angst. Robert Putnam notes that volunteerism and joining community groups are at their lowest levels in the past fifty years. The negative result of our not joining is our not belonging. We feel more isolated and are more prone to distrust others and distrust our future. There is a confidence that comes with serving alongside others at Kiwanis or Little League or even Bowling League. That great theologian, Yogi Berra, put it this way, “If you don’t go to somebody’s funeral, they won’t come to yours.”

Now, it should be said that being with others, in and of itself, is no failsafe talisman against fear. The Israelites in the wilderness of Sin are an example. They had each other, they had Moses, and they had a string of success stories in their immediate past to give them confidence for the present and future, and still they complained. They complained because they feared. And here is the quintessential statement of our fears, in Exodus 17.7, “Moses called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’”

The only thing that will conquer our fears for good is a found assurance that we belong to and are destined for God and His kingdom. Look again to 1John 4, verse 17, “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.” As he is, so are we in this world.
He has conquered, we have conquered in him. He is risen from the dead; so we too shall rise. We are forgiven because He has paid the price of forgiveness.

Philip Yancey writes in Christianity Today (March 2005) that looking back over the major events of the last thirty years, he realized the prognosticators got them all wrong. What they reported at the time as being so important, in retrospect, was not that important. The most important things of the time really were only blips on the media radar. Remember when we were all afraid that the Soviet Union was going to take over the world? Remember when it was widely reported that the Japanese were so much smarter economically than we are, and they were going to take over the world. Scientists warned us not that long ago that we were in danger of a coming Ice Age. Now, we fear global warming. Remember the threat of the SARS virus? These threats were very real at the time, maybe, but even a few years removed we see, with confidence, that they didn’t do us in. Yancey reports the story of a German prison camp in World War II. Unbeknownst to the guards, the Americans built a makeshift radio. One day news came that the German high command had surrendered, ending the war – a fact that, because of a communications breakdown, the German guards did not yet know. As word spread among the American prisoners, a loud celebration broke out. For three days, the prisoners were hardly recognizable. They sang and waved at the guards, laughed at the German shepherd dogs, and shared jokes over meals. On the fourth day, they awoke to find that all the Germans had fled, leaving the gates unlocked. The time of waiting had come to an end. Yancey asks this question: “As we Christians face contemporary crises, why do we respond with such fear and anxiety? Why don’t we, like the Allied prisoners, act on the Good News we say we believe? What is faith, after all, but believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse?

Ask yourself, “Why do I exist? What is my purpose? Or as Kirbyjohn Caldwell puts it, “Of all the funerals you have been to, why is it that none has been yours?
You are alive today. Why? Is it to live in fear, or live boldly in the confidence that you are loved by others and you are loved by God?

Love Rules for the People of God

Scripture: 1 John 4.7-12, 20-21


It was a pivotal time in the life of the church. I was in my tenth year as pastor and the church faced a crucial decision about the next step in ministry. We decided to have a series of informal congregational meetings once a month on Sunday evening to communicate our vision to the people and to hear their thoughts and concerns. It was soon apparent that opinions and emotions were running strong. Though I would later find out that there were a good many people who were undecided at the time, what it felt like then was the congregation had already split into two sides over the matter. After a sharing a few brief thoughts myself I opened up the floor for discussion. Little did I know at that moment that the plan for thoughtful dialogue was about to be tossed aside never to be recovered.

A man stood up in a side aisle, turned to face the gathering of about 75 people, and began making accusations of conspiracy and collusion on the part of some to ridicule and demonize those who stood against the vision plan. The man was angry, red-faced, and was not holding back. He insinuated, ridiculed, and excoriated his alleged enemies. He even named names. He did the very thing he was accusing others of doing, only then some. I spent the next six months, fruitlessly trying to mend relationships that he had hurt or destroyed in a couple minutes of thoughtless words. The vision plan failed.

What the issue was about is really inconsequential to the point of my story today. At the time I was so surprised and stunned by the intensity of the man’s vitriol that I was literally speechless. With the wisdom that comes with 20/20 hindsight I know what I would say now to the man. “Sit down! We don’t talk that way to each other in the Body of Christ. If you cannot speak to those with whom you disagree with love and respect, then don’t say anything at all.”

