Category Archives: Attributes
The Gospel, Up Straight and Direct
I remember gathering with a group of men in the jail.
One of them was deeply troubled because his son was getting into all kinds of trouble.
He couldn’t understand why, because (he claimed) he loved his son and was always telling him so.
I felt something stir in my spirit, so I looked him straight in the eye and said that was a lie.
He didn’t love his son, I continued, but loved his drugs more – and thus had not cared enough to be part of his son’s life as he grew up. This had deeply wounded his son, who felt unloved and worthless, and was now acting out.
I then sat silent, firmly holding his stunned gaze with resolve tinged with compassion.
He began sobbing and admitted it was true – he loved his drugs more than his son.
As he then openly confessed and repented, he found Jesus that morning …
And also found God’s forgiveness.
But it would not have happened without first confronting him with the bad news of his own lies and deceit.
Those who try to candy-coat the Gospel seldom produce real fruit.
The real Gospel is edgy, and it is salvation for those who are lost and know it.
Jesus also went to the lost and demanded repentance while showing great compassion.
If you’re willing to follow in His footsteps, don’t be surprised when you too start seeing transforming redemption in the lives of others.
~ Jim Wright
Celebrating Redemption
This afternoon, I’m driving to Richmond, Virginia, to attend the graduation of a young man I first met in jail years ago. He’s receiving his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, with honors, from Virginia Commonwealth University. From jail to now has been an intense journey as Marianne and I stood with him during the hard times and refused to let him fall through the cracks. Now, we get to rejoice with him as he achieves this major milestone.
Following God’s Presence is something I wrote five years ago about him, and the church he was part of in the jail. In fact, he’s one of the brothers who asked to pray for me, as I recount in that piece.
I’m not going to use his name, because he is very humble and doesn’t like publicity. But you know who you are, and I am so very, very proud of you! Even as I write this, I’m tearing up thinking about the honor it’s been to be part of God’s plan of redemption and restoration in your life.
~ Jim Wright
My Bible Prophecy Secret Decoder Ring
My Secret Decoder Ring
Unfortunately, I lost my John Hagee “Bible Prophecy Secret Decoder Ring,” so I was unable to determine the true meaning of last night’s “blood moon” before I went to bed.
With nothing more to do, I decided I might as well get a good night’s sleep, wake up in the morning, and get on with my life – just like normal.
Now that it’s morning, I see that the world’s still here – with its normal complement of good news and bad news.
What a bummer. I was hoping for something more exciting, given all the hype.
Recovery Homes
Several of our fellowships want to open additional recovery homes in the county for those putting their lives back together following abuse, imprisonment, addiction, economic distress or other major disruption. Over the last several years, we have teamed up with another ministry to support this local need, but its focus is only on addiction – which is very much needed. However, we also need similar homes for those dealing with other issues.
Our desire is to create transitional, peer recovery homes where there is functional, Christ-centered community within each house. This would involve mutual support, encouragement and accountability among the residents – with appropriate outside support and oversight.
Our experiences to date have confirmed that such a focus is essential for real change to occur among those in each home. Otherwise, the houses become little more than a warehouse for knuckleheads, and become a detriment rather than an asset for those seeking to put their lives back together.
The Gospel of the Kingdom
Until we understand that the Gospel preached by Jesus was the “Gospel of the Kingdom”;
That “Christ” wasn’t His last name, but meant “the King”;
And that He claimed “all authority” over all things,
Both in heaven, and “on Earth”…
Liberty and Christian Cynicism
I applaud my brothers and sisters in Christ who stood firm in Ukraine against oppression and earned with their blood the right to now rebuild their nation.
Cynicism and retreat are popular today among some Christians who have never suffered national tyranny, corruption and malaise, but enjoy the ease of privileged comfort because of past sacrifices by others.
They have not earned the right to criticize those – in Ukraine or elsewhere – whose faith is big enough to redeem cultures, affirm virtue, and establish liberty.
A Love Story
Tonight, Marianne and I will have a romantic dinner at the country inn where I asked her to marry me.
Marianne
Our friends often kid us, because we take time to celebrate key events in our life together. Our first date, our engagement, our wedding, and other anniversaries are important to us.
We don’t go on anniversary dates to create intimacy and passion between us, but to express the amazing, ever-deepening intimacy and passion that continues to grow between us – from the first time my heart unexpectedly fluttered at the sight of her, to the profound thrill I still feel when I see her.
There is a love between us that I seldom see in others. It, and our marriage, are testaments to the power of God to redeem lives.
Abundance
Abundance often emerges from the impossible. Many times the very fact that the impossibility exists creates the opportunity for the Lord to bring forth His abundance.
