To those who feel exiled, with no where to go and to those

who are looking for a spiritual home, you are loved. 


Forward

This year, for Lent, I didn’t think I had anything to give up. I was wrong. I had to give up
my pride.

This year the Lord put on my heart the amount of people who follow me social media,
particularly Facebook, that are not Christians and those who are far away from God
due to doubts, hurt inflicted by church people, ignorance due to false information and
willful rebellion by those who have tasted the truth.

The people I am trying to reach are former students, friends from High School and
people I have sat around a gaming table with. Some know who I am and that I have
been a Christian for a long time as well as a pastor.

I wrote these daily devotions to explain the gospel in as many different ways as I could
for 40 days. I wanted to make up for all the times I didn’t share the gospel, in person.

I wanted each devotion to sound like I was sitting with each one of them, having a cup
of coffee and having a matter of fact conversation with them about Jesus and why they
should consider giving their lives to Christ.

Maybe you’re one of these people I’m describing holding this book now via your phone
or tablet and though we have never met, my goal is the same, to share Christ with you
in 40 cups of coffee.

These love letter are, ultimately, from God but I hope you sense my compassion as
well.

If you’re a believer reading this devotion book, my hope is that these 40 days will ignite
a passion within you to share Christ in person and online with those you know and
love.

Feel free to use these for group devotions or copy and paste these “letters” to get a
conversation started with someone you want to send a love letter to.

Blessings,

Paul Turner

Disciple Project Ministries

Lent Day 1: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said,
“We will hear you again about this.” Acts 17:30

Humanity has quite the imagination. Think of marvels like the first airplane, the wheel
and the diving suit, all of these were came from imagination and were created with a
purpose, but some mocked as to whether it could be done or should be done.

I watched in amazement as Steve Jobs gave the first iPhone presentation and when he
said they’ve built a new iPod, a new phone and an internet communicator and that they
were not three separate devices but one device, my brain melted, but some mocked.

One detractor said, “We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how
to make a decent phone,” Colligan said. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out.
They're not going to just walk in.”

And yet, Steve Jobs and Apple just walked in and took over.

There were religions before Christianity who believed in resurrection. The Egyptians,
the Greeks and even some Buddhists had stories of resurrection. Then Jesus showed
up and took over. Why? Because He actually did it.

Some mocked, even Jesus’ own disciples,

“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and
put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” - Thomas

Do you mock the resurrection? Are you waiting for more evidence? There is more than
enough evidence to prove that Jesus lived, Jesus died, and Jesus rose again.

If you desire proof or a smoking gun, no such gun will appear until Christ himself
appears or you pass from this earth, but by then it will be too late to change your mind.

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people
everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by
the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from
the dead.” Acts 17:30,31

The good new is, God has done and continues to do the impossible. Forgiveness, a
new life and future hope are all real and all available to you now.

All that is required from you is the faith to receive it.

You are loved. 


Lent Day 2: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the
door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20

John The Revelator is having a vision, and this particular vision is of Christ speaking
“To the seven churches in the province of Asia”

This message is to the church of Laodicea, a church that has cooled as far as their
passion for Jesus goes. Is this you? Why did it happen? Was it someone in the church
who hurt you? Was it that your expectations weren’t met?

Regardless, Jesus didn’t hurt you. Jesus didn’t reject you.

I’m sorry that church people treated you the way they did. They were wrong.

I’m sorry they judged you.

I’m sorry they didn’t take the time to get to know you.

I’m sorry they didn’t ask for forgiveness.

I’m sorry they drove you away.

God’s people, including me, do not do as we should and for that I’m sorry.

I am also sorry that this next verse has been used a hammer to beat so many of you
into guilt and shame.

I am sorry many pastors use this verse to coerce you into working hard for a salvation
that is supposed to be free.

know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the
other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out
of my mouth. Vs 15,16

Yes, God is speaking to this church and to churches like it, but also to us, his children,
but look at a few verses later,

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” vs 19

Yes, God is speaking the truth, but as a Father. I’m sorry if you heard this verse apart
from love, relationship and community within the body of Christ.

God still loves you and wants you back. You are loved.

Lent Day 3: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ Acts 16:31

Paul, Silas and the other prisoners in a jail in Phillipi had just experienced an
earthquake, opening all the doors of the jail. In a modern movie, prisoners would be
attacking the guards and escaping, but this is not that movie.

Instead, when the guard came in, Paul and Silas announced that all the prisoners were
accounted for.

Speaking of modern movies, this reminds me of the movie The Watchmen. One of the
characters, Rorschach, has the infamous line,

“None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in
here with ME!”

I think that’s how Paul felt whenever he was locked in jail. He probably thought,

“You can chain me up but you’re really chaining yourself to the gospel.”

Following Paul and Silas singing praises to God, the earthquake hits and the guard
comes running in. I imagine this was not the first time he heard Paul and Silas sing or
Paul share his story, but on this night, it became clear that this jailer needed the Lord.

“What must I do to be saved?” He asks Paul and Silas.

Paul responds,”Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household.”

Paul wasn’t interested in putting another notch in his belt, he wanted this man and his
whole family to know salvation. The word saved is the greek word sozo and it means,

heal, preserve, rescue

He’s asking, “What must I do to be healed, to be preserved, to be rescued?”

Maybe an emotional, physical or mental “earthquake” has hit your life and you’re
wondering the same thing, “How can I make it?”

I’m here to repeat Paul’s words, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be
saved.” Believe, have faith and live accordingly.

You are loved. 


Lent Day 4: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have

done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ
Jesus before the beginning of time, I Timothy 1:9

Did/Do your parents talk about what it was like when you were born? Maybe they talk
about all the plans they had for you or what kind of adventures you would go on
together.

Maybe your mother has shared what it was like carrying you in her belly for nine
months or your father has shared all the things he couldn’t wait to teach you.

My mother told me a story of the day they came to see me at the hospital to see if they
wanted to adopt me. My mother said the nurses handed me to my father and asked,
“Do you want him?” And my father said, “Just try to take him away.”