Love is the Rule of Conduct for the People of God. You could make the argument that it is the only unbreakable and unforgivable rule. You can mess up in a lot of ways and be forgiven. But you cannot fail to love your sister or brother in Christ. Why? Because it is the core of our identity in Christ as individuals and as the people of God.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” That might seem so obvious to you as to go without saying, but too many times I’ve observed people break that cardinal rule in the church and in their families. The Apostle Paul goes so far as to call Love, the law of Christ. Love is the only Law that God lays down for us as New Testament Christians. You must love me and you must love one another. Remember, Jesus said these are the two great commandments!

And these two great commandments of Love are demonstrated, as I said last week, in the specifics and particularities of our relationships to each other. One reason I love the church (and love God) is that the church is associated in my mind with so many loving people and experiences of love – being held by my mother in church or sitting on my pappy’s lap as a boy; being encouraged and loved by truly good Sunday School teachers; being supported and nurtured by loving parishioners once I became a pastor. Just the other week my old church treasurer made the hour trip to Duncansville looking for me because she had made a fresh raspberry pie, which she knew was a favorite of mine, and she wanted to give it to me. Believe me, this was not an exceptional deed for this woman. She breathes love every day.

I am a Christian because others loved me in Jesus name. And I suspect that this is really your story too.

Pastor Rick Warren says that “People are looking not just for a friendly church, but for a church where there’s a possibility of finding a friend.” Absolutely! It’s not enough for us to be friendly or nice. Rich Mullins, author of Awesome God, has a lyric in one of his songs that goes, “Some people are friendly but they’ll never be your friend. Sometimes this has bent me to the ground.”

We must really love. We must really offer friendship. If we say that we are friends with God but not friends with each other, then the love and friendship of God is not in us and we are liars.

Going beyond just being a Friendly Church to a Church That Extends Friendship is to first realize that the Love of God always takes the initiative in welcoming the stranger and the friendless. “This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” God took the initiative in love with all of us. So, also we ought to love one another.

Does this mean we will never disagree with each other or come to a matter from different perspectives? Of course not. In fact, that is a strength for us if we realize that conflict is an inevitable and natural part of living together as a community of love. What we will not allow is spite, ridicule, deceit, pride, or anything else that is obviously not love, to rule in love’s stead.

A story is told of a visitor to a monastery approaching the head abbot and congratulating the abbot on such a peaceful and harmonious place. The visitor then asks a question that the abbot had heard before, “Why do you live in a monastery? Why did you come here?”

The abbot replies, “Because there ought to be a place in the world where people love each other.”

I can’t think of a better definition of church or community. There are ought to be a place where people love one another. This is the Church a lonely and unbelieving world is looking for. They will know we are Christians by our love.

Love Grows Along the Path of Obedience

Scripture: 1 John 1.5-2.3, 15-17


The Princess Bride is William Goldman’s fairytale novel about a young princess named Buttercup and the handsome young Westley that she pines for set in a weird kingdom of giants, witches, and a swordsman named Indigo Montoya. The young Buttercup, before she is a princess, is served by this Westley on her farm. Westley is smitten with the girl and will do anything for her. At first, the girl treats the boy as if she has only contempt for him – “boy, fetch me that bucket. . .boy clean out the horse stall. . “ And after every order that the Buttercup gives, the Westley answers with the trace of a smile and the words, “As you wish.” Soon the young woman can no longer hide her affection for the boy beneath a mock contempt. The two kids love each other! But if the story ended there it wouldn’t be much of a story, would it? They are separated by cruel fate. Much later in their story, after Buttercup has been forced to be affianced to the evil Prince Humperdinck, her true love comes to her in disguise as the dread Pirate Roberts. “Dread Pirate Roberts” chastises the Princess for betraying her true love and heaps abuse on her, all the while the Princess is unawares that he is in fact her farm boy, her true love himself. The Princess feels guilty enough and can take only so much mockery and pushes the Dread Pirate Roberts down a steep ravine, as the Princess watches the masked young man fall deep into the crevasse she hears these words floating up toward her, “AS YOU WISHHHHHH. . .” Immediately, Buttercup recognizes that this pirate is in fact her true love, Westley. She throws herself down the ravine after her true love.

It’s a story about true love. And it’s a story about how love demonstrates itself in obedience and faithfulness. Love conquers as long as obedience never fails.

I’m preaching a series on Love this month and I realized going into it that this is a very difficult topic to preach on because we’ve all her it all before. Listen to me right now. Probably seventy-five percent of what you’ve heard about Love is garbage. It’s time to sift through some of the refuse and hold on to what is true and pure.

