Christian Challenge New Fall Semester Update!

Wow, the beginning of the semester is upon us already! It's always an extremely exciting time for us in collegiate ministry! Despite COVID-19, Christ is ready to do amazing things on the campus of Fort Lewis College!

We're living in some crazy times with this contagion. I hope everyone is still doing well thru the pandemic. We've been praying for you all.

This summer, we've been surprisingly busy despite COVID-19. Rachel's grandpa passed away which brought a lot of family in town thru much of the summer. He was a guy who had a big heart for Jesus and had an amazing testimony. God did a lot of work in his life, and we celebrate that he is now with his Savior.

With everyone in town, we got a lot of good family time in. It was really nice to see everyone. We even took a big chunk of the family up a fairly challenging mountain called Engineer.

Also this summer, someone in our family broke down and got a new kitten. Smoki is our new cat's name. Where does the name come from? Well, her color but she's also named after an Eastern European snack food that Rachel and I both really enjoy. She's a cute, spirited, little cat that loves climbing. We think she's a pastel calico with some Norwegian Forest Cat in her. She's sweet with people, and we look forward to her being a great ministry cat.

This summer has also brought former students back into town. It's always encouraging to catch up with them, see them still strong in the faith, and hear how they're allowing God to use them where they're at.

We've also been training, running, and hiking. Our mission trip was originally supposed to be in July. Then it was pushed back till the end of October. Now, it's just recently been postponed again. Despite being one of the first countries to require masks and lockdowns, Peru has been hit hard. The mountains where we have been working had done pretty well but recently have seen a spike in cases. Because of that, it seems like everything is still locked down till at least December.

And unfortunately, a lot of countries are still closed to Americans. Last I checked, Peru was one of these. Though they may ease up on that before our trip was to set out, the mountains will remain closed. With the lack of medical resources up there, they are doing all they can to keep things under control.

At this point, we don't know when the trip will be rescheduled but we're hoping for the spring after their rainy season or possibly next summer. A lot depends on the pandemic, if we get a vaccine, and if the fear dies down. We hope to get back there as soon as possible.

Another thing we've been busy with is our adoption. It's certainly an odd process. It seems like we're really busy for periods of time. Then, it's hurry up and wait. And then, we're super busy with it and then, more waiting. COVID-19 hasn't helped all of that. A lot of the waiting has been due to pandemic closures. We knew it was going to be a long process going into it but having a worldwide pandemic has slowed things down even more.

Most recently, we had to make the four-hour drive down to Albuquerque to meet with immigration. We ended up being their first appointment after them having been closed for months. With that taken care of, we sent our dossier out to Washington, D.C. Now, we're waiting for that to be okayed. So we're back in the hurry up and wait stage. We're at least seeing some progress even if it's a very slow progress.

So I'm guessing you're probably wondering what's going on with the coming semester with COVID-19. Well, so are we. Things seem to be changing daily. We've got a plan but that keeps changing as campus comes up with new rules and regulations. We're just trying to be flexible. We know that ministry will happen whether in person or thru online discipleship with our students.

So at the moment, this is what things look like. First off, there are big changes to our staff. Rachel, our former student, is leaving our staff after being offered a position at a local church focused on discipleship. Anna is also stepping away from our staff and is now officially a real estate agent here in town. Aleksandr, her husband, is now Pastor Aleksandr. He was just recently offered the position at their church and after a lot of prayer, he accepted the position. Thankfully, he'll continue working with us as well.

All that said, our staff is going to look a lot different this year. If there was any year to have a smaller staff, this might be the year with the student numbers we're hearing about. When I was a student, there were about 4,000 students on campus. This semester, they're thinking it will be closer to 2,800 students.

It's no surprise with what campus is requiring due to COVID-19 fears. The college seems to basically want students to go to class and back to their dorm room. No extra activity unless it's run by campus. No hanging out with friends in groups bigger than ten. You must wear a mask at all times if you leave your dorm room or be written up. They don't seem to want student organizations functioning on campus at all.

So where does that leave us? Well, they won't rent out rooms to us for our weekly events. They don't seem to want us meeting with students one-on-one on campus. They don't want students to gather with groups in homes. So basically, everything we do, they don't want us to do.

But we have a plan. Obviously, we're not going to stop doing what we do. Our one-on-one discipleship, we'll do at a coffee shop just off campus if we do get pushed off campus.