God, like your parents, also made plans for you, “before the beginning of time” but you
may be in a place where you feel like all those plans are spoiled or were lies in the first
place, but God isn’t a liar; He’s not a deadbeat dad who makes promises but doesn't
keep them.

It’s easy to forget your purpose or that you even have a purpose when your heart hurts.

Maybe you grew up in a “Christian” home and saw hypocrisy, whether intentional or
because of human frailty, in those who tried share God’s purposes with you.

Maybe you saw behind the curtain of church saw people do things that you knew were
not consistent with scripture.

Maybe you were never told or you dismissed there being any purpose to your life at all.

None of these experiences negate the truth that God has saved you and called you to
live a holy, called out life.

You and I have done nothing to earn such grace, but like your parents who dreamed of
holding you in their arms, teaching you how to ride a bike and watch you open presents
on Christmas, God desires to have you live eternally with him.

Before eternity is reality, consider what you’re missing right here and now, a heavenly
Father who is ready to listen to every word you say, love you in hard times, share His
wisdom with you, forgive you when you mess us and offer you a life of purpose.

Don’t miss this opportunity. You are loved.


Lent Day 5: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Psalm 62:1

David has been hunted down, betrayed, fought in wars, experienced messy family
issues, lead a kingdom and that is not the half of his life experiences.

Yet, he is confident of two thing

I find my rest in God

How do you rest? Do you like naps? Board games? Sporting events? I like all of these
and they give my soul, my mind, will and emotions, a break from life’s hassles but what
happens when they no longer satisfy?

What if the things you need a break from won’t allow you a break? What if worry, fear
and doubt are your mental breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Where do you go?

The early church Father, Augustine, said,

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.

This life offers distraction, but God can truly give you rest.

My salvation comes from him

David had been saved (given victory) over and over again by God.

You may have been saved over and over again as an act of kindness by God and never
knew it. Why would God do this?

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not
realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Romans 2:4

Audrey Assad sings a song called Restless and in the second verse she sings,

Oh, speak now for my soul is listening

Say that You have saved me, whisper in the dark
'Cause I know You're more than my salvation
Without You I am hopeless, tell me who You are

Maybe you need God to whisper to you in the dark, today. He is ready to speak if you
are willing to listen.

God has saved you and offers you rest today. You are loved.
Lent Day 6: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Acts 2:21

I grew up on church scare tactics; the youth pastor or pastor would show a movie like A
Thief In he Night or A Distant Thunder about the end times and then ask, “Are you
ready?” The early aughts brought in a new wave of movies based on the Left Behind
series and, let’s be honest, they should have stayed books.

Maybe you’ve heard about the end times and felt manipulated to make a decision for
Christ based on fear instead of love and later in life that drove you from the church.

Honestly, there’s no way to warn people that Christ is coming without sounding crazy to
people who do not know Christ or understand the redemption story of scripture or
causing others so think about their eternal destinies and spiritual preparedness.

Your soul may still be trying to untangle theological truths that were delivered poorly or
selfishly and for that I’m sorry. I wish you didn’t have to go through that but the truth is,
we are going to meet the Lord someday, whether He comes for us or we go to him and
my hope is that His coming will be joy to you and not a terror.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and preached to the crowds quoting the
prophet Joel. The passage Peter quotes begins with the promise of the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit and ends with the promise of the coming of the Lord.

In the times I am currently living in I am seeing the Hoy Spirit reviving young people on
colleges campuses across the united states. A pre-curser to the end of all things? I don’t
know, but I do know what the Apostle Paul said,

“You know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”
I Thessalonians 4:2

The future is scary, always has been, always will be, but just like I believe in the coming
of the Lord, I believe anyone, no matter who, can call on the name of the Lord and be
saved.

I don’t want you to know the Lord out of fear or to appease my ego, I want you to know
the Lord because He loves you. I want you to long for His coming instead of dreading it.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have
longed for his appearing. I Timothy 4:8

You are loved. 


Lent Day 7: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Have you ever had anything of physical significance stolen from you? A car? Your
wallet? If you have, you know what a pain it is to replace it.

Have you had anything spiritually stolen from you? Your confidence? Your innocence?
Your faith? As much as it would be a pain to go to the DMV to get a new drivers license,
it could take a whole day, but that day would eventually end and you would have your
license.

In matters of spiritual things, there is no line you can stand in and ask to replace what
was stolen but it can be restored and that can too take a while.

Consider Job, a righteous man, afflicted by the devil, with God’s permission. He lost
everything, his health, his family and his wealth. His wife even said,

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job
2:9

In the end, all was restored and more,

After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his
former possessions. Job 47:10

Jesus makes a distinction between him and the thief. The thief can do nothing good but
bad and God can do nothing but good.

Whether you’re sitting in the ash heap of life looking back on a damaged or even “dead”
faith you haven’t practiced in years, God can still bring life to it.

Concerning a little girl Jesus raised for from the dead, whom the religious committee
“confirmed” as dead, Jesus said,

Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said.
“She is not dead but asleep.” Luke 8:52

Your faith isn’t dead, it’s sleeping. No matter what the thief has done to you, he cannot
steal the mustard seed of faith because God always wants you to have a way back to
Him.

Jesus offers you life today. He offers you restoration. Will you receive it?

You are loved. 


Lent Day 8: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe
and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Romans 10:9,10

The biggest challenge for new Christians, isn’t the believing part, it’s the declaring that
Jesus is Lord.

Believing is great,

if you don’t have to change anything

If nothing is required of you

If no sacrifice is required

When these concepts enter the conversation, making Jesus Lord gets harder.

Maybe you were the model church goer, you were there every time the doors were
open, you read your bible, you prayed all the time, you followed the “rules” but when
Christ asked for more than your rituals you got offended.

We read that Jesus told one rich man, one time,

“Sell all you have and follow me”

And the rich man couldn’t do it, he was too rich.

Maybe you decided you were too rich in your freedom and opinion to make Jesus truly
Lord.

Maybe you thought his way was to restrictive and combined with the bad behavior of
believers around you, you made a religion of your own that required much less.