John the Apostle writes in chapter four of this letter, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. . .”

In chapter one, John has already written, “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey his commands.” In other words, we know that we know God if we do what God tells us to do. Obedience is the faithful sign of the presence of love, and therefore, the presence of God in a person’s life.

There’s a cute story about a boy, maybe you’ve heard it before, a boy who is running away from home. He’s angry with his parents and he tells them he’s leaving. He packs a duffel bag and gets on his bicycle and begins to ride away from his home. An hour later a police cruiser in the neighborhood observes this boy riding his bike around the block, duffel bag in hand. The officer continues to watch the boy for another twenty minutes just circling and circling the block on his bicycle. Finally, the officer gets out of his car and stops the boy and asks, “Son, what are you doing riding around the block in circles for so long?”

“I’m running away from home,” answers the boy.

“But you’re not getting anywhere just riding around your block in a circle,” the officer says.

“I know,” says the boy, “But I’m not allowed to cross the street.”

Jesus tells a story with a similar point. He says there was a man who had two sons. The father went to the first son and said, “Son, go work in my vineyard today.” The son answered, “No. I won’t do it.” But then, the son later changed his mind and went and did the work. The father went to the second and said the same and the second son answered, “I will go father,” but then never showed up for the work. “Which of the two sons,” Jesus asks, “did the will of his father?” The first, the first, they answered him.


There is something about obedience that tells us more about Love than any emotion, any oaths or pledges of faith, any poems, cards, or pretty songs. In a marriage, for example, there daily opportunities to show love through obedience- “honey, can you get me a glass of water, can you mail those things for me, can you take the kids here tonight.” And that doesn’t account for all the unspoken opportunities to serve another in love, things we call favors, kindnesses, courtesies, from buying someone lunch to picking up dirty socks to drying the dishes. These are building blocks of Love. More than physical attraction, romantic spark or chemistry, these are Cupid’s arrows that strike to the heart of what it really means to love one another. Where there is service and obedience Love grows.

It’s interesting that in this Love Letter from John, one that we should probably read as often if not more than the Apostle Paul’s famous Love chapter in Corinthians, dealing with one’s sin honestly before God precedes obedience. It doesn’t mean you have to have your life in perfect order morally before you can obey God and love God. John tells us that we simply must come clean! We must be honest. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Maybe we can learn to be as gracious with each other as God is with us. Maybe if we learn to forgive each other’s weaknesses and failings in honesty and grace then we will find a strength in the everyday obediences and services that we did not know was there. A wise man once wrote, “It is not Love that sustains a marriage. It is the marriage that will sustain your Love.”

Obedience is the simple gestures that unleash the power of Love in our lives. It is not a coincidence that Love and Obedience, simply put, are not how you feel, they are what you do.

Spiritual Makeover – Ash Wednesday

Scripture: Psalm 32

Some of you may have heard of our wrestling matches in the Morris household. They started off as spontaneous outbursts of masculine joy, (which, frankly, I didn’t know Jenn had in her) but they have evolved into more formalized bouts for the boys and me. For example the other day Michael went over this list of rules for engagement, so to speak:

“No tickling, no tripping, no punching in the neck (I would like note I have never done that to him), no wet willies (if you don’t know, you may not want to).” I agreed reluctantly to these rules and we began the Michael Morris Invitational Wrestling Match. (The MMIWM)

I mention this because it never fails to amaze me how easily we submit to rules and procedures governing the simplest activities in life ( e.g. please follow steps to ensure your coffee brewing success) and yet so stridently resist rules and guidelines for the deep and complex questions and goals of our lives. More on that in a moment.

I’m thinking of a show on television, very popular, in which a man will open the door to his home or apartment to four other guys, complete strangers to him, really. These four strangers burst into the man’s home and turn their “eye” on everything about this man and the place in which he lives, and frenetically go about changing as much as they can about him. The object of their attention, we’ll call Bob. Bob seems to be a capable, competent man in almost every way. Usually Bob has a good job, a decent place to live, sometimes even has a wife and children. But Bob opens his home to these four other men because he is , gasp!, fashion-challenged. He is (hee-hee) a Neanderthal compared to these sleek, sophisticated, urbanites with their gay chic take on personal grooming, clothes, home décor, and cooking. Their sexuality (nudge-nudge) is not so secret and that’s part of the appeal. These gay men are so good at what this obviously clueless heterosexual is not – style. And by the end of the show these fashionistas are invariably successful. Bob looks good, smells good, houses and cooks well. What would we do without those gay guys!

