“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’” (Matthrew 11:29 NLT)
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Hey, guys! Great interview!
I’ve been out all day so just checked in – I’m very glad to “meet” Chris. You two seem to have a special relationship that nothing will come between, thank the Lord. Kind of like the scripture,
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘for your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, not life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
~Romans 8:35-39
You guys have both been to hell and back. You’ve come to know and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and you have found fellowship with one another. It’s awesome…
I belong to the Church of the Misfits as well [but in Texas our theme song is NOT sung by Twisted Sister!
]…I’ll sure be glad when the Lord returns and we can all be united in one body.
We may be separated by distance but not through our love for Christ.
Now that I’ve met you, Chris, you’re on my prayer list. Whenever God brings you to mind, I will be praying…
Glad you liked the interview, Michelle. I think it came out better than I thought it would–especially the humor. That certainly kept things light. I did it because I wanted to put a human face on The Church of Misfits. And, Yeah, we’ve had our hell, we’ve made our mistakes, we’ve got our sins to answer for, but Romans 8 keeps us going. Good passage. Good passage!
I just watched it again and it hit me–after everything Chris has been through, it really is a miracle that still believes. And it really is infuriating to think of someone, especially a pastor, telling him to dress a certain way in order for him to go to church.
I figure if Jesus was here today, He’d spend more time with adult children of foster care than He would religious leaders dressed in expensive suits and ties.
For that reason, I’m proud to be a Misfit.
Chris says, “Hi, Michelle!”
“And it really is infuriating to think of someone, especially a pastor, telling him to dress a certain way in order for him to go to church.”
Yes, it is. It’s not the first time I’ve heard of that happening…I am glad to be in a church now that doesn’t make such distinctions. Remember the story I told you about the people wanting a separate service? Thankfully, the pastor has stuck to his guns…some people have left
…something is just not right with the way we’re doing “church” today.
Heaven will be amazing.
Chris, you’re welcome on my blog anytime!
You’re right about Christians not making church the way it should be.
And I can’t wait to get to Heaven. I’ve already told Kathy, a woman I’m in bell choir with, that I want them to play “When The Saints Go Marching In” at my funeral.
Of course, I’ve got a while to go before that happens…
…I think.
I’ll pass along your message to Chris–if he hasn’t read it already. He’s going to love it!
And you!
Man… now I really wanna meet you two someday. But… ummm… maybe we won’t have turkey.
Chris, it was amazing to listen to your story. I wanna meet that pastor and tell him what I think of him! I love your tats! I have a needle phobia, so I don’t have any, so I have to be jealous of other people who do. In fact, I just got my ears pierced a few months ago. I really want an eyebrow ring, but it sounds painful.
NE… remind me never to give you a knife and a dead bird.
I’m no good at carving poultry either.
I loved this! Thanks!!!
Nope. No turkey. NO MORE TURKEY!!!
And, you know, Yeah…Thanks for not giving me, like, a dead bird.
Who knows? Maybe we all will meet before we get to Heaven!
Great interview! It’s nice to see a “real person” telling about their walk of faith.
(Although, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to look at turkey the same again!)
Thanks for stopping by, TerriTerri.
I have to admit, this whole thing has turned out much, much better than I had anticipated.
In fact, I’m all smileys!
A real Christian talking about real problems.
NOW THERE IS SOMETHING YOU DON’T SEE EVERYDAY!!!
Maybe someone should give that pastor the bird. 8-o
In love of course. “Bless his heart”!
Steve…
(NE, that j3susg33k is my husband, just so ya know) That was pure Steve sarcasm.
Seriously though… that is what I loved about this… Chris is real. I’ll take real people any day!
awesome. that was fun.
thank you for sharing – y’all are DEFINITELY misfits!
Yeah, well. Glad to hear it has gone over so well. The reactions I have got have been tremendous.
I appreciate the sarcasm, Steve, but you know…really, all Chris did about that pastor was shake the dust off his sandals and moved on. And I think I mentioned in another comment that the both of us are now going to the same church on Sunday mornings. So…we’ve found our spiritual home.
And yeah, Heidi, Chris is as real as they come.
