Okay, let’s jump into the deep end of the pool on this blog with a passage from the gospel of Mark 8: 34-37. “Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

The word gospel simply means, “Good news.” I have wrestled with this verse for years. Not many of us have picked up a wooden cross and hauled it around town lately.

In Jesus’ time the cross was an instrument of death used by the Romans, who occupied Israel and most of the known world. It was reserved for the worst criminals in Roman society.

Jesus gives a startling image of a culture most of Israel despised; to his closest friends and disciples no less.

It seems Jesus upends everything his disciples thought they knew. He boldly states his intentions, meaning his impending death, and they don’t like it one bit.

Neither do we.

Unlike other parts of the world giving up our lives for our faith is not something most of us are going to experience in Massachusetts. However, Jesus sees beyond just the time in which he lived and knew all humankind was in need of the salvation his cross and resurrection would bring.

Taking up our cross, our suffering, our trials, our heartbreaks, our brokenness… simply means allowing Jesus to participate fully in our suffering with us. The most difficult part of the Christian life is thinking and then believing that God is distant and does not care about the heartbreaks we go through. That he does not care about our suffering, personally.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Here is a key to spiritual growth. God is not afraid to allow us to suffer. If he would permit his very own son to go through a brutal death for a much larger purpose� for us� how do you think God views the pain we experience?

The circumstantial hurricanes that seem to blow our fragile faith to bits have the same power, through Jesus, to restore and rebuild our faith.

A friend of mine calls it “Faith Repair.”

I like that. When we allow Jesus to stitch the threads of our faith back together the results are miraculous. Asking Jesus to walk with us is a daily choice.

Someone asked me recently, “Mark, do you believe in miracles? That stuff seemed to only happen in the bible.”

My response was, “Absolutely. I am one.”

So are you! And that is Good News.

Where in your life do you need Jesus’ Faith Repair?

God’s peace,
Mark+