I’m amazed and fascinated by this phenomenon. What also interests me is this question: what would happen if after the fashionistas left Bob’s house there came another knock on the door. Bob opens the door and he sees four other men standing there, and by their attire, Bob correctly guesses that they’re all Christian clergy. Would Bob invite them in? Would Bob let these four ministers throw out the inappropriate and excessive in Bob’s life? Would Bob listen to them as they suggest that he begin to pray more, give more, and volunteer more of his time at a food pantry for the homeless or the local YMCA? As they impressed upon Bob the importance of attending weekly worship and being connected to a Christian community would Bob look on with obvious gratitude? I wonder, would these four ministers even get in the door?

A friend of mine told me the other day about a book he came across called something like Hollywood Spirituality. In skimming the book my friend reported that most of our Hollywood stars have a “strong affinity for God but”. What this means is these stars believe in God or a higher power “but not in organized religion.” Organized religion, if you haven’t heard, is what’s wrong with our country and our world in the eyes of some. And not just in Hollywood. A colleague of mine told me he went into the local gas station/convenience store for a cup of coffee one morning recently. The store is a popular hangout in the mornings for some of the locals. My colleague liked to spend time there when he could. The man in front of him in line was taking a little long and apologized to my friend for the holdup. No, my friend smiled, I’m just here to take in the sights and get some sermon material. “You must be a preacher then,” the man said. “You and people like you are the reason I have to fix so many screwed up people.” Apparently the man was a psychologist in the area. My clergy colleague was a little stunned and didn’t offer much in way of rebuttal. Me, I would like to invite the man to the Michael Morris Invitational (MMIWM) no rules required.

Is religion really the enemy? Can we all make it to God/heaven on our own, or do we in fact need the help and guidance that true religion offers? Psalm 32 begins “Happy are those whose sins are forgiven. . .” And then the psalmist describes what happens to us when we pretend we have no sin, or pretend we have no need of rules or discipline or community. “When I kept silence, my body wasted away. . .your hand was heavy upon me; my strength dried up as by the heat of summer.” Selah.

Selah is a funny word that appears in the margins of your Bible three times in this psalm. It appears elsewhere in the Psalms as well. No one knows for sure what it means, but the best guess is that it is a note to pause during the song or reading and meditate on the truth that was just revealed. Selah.

Verse 5: “I acknowledged my sin to you and I did not hide. I said ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Honesty and Confession lead to forgiveness. Selah.

Verse 6: “Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you. . .you are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.”
Prayer is a path to God’s protection and help. Selah.

Verse 8: “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” God teaches us and gives us wisdom in our decisions. He watches over us constantly. Selah.


I heard Duffy Robbins talk once about the origins of Ballroom Dancing. Ballroom Dancing is known for its elegance and grace. It is a more formalized and some would say, civilized, way of dancing than more modern, rock-and-roll generations are accustomed to. Ballroom Dancing can be done by anyone, but it is not done without training and practice. You have to learn this kind of dancing. You have to learn the steps. I’m told the beginning is slow and ponderous. You do a lot of staring at your feet and focusing on the progression of the steps. But once you learn the steps, you and your partner can enjoy the grace and beauty of the dance. And you can enjoy each other’s company. That’s the best part. In fact, Robbins notes, that’s why ballroom dancing was invented, so people would have an excuse to get together, and talk, and enjoy each other’s company. That’s the reason for learning the dance - to be with another person.

“Organized Christianity” proposes a similar thing. The Church teaches people steps of faith and discipline, not as an end in themselves, but in order that they may learn to enjoy the company of the Lord they seek. Religion is not rules only – it’s a relationship with Jesus. You must learn and practice and do the steps all your life: prayer, confession, listening, serving, studying, giving. But you’re not supposed to stare at your feet. You’re supposed to look into the Beloved’s eyes.


Verse 9 of Psalm 32 tellingly says, “Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle. . .Many are the torments of the wicked ( how we suffer for lack of discipline in our lives!) . . .but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.

Selah.

Four Weeks of Love: The Power of a Great Affection

Scripture: Matthew 17.1-9

Jesus takes Peter and James and John with him to the top of the mountain. These three companions were not chosen randomly. Jesus did nothing random. Whimsically, yes. Without purpose – no. He took these three because they were closest to him, in his heart and in theirs. They were soul friends.