I get it. Jesus asked a lot but he’s not going to adjust his ask based on your
preferences. It’s Lordship or nothing. Jesus asked, and continues to ask each of us for
the thing that stands in the way of his Lordship over our lives.

The good news actually comes in verse 8, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and
in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim”

The word is still near you, it’s still is in your mouth. All you have to do it is let it out.

You are loved.


Lent Day 9: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to
say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and
godly lives in this present age, Titus 2:11,12

The Apostle Paul could have said, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers
salvation to all people.” and left it at that, but he doesn’t.

Paul learned something about grace on the road to Damascus. He was, in his own
words in his first letter to Timothy,

“that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief”

Paul unpacks this grace to Titus, sharing the two things, among many others, it has
taught him

Saying no to ungodliness and worldly passions

Saying yes to Jesus means we have to say no to the life we once lived regardless if
you’re a gossip or a prostitution. Many people want their cake and eat it to: all Jesus no
sacrifice.

Live self controlled lives

This is easier said than done, but that doesn’t means it shouldn’t be said. Paul
understood his present age as one of self indulgence and hedonism. To be self
controlled was to live polar opposite to a society that says you not only should do
whatever you want but that you deserve it. Things haven’t changed much.

If you once followed Christ, I don’t know the context of your salvation experience. I don’t
know if legalism and judgement was a part of your spiritual formation, and I am sorry if it
was, but grace still teaches us that the price of sin had a cost, the life of Christ.

By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Romans 6:2

If you have never experienced salvation, my hope is that you see that pleasing yourself
and your desires is not your highest calling.

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
I John 2:17

Live forever. You are loved. 


Lent Day 10: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10

Jesus came with a singular purpose, to save you and me.

Anything that came against that, he dismissed with authority, be it Peter,

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never
happen to you!”

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to
me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Or those who sought his untimely death,

"All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove
him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in
order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his
way."

Nothing was going to stand in His way of reuniting you with God, not the temptation in
the wilderness or the temptation to come off the cross and destroy an ungrateful people.

His love is so great for you it cannot be deterred. He will continue to seek you until the
end of your days.

He will pursue you with

Kindness that you might repent

Grace that will lead you home

Love that will melt the coldness of a hurt heart

Is it possible that Jesus knew there would be a thief in need of grace the very day of his
death?

If it were for only Him, I believe he would have faced the cross.

He loves you with an everlasting love and there is nowhere you can go to avoid it,

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7

Where can you go from His love? Nowhere, you are loved right where you are. 

Lent Day 11: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he
is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

I recently read an article that describes how we think about time,

Many of us have experienced how time may seem to pass rapidly in some situations but
very slowly in others.  Since our perception of time is not changing at the same steady
rate that the clock ticks off, it is clear that our mind creates its own reality. by Scott
[Link], Capital Gazette, Jan 26, 2021

We create our own reality or narrative around time as we get older. I wonder if this is
true in our spiritual lives as well.

When you first became a Christian, I bet you were excited about your new faith and all
the new experiences it brought you like going to church, being baptized or going to
camp as a teen. All this seemed to zip right by didn’t it?

I feel like faith slips away from us when we quit having new experiences with the Lord
and it skews our perception of God working in our lives. As time passes, and we have
fewer newer experiences, our memories of our young life with Christ seem fantastical,
like a fairy tale, which makes us call into question whether those experiences were even
real.

Does your faith feel like a fantasy? Could it be you just quit practicing faith and pursuing
new experiences with God creating the perception that God no longer moves and
therefore no longer exists?

God is not slow concerning his promises, and maybe your perception of time and faith
have changed to make God someone He is not. Maybe God isn’t slow, uncaring or
dormant. Maybe all you need to do is to start practicing again, finding God in new ways
to invigorate your faith.

If you’ve walked away from faith, could it be you just lost patience with God? Maybe He
didn’t move in a way you thought he should, leading to disappointment(s) and to
eventually leaving your faith behind.

God is not slow as you understand slowness. His promises are as real today as they
were when He made them.

He is patient with you because He wants to see you turn your life around and become
like a child again, having new and glorious experiences with Him.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever, it’s we who change. You are loved. 

Lent Day 12: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”Jesus replied, “What is
impossible with man is possible with God.” Luke 18:26, 27

“Who then can be saved?” Was a question from some passerby who heard Jesus utter
that it was easier for a camel to go though an eye of a needle than the rich to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven.

The passerby was unsure anyone could be saved, but Jesus did not miss a beat
assuring them all things were possible with God.

Jesus didn’t give up on the rich man and He won’t give up on you.

If you’ve said,

• I’m too sinful, God cannot accept me

• I’m to far gone, God would not want me

• I’m backslidden to the point of no return

You may be too for gone,

• For man, but not for God

• For the local church, but not for God.
• For society, but not for God

Jesus has done the impossible with improbable people,

• Jesus took fishermen and made them fanatics

• Jesus took prostitutes and made them preachers

• Jesus took the religious and made them radical

He can forgive your sin, bring you back into fold set the course of your life in a different
direction, all that is required is that YOU believe He can do the impossible with YOU.

You are loved.

Lent Day 13: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will
live, even though they die; John 11:25,26

How often do you think about death? More than you like to I imagine. Both my parents
died when I was young, so, I have a minor pre-occupation with it. I don’t think about it
every moment or even every day, but it does hang around like a lingering odor that no
amount of Febreze is going to get rid of it.

As much as people think about death, I wonder if they think about eternity? Where do I
go when I die? Will I be good enough for whatever god guards the door to heaven?

As for me, the questioned is settled. Jesus has told me, in his word,

“Whosever believes (trusts, lives for) in me will not perish but have eternal life”

I think many more people worry more about social death than physical death, teens
certainly do. They worry about what they’re missing out and which groups they’re not
apart of. I don’t think much of that changes as you grow up, whether it’s at work or
social situations. Life is, ultimately, High School.