Unfortunately with COVID, there won't be any Japanese this semester. We have heard that there are some hoping to come during the spring semester. We've also heard that there may be a few other internationals that are on campus thru athletics. With fall athletics mostly canceled for the semester, that may give us more opportunity to reach those international student-athletes.

We found out that one of them is from Bulgaria which is nearby where Rachel grew up. Rachel has always been bummed that we don't get more Eastern Europeans on campus. But now we've got one on campus so hopefully we can connect.

Despite not having the Japanese students on campus, there are still plenty of other students to connect with. We just have to be more flexible in how we do that.

Since campus doesn't want us meeting in homes like we do with family dinner, and they won't rent us a room to do our worship night, we are going to combine the two. We'll have dinner before our worship night and host it at a local church. It will look a lot like a ministry I helped run during my early ministry years, TNF or Thursday Night Fellowship. Though I'll miss our family dinners, I'm excited to get back to my roots. We'll even be hosting them on Thursday nights. I may have to pull out one of my old TNF shirts for nostalgia's sake.

We have also had to rename the worship night. Despite us using the name for a year and a half, and the name being close to my heart as it connects to the town I grew up in, we've had to sadly retire the Summit name. A local church decided they were going to change the name of their church just recently and use the name. They have a college group as well and have put the Summit name on all of its marketing. It would be like New York City having two teams named the Yankees...that play the same night. That's a little awkward. So, unfortunately we had to drop the name to prevent confusion for students.

So things are just going to look different this year on a lot of levels. With all the restrictions, that also makes meeting freshmen much more difficult. Our block party where we normally meet between 200-300 freshmen was nixed by campus. We thought, "Okay, we'll break up the block party into smaller ones at different locations on campus and bring a few pizzas per party." Nope, can't do that either. Any food must be packaged and sealed. It can't actually be made by someone even if that someone works at a restaurant.

So I guess we'll have to have a junk food party. We'll reach freshmen thru Hostess and Little Debbie...Zebra Cakes, Ho Ho's, Twinkies, and maybe we'll even throw in some Pop-Tarts for a healthier alternative. Honestly, this will probably be more unhealthy than just getting COVID-19 for this age demographic. But we'll be flexible...and who doesn't like a little junk food?

We've also put up slacklines already to meet students while the weather is nice. That's something that's always been fairly successful for us in the past. We put one up, and it draws in students who want to try it. Many also just want to meet some new people so they come and hang out.

With the slacklining and small block parties, they're kind of our trial runs. We're using them to test the waters. Will we get pushback from campus and if so, how much? This will give us a good idea of what we can do in the future on campus. A lot of this has just been trying to piece together information thru what campus is telling the students. Campus ministries across the board have heard little to nothing despite trying to figure out what's going on for months.

So far, we've already done a lot of prayer walking. We've put up posters around campus. And as I've already mentioned, we've set up the slackline multiple times. We've had students stop by and hang out socially distanced. It went well. Nobody said anything to us, and the students didn't seem too worried about being around other people. That's a good sign. We may have more freedom than we expected.

If things continue to go well, we've got more events planned. Here are some of the big things:

Night Hike- Aug. 28th
Coffee Crawl- Sept. 5th
Whitewater Rafting- Sept. 12th
Retreat- Sept. 18th-20th
Camp and Climb- Sept. 25th-26th

So that's the plan thru September but campus could always throw us a curveball if students start testing positive. And it wouldn't surprise me one bit. As I have already seen on campus, students wear their masks religiously if they think someone like an RA or orientation leader is watching them. Basically, if there is someone around who could get them in trouble, they'll wear a mask. But once they think no one is watching like at night, well, I haven't seen a lot of students wearing them while hanging out with friends around campus.

So we'll see what happens. Campus may decide to go all online sooner than later. A lot of campuses tried bringing students back but quickly moved classes back online. We pray that doesn't happen but if it does, Lord willing, we'll already have a lot of contacts and students we can disciple online.

Some might think that with student body numbers down by around 700 students so we've been told, this would be a small year for us. And that might be true. But there is also the possibility of this being a pretty sizable year. With students having not much else to do besides eating and studying in their dorm rooms, and going to class, they may be looking for something a little more exciting to do. They may be really in need of community. God has placed our ministry on campus and opened doors for us to provide community for the students...even if that community is socially distanced.