Why did he take them up on this mountain? Well, they saw things there, no doubt about it. Things to remember for a lifetime. They saw visions of Moses and Elijah. But the most spectacular thing that the three friends saw was their friend, Jesus, blaze forth like the sun. In the Old Testament it says that Moses glowed on the mountain, and his glowing was like the rays of the sun shining. Jesus on the mountain was the sun itself come down to earth. Moses was mankind gone up to meet God. Jesus was God come down to meet his friends.

Why did Jesus take his friends up the mountain? Did He do it to impress them to great faith? I don’t think so. In chapter sixteen we read that it is, “an evil and adulterous generation that asks for a sign, but no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah,” that is the sign of death and resurrection. I don’t think Jesus brought Peter, James, and John up to impress them with the show. I think he brought them along because he wanted his friends there with him. He brought them along because he loved them. He wanted them to share in this moment of transfiguration when heaven’s light shined through him clearly and boldly, no buffer, no curtain, no disguise. He wanted them to be encouraged because there were dark days ahead for the four of them; days when they would need all the light or memory of light they could get.

The trip was a moment in time, one to be remembered but never explained. In fact Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone about this until after I’m gone.” It was a display of His power yes, but it was more a display of His love. The three friends felt it too. Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”

Brennan Manning writes in The Ragamuffin Gospel that in the Deep South of a hundred years ago, the phrase born again that is so common in Christian culture today was seldom or never used. Rather, the phrase used to describe the breakthrough into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was, “I was seized by the power of a great affection.”
I believe that on the mountain top Peter, James, and John ( whose nickname for himself, by the way was, “the one whom Jesus loved”) were seized by the power of a great affection for Jesus.

And in fact that’s how we all must be saved. I could explain to you in eloquent sermons. . .well, someone could explain to you in eloquent sermons, how truthful and reasonable and right it is to believe in Jesus and trust in God. But no amount of explanation will really do unless you too are seized by this affection that has the power to save your soul. This is what John Wesley experienced at Aldersgate Street. Previously, he understood the Gospel and could and did explain it to others. Heck, he preached it daily. Yet, it was in one moment that Wesley finally, “did trust in Christ and know that He loved me. . .” “I felt my heart strangely warmed,” he famously remarked.

John Wesley was seized by the power of a great affection, that is, the love of Jesus Christ.

In Philippians the Apostle Paul tells us that one day everyone will recognize the authority and power of Jesus Christ. Every knee will bow in acknowledgement of the Lord Jesus as Creator, Redeemer, and Judge. King or slave, rich man or poor single mother, privileged daughter or orphaned boy, corporate executive, politician, salesman, real estate agent, doctor, lawyer, college professor, homeless man - all will say without reservation, “Jesus, truly you are Lord. You are God.”

All will recognize the power of his authority. But what some may never do is repond to the power of his love. And that is the power that can and must save us. I wish people to respond to the love and not wait for the judgment.

Just the other morning my wife, Jennifer, called me at my office. My secretary put her through and my wife greeted me with. . .well. . .it was romantic talk that would make you blush a little perhaps. It did me. I said to her, “Hey! The speakerphone might be on, Judy might hear you.” To which Jennifer said, “So, you’re my husband. I may talk to you that way.” And she was right. Why be ashamed of this power of love and affection? Too often we are so preoccupied with saying and believing all the right things about God that we have forgotten to be in love with Him.

People talk about meeting their soul mate in life. Well, if anyone is the mate of your soul, isn’t it the One who loves your soul the most?

I wish you all not only to meet the One who loves you most, but to be completely seized by and swept off your feet by the power of His love. When I met Jesus I was a child growing up in the church, listening to the stories about Him. And then, along the way, the power of His Spirit filled me and I didn’t just know about His love, I experienced it firsthand. It was like somebody put the power of the sun inside me for a few minutes. I love Him for his patience, his mercy, his wisdom. I love Jesus who, when I am faithless, remains my faithful friend.


Knowing Jesus will not make you wealthy, successful, or problem-free. In a sense, Jesus “ruins you” (to borrow Mike Yaconelli’s phrase) for anything or anyone else in life. But that’s the point. There is nothing better. You don’t need a reward to love Jesus. Like Yann Martel says in Life of Pi, “The presence of God is the finest of rewards.” I wish that every morning that you get up you get up with Jesus and every day you spend with Him you can’t help but say, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here.”