I believe this fear of missing what this life has to offer is the number one reason people
do not follow Christ. Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said,

“When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die”

Not the best marketing for following Jesus, but it’s true none-the-less, but allow me to
make a case for self denial which, I think Americans feel, is worse than death.

If Jesus says he’s resurrection and the life, then to die to one’s self brings a new self
into view. Why don’t more people fear missing out on what Christ offers? Is it because
it’s tied to religion? Maybe, but in the end, people want to satisfy every need they have
now whether it violates their own principles or God’s word.

The apostle says,

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I
now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me.” Galatians 2:20

I can say, with all confidence, if you do know the Lord, you are missing out. You’re
missing out on forgiveness, wholeness and purpose. You are missing out on the
resurrection of a new, born again person, waiting to emerge.

He rose for you. You are loved. 


Lent Day 14: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to
destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that
leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13,14

Before GPS and our phones could guide us, turn by turn, to our destination we only had
a couple of choices, get a map or stop and ask for direction if we didn’t know where we
were going.

Our phones give us multiple routes to where we are going. It tells us where traffic is high
and where accidents are happening but it also assures us “this is still the fastest route to
your designation.”

What if your phone gave you two roads to your destination, The first road will get you
there faster, but there are no laws, no rules to the road and you risk more accidents,
road rage, danger at ever turn, etc. No guarantee you make it to your destination.

The second road get you to your destination slower but safer. You are protected, there
are rules to the road and you are rewarded and blessed for following them.

Which road would you take?

Yes, a simplistic example but Jesus only offers two roads. We, as humans, don’t like the
black and white of two roads. We think we’re smarter than God and so we commence to
building our own roads, but all roads don’t lead to where we think.

Only a few find the narrow road not because it is hidden, or God hides it from us, but
because the wide road allows every opinion, every option, every pleasure, every sin and
every ideology to ride its roads.

Proverbs 14:12 says,

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

My hope is that you’re on the right road, but if not, that can change.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel.

Proverbs 16:25 says,

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Nothing can change until you admit you are heading the wrong way.

Turn around and you’ll see the love waiting for you. You are loved. 

Lent Day 15: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to
bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrews 9: 27, 28

Christianity has many themes, chief of which is love. Love drives the whole plot.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love
lives in God, and God in them. I John 4:16

I’ve heard all the arguments, and maybe some of you make the argument,

If God is love then…

Why evil?

Why hell?

Why suffering?

Atheist Stephen Fry recently impugned God’s character when he asked why we live in a
world like this and added, “through no fault of our own”. Clearly, Stephen Fry knows not
the evil that dwells in humanity’s heart, the consequences of sin or the rule of spiritual
powers and principalities in our world.

So, yes, we are to die and then to be judged. Why? Because God is just. Sin and
rebellion must have consequences.

Think of your own nature, do you not cry foul when there is injustice on a sports field or
in a court room? Where do you think that comes from? We are made in the image of
God yet judgement should apply to everyone but ourselves.

We are the good guys in the story we tell ourselves.

Yet, we are not good because good people don’t need a Savior.

When Christ returns, and He will, He will bring both judgment and salvation. We will all
be judged. Those who believe, for the works we have done and for the sinner, the sin of
their unbelief.

Much like we did not understand our own parents judgment when we were children, we
will not understand God’s judgment until we have matured in Christ or until it is upon us.

You may not understand now, but in time you will. You are loved.

Lent Day 16: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. I Corinthians 15:22

I know what it feel like to be dead inside. I know what it feels like to swim around in sin
and feel like I’m constantly drowning in it.

Adam threw me in the pool when I didn't know how to swim and Christ rescued me
although I didn’t deserve it.

Jesus stated why he came many times, one of those times he said,

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full. John 10:10

I know what it means to be alive.

I have, as U2 sings in I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

I have spoke with the tongue of angels

I have held the hand of a devil

I have seen both sides of the coin and I know,

Life is better than death.

Hope is better than despair.

Faith is better than fear.

To those who once touched heaven, heaven waits to touch you, again.

To those who've only know the fire of pleasure and the passions this world, there is
more.

I did not choose life, it chose me.

I did not choose love, it chose me.

I did not choose hope, it chose me and now I cannot shake it, no matter how hard,
some days, I try.

I hope you can’t shake the feeling that you are loved and that God has a plan for you.
Lent Day 17: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings
salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Romans 1:16

I am ashamed of a lot of things.

I am ashamed of the words I’ve said to people I love.

I am ashamed of my actions that were not fitting for a Christian to do.

I am ashamed at how some people in church, including pastors, treat other people.

I am imagine you may feel the same way whether you are Christian, backslidden or a
non-believer.

But, I not ashamed of what Jesus has done for me. Why?

The word gospel isn't a religious word, it's a Greek word that means good news.

This gospel, a six word acronym developed by Greg Stier of Dare To Share, best
explains what the gospel is

GOD created us to be with Him.     (Genesis 1-2)

OUR sins separate us from God.    (Genesis 3)

SINS cannot be removed by good deeds.    (Genesis 4-Malachi 4)

PAYING the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew-Luke)

EVERYONE who trusts in Him alone has eternal life.    (John)

LIFE with Jesus starts now and lasts forever!    (Acts-Revelation)

I was not ashamed of the good news that, yes, told me I was separated from God and
need a Savior.

I am not ashamed of the good news that has freed me from the law of sin and death
and has given me live eternal because of what Jesus has done for me.

Good news brought me a new life over 40 years ago and it can still bring you good
news today. Trust and believe.

You are loved.

Lent Day 18: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8,9

Have you ever played the Good News, Bad News Game? Someone starts with good
news but the next person must come up with bad news offsetting the good news. Here’s
an example

The good news is that I won a million dollars.

The bad news is that the tax man took away almost half of it.

The good news is that I still had lots of money.

The bad news is that a thief took the rest.

If I put this in the context of faith, it would look like this

The good news is, Jesus offers salvation

The bad new is, man cannot earn it

The good news is, Jesus offers it freely

The bad news is, man still wants to try and pay for it

Weighing your good and bad deeds never works out because you are being the judge
of what is good and bad, rather than God. Those who die with their good list in hand as
a means of entering heaven, will be sorely disappointed.

Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned but it can be received.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God John 1:12

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

If you are trying earn your way to heaven, you’re going to be disappointed.

God doesn’t want your good deeds, He wants your trust. Trust him today.

You are loved. 


Lent Day 19: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone
might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we
were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7,8

Who do you know that would die for you?

My guess is it’s a short list and of that short list, a few would have to think hard about it
if they saw that choice a long way off and maybe one or two people on that list would
“take a bullet” in the moment.

But, can you answer the question, “WHY would they die for you?” Is it for love?

Husbands dying for their wives. Mothers dying for their children. These seem
reasonable, but what about strangers or acquaintances? Do strangers willingly die for
each other?

The Apostle Paul, rightly, makes the case that is rare that someone dies for someone
who is righteous (innocent) and even rarer still that someone would die for a good
(intrinsically good) person.

It's self preservation that keeps everyone from becoming heroes.

People cannot justify giving up their own lives for another. It comes down to value. What
makes someone else’s life valuable enough to give up my own? It’s a hard question.

Jesus espouses real love when he says,

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13

That word love, in this context, is the greek word agape (unconditional love). It is
because of unconditional love that Christ died for you and me.

I can only speak for me, but I don’t think I’m worth dying for. Pride would try to tell me
different, but I know me just like you know you.

Christ died, not because YOU were good enough but because HE was good enough.
He knew you couldn’t be good enough to meet God’s standard, so he “took the bullet”
meant for you, the punishment of the cross.

He did it to restore the friendship we once had in the garden.

He did it to restore a friendship between you and God.

God holds out a hand to you in friendship because you are loved. 

Lent Day 20: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out,
and find pasture. John 10:9

Jesus was speaking to a group fo religious people called the Pharisees. They thought
they knew it all and had salvation all figured out, but Jesus knew better.

Jesus offered them an example of sheep, a shepherd, a sheep pen and a gate as a way
to explain how to be saved. He also made it clear that anyone trying to get into the
sheep pen, other than the gate, was a thief and a robber

Jesus made it clear, you can’t steal heaven. Jesus made himself the only gate, the only
entrance to eternity with God. Jesus made this even clearer when he said,

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

Whether you once believed or never believed, what have you concluded? There is no
heaven? There’s another way? Are you trying to build your own gate? Are you hoping
no one sees you climbing over the spiritual fences? If you’re wondering, yes, heaven
has security cameras.

Before you start thinking that God is some old security God sitting in a booth, eating his
lunch with one eye on the tv watching Oprah reruns and one eye on the sheep pen,
consider what Jesus is offering.

Jesus is saying, “I am not only the gate, but I am the shepherd”

If you are looking to be led, there are many leaders you can follow.

Many religious leaders offer their books and wares to guide you to a better life here but
cannot secure you a pass through the gate to heaven

Philosophical leaders offer a pattern of thought and a perspective on how to interact

with this life, but can they change your heart? Forgive your sins?

Business leaders can teach you how to make money but can they offer you safe
passage beyond material things? Can they offer you a pasture you can roam freely and
in safety?

In a world that loves their choices, Jesus only offers one gate, Himself.

Enter in, be saved, find pasture and be led by a shepherd worth following.

You are loved. 


Lent Day 21: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

This is the quintessential salvation verse.

You’ve probably seen this verse’s address at sporting events and other entertainment
venues. The goal for blitzing the verse everywhere is for people to become curious and
look up the verse with the hopes of someone getting saved. I don’t know anyone this
has happen to, but I am sure it has happened to someone, somewhere.

The verse really has everything you need to know.

God loves you

God loves the world. He loves his creation. He loves you so much He does not want
you to be away from Him any longer. We are God’s first love.

God gave His one and only Son

We learn that God has only one Son and God was willing to give Him up to humanity so
that humanity may be saved. It was because of His love for you this sacrifice was made.

So that you might believe

Whether you have never known Him or you once believed and your faith has lapsed,
faith is not a one and done. God asks that you believe and keep believing. Faith is a
daily choice.

So you won’t perish

Why believe? So you will not perish (be destroyed). As comical or fantastic as you may
find death, it comes for us all but physical death is not the end; there is another death
that can be avoided through faith in Christ.

So you can have eternal life

Technically, we all get eternal life. We will eternally (perpetually) be in the presence of
God or eternally distanced from the one who formed us. Faith saves us.

This verse tells you everything about God and everything that He requires for one to
know Him. If this is your first time hearing it, I pray it moves you to put your faith in Him.

If this is the one-hundredth time you’ve heard it, nothing has changed, He still loves you
and wants you to be with Him for all eternity. You are loved. 

Lent Day 22: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him. John 3:17

Much is made about John 3:16, and rightfully so, but we miss a key part of God’s
character if we do not read verse 17.

Yes, you may point to the Old Testament and judge God for his actions or you may point
to your own life and declare God’s unfairness, albeit with limited knowledge. It is like
ants judging the sun. The wrathful God you’ve heard about or read about is only part of
the story.

God has always been a savior. He tried to save Israel from constant bondage.

God tried to save Saul, Cain and yes, even the guy who touched the Ark of the
Covenant when it was about to fall and was killed immediately.

Each of them knew the rules. Each of them disobeyed. Wrath is a normal consequence
of disobedience.

God did not send his son to condemn the world. God could have saved the airfare and
killed humanity outright, but he doesn’t.

God could have sent his son with wrath but instead sends him out of love and that was,
and continues to be, God’s message to the world.

If you feel condemned, it is because your sin butts up against God’s word, God’s law.
Condemnation Is what is felt by stubborn hearts, angry hearts who say. “Who is God to
judge me?” Your feelings are nothing new, Pharaoh felt it so did Nebuchadnezzar.