Whatever happens, we just pray it's a fruitful year. In the past, we've had fruitful years with low numbers and fruitful years with high numbers. One of our most fruitful years was when we only had two students returning. Those two students were Aleksandr and Rachel who eventually joined staff with us. So whatever happens, God is faithful! We're excited to see what He is going to do this year!

Over the years, God has really challenged me to be in prayer more for our ministry and to challenge our supporters to be in prayer more for the ministry. We've seen huge fruit when we've focused on that. This year, that challenge hasn't changed. And we probably need prayer more than ever with the COVID-19 changes. In almost twenty years of ministry at Fort Lewis, this will probably be one of the the strangest and most challenging years I've ever seen.

So without further delay, I give you guys this year's Christian Challenge Prayer Challenge...or The Challenge for Challenge. I want to challenge you to give 5-10 minutes a day praying for the ministry. If that sounds like not much, go for more. I suggest praying for it during your mornings so you don't forget. If the ministry comes to mind later in the day, pray for it then too. I'm challenging you to do it for 14 days.  If you can make it that far, take it another 14 days. I know I might be asking a lot but it's so important and so worth it.

If you're on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and up for an extra challenge, post the time, date and hashtag it #Praying4FLC and #Challenge4Challenge every time you pray for the ministry. This will remind our staff and students that we've got people praying for us when we get on social media. And hey, maybe it gets others who see it to pray for FLC as well. If you're not into the social media thing, no worries but still be praying.

Thank you for all the support and encouragement you give! We are super thankful for that! Keep us, the ministry, and the FLC campus in your prayers!

Cheers and God Bless,
Mike and Rachel

If the Lord is leading you to give, follow this link to our giving options:
http://thewallscall.blogspot.com/p/other-giving-options.html

Prayer Requests:

- We've got some solid student-leaders returning which is an answered prayer. Pray that God would protect our student-leaders this year spiritually.

- Though we have an obligation to share the Gospel on campus, we also want to be good representatives of Christ with the administration. We want to respect the protocols they have put in place to keep students safe while still doing what we need to  do to share the Gospel and reach students. Pray that we would do that and find favor with the administration during this time of COVID.

- The school has a very small amount of Christian professors on campus. I can only think of two or three left. Pray that campus would hire believing professors who would be bold about sharing their faith with their students.

- As the semester get busier, it's easy to neglect things big and small. We get so focused on ministry that we lose track of the things that help keep us going. We lose track of taking care of ourselves. Pray we have energy and get good sleep throughout the busy semester.

- Though our adoption is moving forward, it's moving slow, especially with COVID.  Pray that God would protect us from getting discouraged during this process, and that He would connect us with the right kid in His timing.

- With as many things as the ministry does, it's easy to take on way too much and get burnt out. This is especially true in the first month. By the end of September, we just sort of expect it. Pray that we would be good stewards with our time so that we don't fall into burnout.

- Throughout the year, the semester can wear on you, and it can be easy to find yourself discouraged at times. It happens in just about any ministry at one point or another. Pray that God would keep us and our staff encouraged throughout the year.

- Being Christians, we are in a spiritual battle. When you do ministry, you become a bigger target in that battle. Keep praying for us and our team that God would protect us this year from any spiritual attacks. Pray that God would give us the strength and encouragement to endure. Also pray for everyone praying for our ministry because when you pray for the ministry, you become a bigger target as well.

- Atheism is a big belief system at FLC. On any given year, about half of the students we work with are atheists or non-believers. Pray that God would open doors for the Gospel to be received and understood. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be working on the hearts and minds of the students we are going to meet.

- Over the years, our staff has had a lot of health issues that can really be a discouragement. Josh, with his heart issues, is actually high-risk for COVID. That can make ministry really tricky during this time. Our most successful years have been when we have good health. Pray that God would keep our staff safe and healthy.

- Pray that our team would adjust well to losing a couple of full-time staff. We are also looking to possibly bring new staff on if the right people emerge.Pray that God would give us wisdom on finding replacements to fill empty roles.

- Pray that ministries on campus would be team players and work with each other to reach the campus for Christ. When ministries bulldoze other ministries on a small campus, it causes rifting and division which can hinder a campus from being reached effectively. With a much smaller student body and another ministry joining the mix on campus, the enemy could really come in and cause division. Pray that the different ministries on campus would guard against that.