Sometimes an act of faith is required. For Abraham, he had to believe in the midst of impossibility that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens.
Abundance wears many faces. Some assume that abundance implies health, wealth and prosperity and for some people that may be true.
However, God’s abundance does not come with a guarantee of those things. The churches of Macedonia experienced great trials of afflictions, but they possessed an abundance of joy even in the midst of deep poverty.
The Tyranny of Tolerance
One day soon, you are going to wake up to a new world where your liberty to pursue virtue as an expression of your faith – and your right to proclaim those beliefs in the public square – are gone.
Vice is now using “tolerance” to bludgeon virtue, and virtue is currently losing.
This newest weapon in the war against virtue has met with great success – and, most disturbing of all, the naïve support of many “Christians”.
Somethings, it seems, never change.
Elders, Grace and Heresy
Some use grace to justify sin. Others, to repent.
See http://www.crossroadjunction.com/2012/12/13/half-grace-2/
Last week, several local leaders openly intervened – after private efforts failed – to deal with a few individuals who were trying to dominate a particular fellowship with their false, hyper-grace heresy.
Christmas: To Be or Not to Be
I don’t give a hoot whether you celebrate Christmas or don’t.
Let’s learn to honor the Lord in our own choice, while respecting those who likewise honor the Lord – but choose differently – in this non-essential matter of personal conscience.
Grace and Repentance
Let’s embrace true love and real grace, rather than false love and hollow grace.
See http://www.crossroadjunction.com/2012/08/07/false-love/
Subtraction
Sometimes, because He’s gracious, Jesus asks us to surrender the very thing He created us to be good at or value, so He can then restore it under His Lordship.
Otherwise, we end up seeking after the gift, rather than the Giver.
Everyone Loves…
Everyone loves justice, until it disturbs their comfort zones.
Everyone loves mercy, until they have to embrace the actual mess of inconvenient victims.
Everyone loves the poor, until asked to open their home to share a meal.
Everyone loves the prophetic, until it exposes sin among them.
Everyone loves grace, until it calls them to repent.
Everyone loves love, until it speaks truth.
The Problem of Evil
Someone asked if it is God’s will when evil happens.
I suspect it is God’s will that we have the right to reject Him and choose evil, because He wants us to have the related ability to freely choose the love, grace and rule He offers us.
I also suspect that He grieves with us at what some have done with those choices.
~ Jim Wright
A Simple Cure for a Terminal Condition
Is it any wonder that a generation raised to believe it’s all about them has a hard time grasping that it’s all about God?
They are easy prey for those peddling God’s amazing grace, love and acceptance, while rejecting repentance, truth and change.
The greatest deceptions, however, involve half truths.
Unfortunately, there’s just too much of this going around these days, and it’s terminal when it comes to healthy believers, healthy ekklesia and healthy nations.
Choice and Change
Grace and Repentance
God and Man
Grace is the means – God extends undeserved mercy, forgiveness and truth.
Repentance is the result – I accept, submit and change.
Which Gospel?
No other gospel works, except the Gospel proclaimed by Jesus.
A Story of Redemption
Among our simple, participatory churches, we keep it real.
We have to. We have no choice.
Continually, people are coming to the Lord through us from places of deep bondage and despair.
Generations
Treasures from the Past
This old-world clematis goes back at least three generations in my family.
It originally grew in my grandmother’s yard in Maryland, then was transplanted to my parent’s home when I was a young man, and finally came with me to Virginia when I moved here with my own family many years ago.
In all, I figure it has been cared for by a Wright, in one place or another, at least sixty years.
Cheap Grace
Christ’s finished work of the Cross doesn’t mean that the work of the Cross is finished in us. Although grace is freely given, without merit or condition, it costs us everything to fully accept. Forget this, and you pervert the gospel.
The Many Languages of God
God is a polyglot: He speaks to different people different ways.
Some primarily hear Him through the language of their heart and feelings, some analytically through their mind, some through the dynamics of action, some through the identity of relationships, and some through the passion of mercy and justice – among other ways.
Problems often arise among His people, however, when we think that our primary language for hearing God is His only language, or is superior to other languages He uses with others.
Redemption
When we think of redemption we usually think about Christ’s atoning blood which delivered us from our sins. Yes, on the day we personally
surrender ourselves to the Lord and ask His forgiveness, He redeems us and we become His children.
Christ’s sacrifice was vital. We can now partake in His kingdom here on earth and when we die join Him in eternity. However, I believe that Christ’s act of redemption is far more encompassing then simply making a way for us to enter heaven.
Crossroad Junction 