Conviction, on the other hand, comes as a grace. It pokes us to remind us of our

humanity and our flaws and our need to be saved and that, I believe, is the hardest
thing to admit, but to not admit our sin is to refuse our need for a Savior.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. I John 1:8,9

No, God did not come to condemn you and I am sorry if the judgement of His people
has warped your perception of Him. Regardless of His, sometimes, idiotic followers,
God’s intention to save remains true.

Condemnation or conviction depends on the condition of your heart. But know this, you
are loved.

Lent Day 23: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands
condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only
Son. John 3:18

Jesus, throughout the scriptures, focuses on believing,

Believing is not seeing

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those
who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

Jesus says that those who have not seen are blessed (happy). Are you waiting for proof
or a sign, something tangible and physical before you believe? Just believe.

Believing in God is not enough

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. Join 14:1

There is a story of a farmer who was also a painter. He died very wealthy but with no
family, and it was his will that his paintings be auctioned off. The first painting they
brought out was a painting of his son in his military uniform. The auctioneer asked for
bids and received jeers and “Move on” until one man said, “Ten dollars”.

The auctioneer said, “Going once, going twice, sold!”. He then stunned the audience by
saying, “The auction is now closed and the man who has purchased this painting has
inherited the farmer’s land, paintings and other worldly possessions.” The farmer
stipulated in his will, “The man who gets my son, get’s it all”

You must have the Son to get to the Father.

Belief means a change in environment

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in
darkness. John 12:46

If you say you believe, then you must leave the darkness. Jesus is not saying, “Never
sin again” because He knows we will. He is saying, “Do not remain in the darkness
where sin is your default position”

Belief and action go together and you cannot have one without the other.

faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead James 2:17 NIV

Believe, come into the light, and act on that belief. You are loved. 

Lent Day 24: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:5

There are many ways to renew and refresh your life, concerts, a good meal, a hot
shower and a cozy nap.

There are times in life where you feel “born again”, maybe through a new job, a new
relationship or moving to a new state.

God has offered humanity numerous ways to renew and refresh their physical lives and
souls but these renewals aren’t meant to replace the spiritual renewal we were meant to
have with our Creator.

There is a renewal that can only be had through the power of the Holy Spirit, it is the
same power Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

Nicodemus pushed back and “went there”

“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's
womb and be born?”

To which Jesus, who possibly sighed before speaking (just my idea),

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.

Your physical and soul-ish renewals are what can be accomplish by being born of water
and of the flesh and are only a glimpse of what could happen if your spirit was to be
renewed by the Holy Spirit.

Physical and soul-ish renewals can renew you for a day but only the power of the Holy
Spirit can renew you and make you presentable for eternity.

The emotions you feel from a good run, a stiff drink or going para-sailing are temporary
highs that all humanity chases to get away from the dread of our mortality, but they are
nothing compared to the high of knowing Christ as your Savior.

All because you are loved. 


Lent Day 25: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. John14:6

Have you ever driven down a one way street, going the wrong way? I have and the first
thing I did was panic, mostly out of embarrassment and what others would think of me.

One of the ways I knew I was going down a one way street was because of the
oncoming traffic and their blaring horns. People weren’t as much warning me as much
as they were congratulating my stupidity, but I'm sure some had my well being in mind.

When it comes to life, people are not as grateful to be told they're going the wrong way.

You may not like being told, “Repent”, “Turn around” or “You’re going the wrong way”.

You may not like people honking their spiritual horns at you that you are making a grave
mistake.

Granted, some of the people honking their horns at you are self righteous knuckleheads
who are not very good at communicating grace, but they’re not wrong about the
direction you're heading.

When Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth and the Life he was answering a question
from one of His disciples, Thomas.

“Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Isn’t this what everyone is asking, “How can I know the way?”, “the way to happiness,
the way to peace, the way to God?” and yet everyone balks at the directions given.

Jesus told Thomas that He was the way the truth and the life, which means every other
way is the wrong way, a lie and death.

As much as you may hate that Jesus made the way to God so narrow, this is still the
way and nothing is going to change that, not culture, not politics and not religion.

So please take this devotion, not as an angry, “you idiot, you’re going the wrong way”
honk but as a warning, out of love, from someone who doesn’t want to see you get
injured or injure someone else and most of all, wants you to get on the path to hope and
to eternity with God.

You are loved.

Lent Day 26: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only
the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21

If it’s not clear, God already knows who’s faking it and who’s not.

Jesus called out Pharisees for putting too much stock in their outer piety and not
enough stock in what mattered.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of
your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters
of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without
neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”
Matthew 23:23,24

These are the same people who may have hurt you. These “protectors” of the church
have hurt many, yet God saves judgement until the end. Even hypocrites get a chance
to repent.

On one end is the religious hypocrite and the other are those who have a different kind
of self-righteousness. These are people who have quit the church and endlessly bash it
for its hypocrisy.

If I may, allow me to share what I think Jesus would say to the other self righteous group
I just described,

“You post your hurt on social media and bash those who hurt you, keeping those who
claim my name accountable. Good, but you ought to have not quit my body to do your
own thing. You are no more righteous for quitting than those who stay in religious
institutions and fake it. You rob My community of your gifts and claim you have found a
better way, a way that works for YOU, although that is not what I have called you to”

Not everyone who says, “I quit because the church hurt me” is right. Some abandoned
church because they didn’t like discipline or correction. Some did not like the worship,
the preaching or the programs of any of the churches they visited, they preferred to
have their Sunday’s off. Is this you?

Some of you have never been to church because of ‘horror stories”, I cannot blame you,
I would be hesitant as well, but God does not call you to a building, He has called you to
Himself.

You are loved. 


Lent Day 27: Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

My sadness with churches is how they’ve ignored, warped or destroyed the discipleship
process. My concern for some of you reading this is that everyone was excited at your
commitment to Christ and then the church (the people) abandoned you.

Pastors (any pastors) welcomed you into the Body but never got to know you or take a
personal interest in your walk with Christ or didn’t bother to equip others to walk with
you to even help you learn the basics of faith.

I am sorry they let you down, let you flounder, didn’t build a team around you to help you
succeed in your faith; that’s on them, not you.