- We are still trying to get Rikako to the States to help us reach the Japanese students that we work with. COVID has made that process a whole lot tougher. Pray that God would give us favor in finding ways to help her get back to Durango to join our team.

- With our trip to Peru being postponed, we really need this pandemic to die down. We were hoping to get back there to help transition Edwin, our trip guide and now missionary into Jaime's old position after Jaime passed away last summer. Pray that the world would get a handle on the pandemic so that Peru will open back up. Also pray against fear which has driven a lot of the closures.Hopefully, we can get back there next spring or summer to help Edwin's transition and to once again share the Gospel in the high mountains of the Andes.

- To go along with the last prayer request, we need COVID to die down also so that Edwin's wife can get treatment for her brain cancer. As we've seen in the States, many cancer patients haven't been able to get treatment due to the pandemic. Pray that Edwin's wife can get treatment, and that God would bring complete healing upon her.

- We were hoping to support raise this summer but with COVID, that made support raising not a reality. Lord willing, we are hoping to share at some churches after Thanksgiving. If you know of a church or small group that might be interested in having us share, please let us know. We trust God to provide but would appreciate you praying as well that funding needs would be met. If you would like to give to support the ministry happening at Fort Lewis, please click the following: Give Now.

Slowing Things Down

Back when I first started ski instructing, I kind of thought I knew everything there was to know about skiing. I had grown up ski racing and training multiple times a week for that in the winter time. In my mind, I had won some races and that made me a great skier. I had even beaten medal winning olympians. Granted, they were probably over the hill by the time I did that but that's not important. I was a great skier, and because of that, I was sure to be a great instructor. I didn't need anyone to tell me how to do it.

In the wisdom of the resort I was working for, they felt I did need someone to tell me how to do it. Because of that, they put all of the newly-hired instructors thru new instructor training. One of their biggest goals was to teach people how to be safe on the snow. I thought, "That's cool but people ski for the adrenaline rush. People need to be taught how to ski fast...and safely, of course." My racing background was certainly influencing my skiing philosophy. When I shared my philosophy with our trainers, I'm pretty sure they rolled their eyes at me behind their goggles.

Everything we worked on was slowing things down. Slow, slow, slow... It drove me nuts. But slow meant safety. Slow meant staying in control. Looking back, they were right. You can always learn to ski faster later on. But when you're a beginner just starting out, slow is better. It's safer.

As they put us thru different drills, something strange started to emerge in my skiing. At speed, I could do everything just fine. But when I slowed my pace down, there were movements I struggled with. When I skied faster, I could cover up some some of the deficiencies in my skiing. With things slowed, problems like balance issues were exposed.

Years later, I started to think about if that can apply to life in general. Are their deficiencies we don't know are there because our busy lives cover them up? Will they be exposed if our lives slow down?

And then COVID-19 happened...

I remember following the early news of COVID-19 and wondering what would happen if it touched our shores. With the way we travel as humans, I knew it was only a matter of time until a major life-changing pandemic hit America.

Over the years, I've closely followed when other countries were hit with outbreaks. It's somewhat fascinating to me. Every time, it has brought up the question of "What would we do if it made it to America?"

Swine Flu was a big deal. I remember traveling during that time. Before we could get off the plane, all passengers' temperatures had to be taken. If a temperature was too high, the authorities would pull the person off the plane and put them in quarantine for two weeks. That would have certainly ruined my two-week trip.

Ebola was also a scare when a traveler brought it back to America from Africa. And then some American medical personnel were infected and brought back to the States for treatment. That got people pretty worried as well. Thankfully, our healthcare professionals did a great job, and it didn't spread.

We'd have to wait until a later date for a pandemic that really scared people. It would come years later and from a different continent. There would be lockdowns, massive media-driven fear...and toilet paper shortages. Because when you have a contagion that attacks the lungs, the first thing you think of stocking up on is toilet paper...

This would stop our nation in its tracks, the contagion...and the toilet paper shortage. Almost the whole world would be paralyzed with fear. Businesses were shut down. People wouldn't be allowed out of their houses. We were told not to work or play around others.

