Brad Johnson posted a response to a question I asked him about ministering to people who have fallen in the church.  It was so powerful I had to pull it out and make it a post by itself because I realize some of you may not have read it.  Brad has been there so he knows what he is talking about.  

Hi Kevin–

You asked me an important question…how to show grace…

–collectively, teach your church with this case study. wrestle with it. talk about it…do something insane–like send money, make sure bills are being paid, have your members write letters to every family member (and especially to your friend). sounds like this incident involved a crime/victim. that victim should be lifted in prayer. affirmed for the strength to come forward (if that is what happened). your writing suggests you have a communication gift and bright mind. use those with your church to bring a collective response from a body/fellowship/local expression of the church.

–long term- suicide will be on this person’s mind. his depression, shame, guilt will deepen as the responses and consequences of sin hit him and those he loves, like a tsunami. this agonizing process will unfold for the next year—minimally (and for years, if there is prison involved). settle in for the long haul. establish a strategy to stay next to this family. partner with those in his local church who may or may not be doing something. i assure you he’s getting hate mail. he can’t go out of his house without pain; nor can his family. make sure they are getting an equal measure of kindness. staying with them –not just through, but after–the storm is character quaility of perserverance.

–personally, find a way to see this man, pray with him, hold him. yes, guys can do that. you don’t have to ‘fix’ anything, nor can you. long after he’s forgotten your words, he will remember you came.

–a pressing, and oft overlooked aspect of this is financial ruin. This family needs help. They will for a year.

–teach: yes, there are consequences–but Christians are to alleviate burdens, not add to. I assure you, God doesn’t need help in the spiritual realm for us to reap what we sow. your friend will suffer way more than anyone will ever know. so, do the outrageous…show the undeserved…THAT is grace.

beyond simple compassion, or sympathy or empathy or generosity…show the outrageous…the stuff that makes the world say: “Are you freakin crazy? The guy deserves a bullet, not a house payment”

ahhhh…..if it isn’t amazing, it’s not grace. hope this stimulates your thinking and response.

Wow!  Did you get that?  We sing Amazing Grace all of the time but how often do we offer Amazing Grace?

What do you think?

[The State]

Several classmates of a teen who threatened to blow up his high school have sent him a Bible with messages of forgiveness and support.  Chesterfield High senior Parker Anderson tells WBTW-TV he hopes 18-year-old Ryan Schallenberger will read the messages and the Bible and it will change his life.

The Bible was given to prosecutor Jay Hodge, who will try to get it to Schallenberger in jail. Schallenberger faces several state and federal charges, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. A federal agent testified last month that Schallenberger told police he wanted to die, go to heaven and kill Jesus.

Read here.

[From me]

Sounds like we can learn a lot from these teens.

What do you think?

I ran into my friend Gwen Smith @ Starbucks this morning as I often do.  My wife, Cassandra first told me about Gwen last year when she heard her sing at a local conference she went to.  Cass said, you’ve got to hear her.  Then by God’s providence I met her with my friend Mike Landrum @ Starbucks in the Northlake area of Charlotte.  Gwen has a contagious personality and I run into her quite often.  

She has just written a book that will be out this summer called Broken to Beautiful.  The 700 Club just interviewed her and Brad, her husband.  You can watch it below.  They were both Christians and were living double lives.  They were college athletes involved in a campus Bible study and having sex outside of marriage.  Then the unthinkable happened–Gwen got pregnant.  That wasn’t suppose to happen to Christians–right?  They were scared and Gwen decided to have an abortion.  This went against both of their beliefs.  They eventually got married and started a family.  They were both involved in church –then God rocked Gwens world and told her to share her story.  

It is a powerful story of God’s Grace.  I encourage you to watch and buy her book when it comes out.

Sorry I can’t embed the video.  You will have to watch it here.

This is in response to the overwhelming comments I received on this video.

Read the comments here.

Recently I’ve been exposed to several people who have for various reasons left their spouses.  They do not live in Charlotte so I’m not divulging church members lives.   Anyway, for whatever reasons these individuals are abandoning years of marriage and they have children.  My first reaction is to want to hit them over the head and ask, “what are you thinking.”  Years ago I might have reacted that way.

However, as I learn the grace message that God offers every believer, I can’t act that way anymore.  I talked to one of these people recently and I just listened to them tell me why they were making their decision.  I didn’t agree with them but I listened anyway.  Then I told them that is not who they are in Christ.  I told them that they were getting their identity wrapped up in what they do and that always leads to disappointment.  This person has been blasted by many people because of their decision.  I however asked how I could help and prayed for them.  I also left the door open for more dialogue.   They asked me if they could call me again.

A few days later I received an email from their spouse and they said their spouse said I was the only one who listened to them and seemed to care.  Now I don’t say that to brag.  What I’m saying is the other people cared but because they blasted and acted ugly, their message came across the wrong way.

This has taught me a lesson.  I’m sorry for any hurt I may have caused people discussing issues on this site.  I pray that we can talk about controversial issues with love, respect and concern.    What do you think?  Does blasting someone ever bring someone back to Jesus?