This process begins with the basics, first given by Peter, once a denier, now a preacher.

Repent - Stop your stubbornness and turn around.

Be Baptized- Be baptized, as Jesus was, into the Body, for the sake of accountability.

In the Name of Jesus - Be baptized, not in the name of religion or a church, but in the
name of Jesus.

For Forgiveness of Your Sins - Sins are the actions and attitudes keeping you from
hitting the mark of what God truly desires, a relationship with you.

And You will Receive The Gift - The gift of the Holy Spirit is what washes, renews and
empowers your life. When church lets you down, and it will, the Holy Spirit will not.

This process has core tenants and should’ve resulted in what happens in Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer.

What started as a movement to deeper relationships and passionate living for Christ,
has become a digital checklist. My concern is that you became a statistic instead of a
part of a mission, developed as a leader and sent out to make an impact.

In all this, God did not fail you, the process did.

God still wants you. You are still worthy of investment. You can still make a difference.

You are loved.


Lent Day 28: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see
life, for God’s wrath remains on them. John 3:36

I know, this is a heck of a verse to wake up to. You may ask, “Paul, why not keep it soft
and fluffy like some scrambled eggs? This feel more like burnt toast.”

Like all my other letters, this is a love letter. It’s written with the same amount of love as
all the others and, let’s be honest, the other “letters” weren’t exactly soft balls.

Ask yourself, this, “When was the last time I was rejected?”

Was it a relationship? Was it a job? Was it while making a layup to put a ball in a hoop?

Regardless of the reason, rejection is no fun. It means,

I don’t want you.

You’re not good enough for me.

Not in my house.

Jesus begins with, “Whoever has the Son has eternal life.” This is both an invitation and
a statement of fact. Jesus wants you to accept Him because He knows what goes along
with that.

You may have heard the phrase, “Accept Jesus into your heart” a few times or none at
all. What you may chalk up to as “cultish talk” or religious lingo, is really an invitation to
accept life, a life beyond religion and beyond church.

To reject the Son means, “to refuse to be persuaded”. To reject the Son is to reject God
and if there is no life, then all that’s left is wrath.

Imagine you have a friend addicted to drugs, and you have done your best to persuade
them to go to rehab, but each time they reject that advice and say something to the
effect of “I don’t need rehab. I’ll handle this on my own.”

If this person does not accept your advice or help, what remains? Only one thing can
remain, death and punishment (a penalty)

So it is with God who does His best, through the Holy Spirit, to persuade you to come to
Christ. Rejection, rebellion, non-conformity, what ever term you want to use, only ends
one way regardless of the picture you’ve painted in your head.

God loves you today and offers you life through His son. Accept Him. You are loved. 

Lent Day 29: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

Everyone loves pay day. The secretary at my church says it’s my favorite day to see her
because she has a check in her hand, but I reassure her I enjoy seeing her any day of
the week.

Pay day means we get paid according to what we have produced, the deals we’ve
made or the effort we have put forth. There is an unwritten, and sometimes written,
contract between employer and employee, “If you work this many hours you will be paid
this much per hour” or “You will be paid this amount of money every two weeks”.

If you work on commission, you get a base salary plus a percentage of what you sell be
it lawn care service, cars or insurance. In this scenario, your pay will change from week
to week or month to month.

Pay day is sacred. We count on that money to pay bill, put in savings, etc. If what you
have received does not match what was agreed upon, the normal response is panic,
disbelief and even anger. You expected one thing and received another which then
results in a discussion with the boss.

Why then, if this all sounds reasonable, do we think our spiritual pay day should differ
from what has been agreed upon?

The Apostle Paul makes the distinction between wages and a gift. Wages are earned
and gifts are not. We are paid either for the sin we retain or rewarded for the gift we
receive.

You can’t earn a gift. A gift is free. The Apostle Paul reiterates this in his letter to the
Ephesians,

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it
is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

There will be some who are shocked on their spiritual pay day believing they had
earned their eternity with God. There will be others, who like the thief on the cross, who
trusted God, by faith, in the throes of death, who’ll make it, surprisingly, to their reward.

If you think this is unfair, it's not. God has laid out the terms and offers you a choice,
“Would you like payment or a gift?”

The decision is yours. I pray you choose the gift offered in Christ.

You are loved. 


Lent Day 30: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

My wife calls me out when I’m wrong, but I alway try to turn it to my advantage rather
than saying, “You’re right”. Why is that? Sometimes it’s just playfulness. There are times
I know I’m wrong and she knows I’m wrong and we have a good laugh.

Admitting your wrong is not a failure. Being wrong is an opportunity, it means you’ve
learned something new or have grown as a human. Sin is not a dirty word, it’s a
measurement. Sin means to miss the mark. Who’s mark? Mine? Certainly not, I have no
right to set the parameters of what sin is or is not, but God does.

We all for short of the glory of God. The Aramaic Bible says it this way

Because all of them have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God,

Because of sin, our measurement of where the mark should be, we are deprived of the
glory, the presence of God, making us unfit to be in His presence when we die. Christ
died to restore that glory that we once shared in the beginning with God.

People can admit to not being prefect, but they don’t like being called a sinner because
it sounds judgmental coming from another human being, and it is, but that doesn’t make
it untrue.

Deep down inside, I feel like most people know they’re broken but don’t know why or do
know why and rationalize it away. I find that people respond to sin in a few ways

Them: I’m not a sinner

Bible: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
I John 1:8

Them: My sin isn’t so bad

Bible: Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. John 8:34

Jesus didn’t die to save good people, no matter how good they are. By God’s
standards, the best person in the world, trying to make their own measurement of
goodness, will always fall short of the glory of God.

The hamster wheel of “how good do I have to be” is exhausting. Jesus has the answer,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

You are loved. 


Lent Day 31: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are
born again.” John 3:3

I don’t know if it’s one-hundred percent true, but I’ve heard that people who are good at
working with their hands grew up taking things apart, because they wanted to see how a
thing worked. I never much cared how a thing worked as long as it worked.