We were being forced to slow down. I know personally, the college I help lead a ministry at was shut down. My hockey season was canceled. And lastly, the state forced all ski areas to close meaning I wasn't going to be able to ski instruct for the rest of the season either. It seemed like everything was being taken away. All of the things that kept me busy, the things I filled my life with, outside of my family, were gone. I couldn't do anything but slow down.

It was almost like God was using this to strip people of everything that defined them.

Work? Gone. Sports? Nope. Friends? Stay away. Play? Only if you can do it in your living room. School? Only online. Church? Not allowed in person or you hate people. But don't worry. You can still riot, loot, and protest in large groups. Thankfully, that gave us at least something to do to get some Vitamin D and exercise outside... And remember, masks don't work. Wait, now they do. But maybe they still don't and are worse for you and others. Doesn't matter. If you don't wear one, you want grandma to die...

Times are crazy.

One way or another, we've been forced to slow down. That makes me wonder what it's revealing in us. For some, it might be depression. Others, it might be addictions like alcohol, drugs, porn, video games, or social media. Maybe it's laziness. Those projects you said you'd do if only you had the time still aren't finished.

For myself, it's reminded me that I really don't like authority telling me what to do. Despite thinking I had matured over the years, I still have a strong rebellious side. Don't tell me to wear a mask. Don't tell me to stay home. That's stupid. I want to do what I want.

Now, being that I think I know everything sometimes, I do have some medical study-based objections to some of the medical advice and restrictions being forced on people by our government. And I so want to delve into that but I'll refrain from running this train right off the tracks. Basically, if you tell me to wear a mask, whether or not they work, there's a big part of me that wants to not wear one just to spite you for telling me what to do. All medical science aside, that's not a healthy mindset to have especially when it bleeds into other areas of your life.

So what do we do with these things? I think if God is revealing these issues to us, it's time to take them to Jesus and work thru them. You can't work thru an issue that you don't know is an issue. But now due to the lockdown, issues might be coming to the surface. Use these times to work thru them. Do some introspection and figure out where they are coming from. I'll say it again. Take them to Jesus. Pray. Get into God's Word, the Bible.

For some, maybe that's the issue. You're not spending enough time with God...or any time with God. You always thought you were too busy but that's continued as things have slowed down. Max Barnett always says something to the effect of, "If you're too busy to spend time with God, then you're much more busy than God ever intended you to be." So spend time with God. Pray. Read your Bible. Listen to a sermon online. Listen to worship songs. Sing along. Spending time with God should be a priority to anybody who calls themselves a Christian. With things slowed down, we've got the time now. Make a habit of it now before life gets busy again. If God is a priority and He should be, you'll make time to spend with Him.

And spending time with Him might even make some of those newly exposed issues correct themselves. But some of those issues might take longer. Keep taking them to God. Keep praying about them. Find scriptures that relate and will encourage you in the fight. Find someone you trust to help keep you accountable. Put up boundaries to keep you moving in a good direction. Lastly, don't let it fester. Don't brush it off. Don't think that you just need to get back to normal life, and it will go away. Use this time to face it head-on with God. Taking it on now will make you more solid going forward. It will put you in a better position when things get back to normal.

As a ski instructor, I can tell you that I'm a better skier now after slowing things down, exposing those weaknesses in my skiing, working on them, and building a more solid foundation. Slowing things down allowed me to work on those balance issues. Now, when I go at much faster speeds, I'm more technically sound and have even better balance at those high speeds. The better balance I have, the faster I can go. The faster I go, the more fun it is, the bigger adrenaline rush I get. And we all know, people ski to get that adrenaline rush.

So what are these slower times exposing in you? What might God be showing you? Maybe it's not something new. Maybe it's something you've known about but never addressed. Let's not waste these days. Let's use them to take a look at what God might be exposing. Let's give those things to Jesus and let Him help us work thru them while life is at this slower pace.

Thoughts on Forgiveness

In the current chaos of our world, we seem to be living in a culture that desires justice, retribution, retaliation, and revenge. Many people are hateful, and with that, many are angry. Sadly, that's been slowly creeping its way into the Church.

People want payback for wrongs that were committed against them. They also want payback for wrongs that weren't actually committed against them. They want someone punished for those wrongs committed by others. And it doesn't matter if the actual perpetrator gets punished. They just need someone to be punished.