Thanks for stopping by Mandy. And if you think about it, everybody is a Misfit. People like me and Chris are just a little more honest about it.
NE…I LOVED this! Wow! Thank you so much for doing this! Nice to meet you Chris, and hear your heart…and thanks for sharing your heart without “covering” it all up! You know what I think is awesome? About that Pastor, that Chris just “shook the dust off his sandals and moved on”. That is such a pure picture of CHRIST if I ever saw one! It’s one thing to be hurt or angry, but in that hurt and anger to not throw arrows back?? Just like he said about his dad, he just hangs up if he needs to…I love that about him! I think you guys may have something wrong though…I’m not so sure you guys are the “misfits”. I think it may be that other pastor…and the people who made it “all about the building”, and the ones who cover up their humanness in an effort to appear perfect…they are the misfits. You guys are the ones who will be sitting at that table…at that wedding feast…when everyone else was too busy building their perfect life to come. And I want to be sitting right there with you both. Thanks for touching my heart again.
“You guys are the ones who will be sitting at that table…at that wedding feast…”
I certainly hope so, Kelly.
When I read your comment, I immediately called Chris and told him to read it. I had just dropped him off from church–an actual “people” church building thing that we both attend on Sunday mornings–and left him a message on his voice mail. I know he’s going to read it because he has read the other comments and we’re both just…astounded at the reactions we got. It’s amazing how many people have eyes to see.
Nor, God is OPENING eyes to see as we speak! He’s doing it!! I once was blind…not so very long ago, but now I see. Just a few months ago…I was the one who thought everyone needed to have their life in perfect order for God to “bless” them or approve of them. I was the one that was all about “the building”. I was the one who thought the fish needed to be cleaned up BEFORE it could be caught (how backwards is THAT?!) But for the grace of God…He opened my eyes…I once was blind, but now I see. Now I am free to be me, and have let go of my “expectations” that I placed on others…so they can be free to be them. That’s why it’s so important to do what Chris did, and just shake the dust off and walk away, not condemn the blind. Because he is just getting a front row seat to watch God transform a man….bring him from darkness to light…just like He did me. Even in our anger for the judgments, we MUST have grace for those who sit in that seat of judgment, because one day they will be here, telling you…I can see now too….
Kelly:
You’re right about that. Someone had actually mentioned that to me about four or five years ago, “The grace you want to show to nonbelievers and bad people you’ve also got to show to Christians who have lost their sight.” It was difficult for me to accept. In some ways, it still is. But it is so true. With that, I am still learning. I have seen a lot of beleivers who do judge, but I hold my tongue, knowing that I, too, was once where they were.
Good comment, Kelly! A great reminder!
Steve was just trying to validate Chris… he didn’t mean to offend. He did think a witty motto would be… “giving religion the bird” accompanied by a picture of your turkey. I’ve never seen him give anyone the bird, so it was a bit shocking.
It is an interesting thing to refrain from judging the judgmental. It is an area I continue to struggle in.
Don’t worry about it, Heidi. The Misfits have a great flaw: we accept people for who they are, warts and all.
Although when you explained the “bird joke”, I finally got it. But that would be pretty messy, though…I mean, showing anyone that poor, chopped up, mutilated bird would just…Heck, most people would never eat turkey again!
I’m working on a post about that. (Your last two sentences, not the bird!
)
Nor – I am double’ey honored to call you friend!
Chris – i think you’re perfect!!! I wish i could meet the both of in real life! No matter what tho – i can’t wait to roam the Gold Streets with you Misfits!
and Nor- sounds like you killed the Bird twice!!!
oops…
“meet the both of youse”
“Meet the both of youse” is redundant, Tam. You should have just typed, “meet youse.” Kind of like “all of you all” when you should have just said, “aw yaw!”
But for those of you wondering, Chris has been reading the comments. And he loves ‘em.
And like I told Chris recently–paraphrase–The Presence of God is so holy, so peaceful, so amazing, and so glorious that absolutely NoBoDy will care about those streets of gold. Next to The Almighty, those streets of gold will be like walking on dirt.
And The Misfits are very grateful to everyone who has taken the time comment, especially on the Official Interview.
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