The thinking is often, "You wronged someone important to me; therefore, you wronged me in the exact same way." Sometimes, it's not even a person they know. But they heard about the wrong committed and now they feel wronged. That often leads to people feeling the victim over false narratives. They base their victimhood on rumors and misinformation.

"I'm a victim because that person over there is a victim...or at least I heard that they were a victim." We've all heard about the phrase, "Guilty by association." Well, this is "Victim by association." And debts must be paid. Only then, will forgiveness and reconciliation supposedly come. Only then will things be made right. "I don't care who pays for it as long as someone does." It often seems people basically want one person to pay for the sins of another. That sounds familiar. Isn't that what Jesus did?

Being that none of us are Jesus, the equation they are trying to use just doesn't work. It doesn't bring peace, reconciliation, or justice. That equation only brings more hate, anger, and division.

Practicing that flawed equation is a very dangerous place for people to find themselves. It's harmful. People are weaponizing reconciliation. They say they want things to be made right but in reality, they want nothing more than to hurt the person who wronged them or others. In the end, that desire only destroys a person.

And that's where a lot of us are right now. We're destroying ourselves from the inside as people, as a nation, and as the Church.

Wanting justice is not a bad thing. God desires justice as well. That's part of His character. He is a just God. Because of that, I think it's something that He put in us, a desire for justice. But like with many other things, we often pervert it and leave no place for Jesus. There's no place for grace and forgiveness.

We also seem to have become a people who are offended by everything. The concept of forbearance has been almost completely lost. We have no patience with others. Intentions no longer matter. Molehills have been made into mountains. Rare occurrences have been made to be thought of as the norm. "It doesn't matter what statistics say. If they don't agree with my feelings, they are not the truth." When our feelings define our reality, we are not actually living in reality.

When we base our reality on our feelings, it's easy to feel like a victim. Many want to blame everyone but themselves for the situations they are in. They don't want to take responsibility for their own actions. It's easier to blame others than deal with our own issues. Our feelings tell us it's everyone else's fault. Out of that comes hate and anger where we need grace and forgiveness. When we forgive ourselves, it's a lot easier to address our own short-comings.

Now, the victim thing isn't just all in our heads. There are real victims out there. People do terrible things to each other. Some have real reasons to be hurt. And there is nothing wrong with desiring justice for those wronged. Unfortunately, when everyone claims victimhood, it really does a disservice to actual victims.

Another thing that harms actual victims is when we try to out-victim each other to gain some strange form of status. It's unhealthy and has become popular in our culture. Our victimhood now defines us. It has become our identity. That only leads to anger, hate, and division. That kind of mentality is suffocating. It tends to lead to a lack of forgiveness. Because if we forgive, we lose what defines us. We lose our status, our identity, and our street cred.

As we define ourselves by the wrongs done to us, it seems like a good amount of people have lost any and all understanding of grace and forgiveness. It's not a surprise. Forgiveness comes with Jesus. So many of our cultural values came from His principles. But over the years, there have been certain people who have tried to erase that from our past, our present, and our future. It's happening across the nation. It's happening in our culture and that is influencing our churches.

The further we walk away from Jesus, the further we walk away from the concept of grace and forgiveness. That's not to say that if you don't follow Jesus, you can't forgive. But forgiveness isn't a natural impulse. Our natural impulse is to get back, to get even. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, though. Jesus taught us what forgiveness is all about. He brought the concept to the forefront. He set the example. He lived it out, and He died for it. But instead of finding our identity in Jesus, we find our identity by the wrongs done to us. We define ourselves by darkness, not by light.

Let's be real. If anyone has a right to play the victim card, it's Jesus. Here is a sinless guy who was tortured and violently murdered. He was strung up on a cross not for His own sins but for others. He died for our sins against God. But even as he was in immense pain and dying on the cross, He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

He was asking for forgiveness for those who were persecuting Him, those who were verbally assaulting Him, those who were killing Him...and also for us.

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And Jesus died for us so that we could be forgiven. We certainly don't deserve it. There's no way we could earn it. But that's grace...undeserved mercy and forgiveness.

So if we're asking for forgiveness from Jesus, shouldn't we be giving forgiveness to others? That forgiveness we're getting from Jesus should be spilling out of us and over-flowing with abundance over those who wrong us, and those we care about.

At least that's how it should be, right? Unfortunately, that's not always a reality. People within the Church today can struggle with that. But again, if Jesus forgave us, how can we not give forgiveness to others? Often, I think we don't realize the depth of our own sin. And sin is sin. My sin may look a little different than your sin but really, it's the same thing. It's rebellion against God.

Thankfully, no one is past redemption. Not the murderer. Not the adulterer. Not the terrorist. Not the drug dealer. Not the rapist. God desires reconciliation with all those people thru Jesus. That might be offensive to you but who are we to shake a fist at God and tell Him He is wrong?

Paul, an apostle of Christ, took part in the murder of Christians. God eventually used him to write almost half of the New Testament after repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, messed up so many times. That included denying that he even knew Jesus on multiple occasions. But God eventually used Peter to play one of the most important roles in the building of the early Church.

King David stole his loyal friend's wife, got her pregnant, and had the guy murdered to cover it up. Most of us know the story. He was checking her out as she was bathing on her roof. He liked what he saw and sent for her. They slept together.

And nobody really mentions this but it very well may not have been fully consensual. Back in the day, what the king wanted, the king got. You didn't tell him no. Kings and rulers back then had a habit of killing people who told them no, and sometimes their families too. This woman could have been scared for her and her husband's life. But unfortunately, David had the woman's husband killed anyway.

David, who the Bible calls a man after God's own heart, messed up. It was an epic moral failure. What he did was awful. And due to those actions, there were certainly consequences. But despite that, God didn't throw him away. He didn't cancel him as our culture loves to do. God still had a plan for his life. David, when eventually confronted, fessed up, repented and reconciled with God. And despite David's failure, God brought him back to a place where He could once again work thru David.

Sadly, some of us only want to continue tearing down. We have no desire to build people back up when they fall. "Just cancel them already. #RIPDavid #KingDavidisOverParty"

It reminds me of the story with the woman caught in adultery. The crowd drags her out into the street in front of Jesus. They are ready to stone her to death. Jesus tells the crowd that he who has no sin should be the one to throw the first stone. Slowly, the crowd drops their stones and starts to disperse realizing that none of them were sinless.

I think some in the church have forgotten that. We've forgotten the depravity of our own sin. We stand ready, stones in hand, waiting for the first person to fall. And you know what Jesus is waiting to do? He's waiting to pick that person up, tell them that they're forgiven, and to go and sin no more.

Folks, we've got to drop our stones. We've got to ask for forgiveness and then go and sin no more.

As a culture, I'd encourage us to connect back with Jesus and the grace and forgiveness that flows thru Him. We already have someone who paid the debt for all of the wrongs we've done.

You want a wrongdoer to pay for the wrongs done against you or someone you love? Introduce them to Jesus so He can pay their debt. Allow Jesus to help us let go of the anger and hate we hold so tightly to.

We've got to have grace and forgiveness to survive. Our nation and its churches will not last without those concepts being put into practice. The farther we get from those concepts, the more our culture will crumble until eventually, there will just be the ruins of a once great civilization. Over time, we will become more and more divided. Our cups will be filled with more and more grudges and hatred until that cup overflows and destroys all it touches.

It's truly by the grace and forgiveness of God that our nation has lasted this long. In America, we have so many differences and with differences comes friction, misunderstandings, wrongdoings, and a fear of what is different.

The same goes for our churches. They won't survive without grace and forgiveness. We must remember that churches are not made up of perfect people. They are hospitals for the sick, not necessarily the healthy. Don't be shocked when sick people show signs of being sick. And that goes for our doctors and nurses as well. Doctors and nurses sometimes get sick too. The people who make up the Church are very imperfect people. Each one of us has the ability to fall. And it's okay to desire justice at that point but that desire needs to be handled in a godly way.

Let go of any hate and anger towards our brothers and sisters. When someone gets cancer, you don't hate the person. You hate the cancer. Our battle is against sin, not the sinner. When a person falls, lets be there with truth, grace, and forgiveness. Let's be there to help them get back up. That's what God desires. That's God's heart.

Jesus desires to gather all people to Himself, no matter your past, your sin struggles, your race, your culture, or your country. Jesus is bigger than all of that. But all of those things can bring friction if we take our eyes off of Jesus. As Christians, we're supposed to reflect Jesus to those around us. So let's be a light to the rest of the world and show how great Jesus' grace and forgiveness can be.