My friends who are good with their hands, mechanics, carpenters, etc. like to show me
how a thing works. After they explain it I give an “ohhhh’ and my brain returns to
wondering if a hot dog is actually a sandwich.

I can’t imagine how a thing works. I have to see it working, in real time, for me to
understand it. I’m a show me, write it on a napkin, draw it on a marker board kind of guy.
In other words, I’m dense.

Jesus said I could’t see the Kingdom of God unless I was born again. I was, and still
am, very much Nicodemus, “Wait, I’ve got to crawl up inside my mother’s womb again?”

Ok, I’m not that dense but Jesus was trying to explain a hard concept. You will not see
the Kingdom of God without new eyes, a new heart or a new mind.

The Kingdom of God isn’t just about going to heaven, it’s about how we see the world
and others. The Kingdom of God is where God is and whatever God is doing. It is
seeing God active in our life and the life of others whether they’re Christians or not.

I don’t have to agree with others to see God in them. Being born again isn’t like getting
a badge in Boy Scouts where I slap myself on the back and move on to the next badge.
I didn’t “achieve” being for born again, I just was. I believed and I received.

When the Apostle Paul testified before King Agrippa, he said God told him his mission
was to

“to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of
Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who
are sanctified by faith in me.’ “ Acts 26:18

To be born again is to see the world through God’s eyes. I see God working in you,
working around you. To be born again is to see what God sees, to feel what He feels so
that, as the Apostle Paul desired, and I desire for you,

Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to
which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints

I want you to know the hope you’re called [Link] are loved. 

Lent Day 32: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal
life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24

I think we’ve all had the experience of hearing but not listening especially if you’re
married and/or have kids. You may be so focused on something else you don’t have the
mental bandwidth to receive one more messages at the same time.

You may also have selective hearing, having mental filters to only receive messages to
your liking keeping out anything not to your liking.

This has always been a common problem among believers and non-believers. God’s
people don’t like to listen to God any more than sinners, even when God is very clear.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites didn’t want to talk with God directly,

and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak
to us or we will die.” Exodus 20:19 NIV

Why didn’t they want to talk t God directly? First, they did’t want to die, but I also think
it’s easier to reject what man says about God than hear God directly. It’s easier to say,

“I don’t think you heard from God” or “God would never say that” as a way to reject God
and chalk up religion to a man made entity. This why, a lot of the time, God sent angels
to deliver His messages.

God sent his Son, as he sent the prophets before Him, and God’s people didn’t want to
listen to any of them,

For they have not listened to my words,” declares the LORD, “words that I sent to them
again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,”
declares the LORD. Jeremiah 29:19

Maybe, you’d tell me you’ve “heard it all before” about God, but did you listen? Did you
search your heart or have you hardened your heart and created a new story that fits
better with the culture in which you live?

I invite you to listen, be you a saint fallen away or sinner trying to hit your own mark of
goodness, to what the Spirit is saying and seek to understand rather than raise your
defenses.

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! Matthew 11:15 NLT

You are loved. 


Lent Day 33: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he
is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

If you think, “How could God allow…” evil, pain, suffering, injustice, sin, but do not put
yourself in the equation, you may be missing the point of God’s patience.

Ask yourself,

How could God put up with MY unbelief?

How could God put up with MY apathy towards injustice?

How could God put up with MY evil and sin?

Putting yourself in the mix hopefully gives you a different perspective on God.

How much time should God allow you? You make free will choices like everyone else.
Should God strike you down, immediately when you do wrong? Maybe, but he doesn’t?
Why? The same grace he show to the rest of the world he shows to you.

God does not want anyone to perish, including you, so he gives you a number of days
to make a decision to believe or to continue in rebellion of unbelief, like everyone else.

God is patient with you, with me and the world so he can put his patience on display. If
you think God is ignoring the sin of the world, know this, God is keeping receipts.

There is justice being doled out by God and by God through man, every day. Just
because we do not see it on the news, does not mean God isn’t actively giving people
what they deserve by allowing them to reap destruction upon themselves in the hopes
they hit rock bottom and turn to Him.

“That’s cruel!” You say. Really? What is cruel is for God to never tell us what he expects
and punishes us anyway. The scriptures says,

He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done
from beginning to end. Ecc 3:11

We know, yet without knowing, what God expects without you ever having to read a
Bible verse, a longing to know God, serve God, and live for God is written on your heart
and breathed into your spirit.

God’s patience remains that you might turn to Him. You are loved. 

Lent Day 34: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they
are born of water and the Spirit. John 3:5

You may have a credit card membership with special privileges or maybe you’re part of
a hunting club where you pay dues to upkeep the club. How might you feel if you found
out some others were getting the same privileges as you but weren’t paying for it?

Universalism says "Everyone's going to make it to heaven whether you believe in Jesus
or not." No membership required.

Two words Jesus said messes up this theology, "no one".

Not only can you not SEE the Kingdom God operating in our world if you are not born
again, you cannot ENTER it.

If you believe it’s all just going to pan out in the end, scripture does not support this
belief. God is not going to give eternity to anyone who is not a member, a believer,
someone born of the Spirit.

The reason you pay for memberships is for access,

Access to knowledge.

Access to amenities.

Access to relationships.

Early Access

Access to these privileges are available to anyone willing to pay for them but eternity
cannot be payed for with good works, in fact, you can’t pay for it at all. It’s already paid
for.

As the old hymn says

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Your sin has been paid for. Access has been granted to everyone who believes their sin
was washed away, purchased by Christ's sacrifice.

Your membership is waiting for you. All you have to do is claim it. You are loved. 

Lent Day 35: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new
is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

I think there is great value in recycling. If it can be fixed, and I am able to fix it, I will. I
like to reuse things if they have a purpose. I don’t just want to throw things in the trash.

Gods likes to recycle lives. God’s doesn’t glue back the pieces of a broken heart, he
makes a new heart.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart
of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

God is giving out new hearts to the Israelites, not because they deserve it, but because
they don’t,

“Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your
sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy
name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. Ezekiel
36:22

God is not handing out new hearts the way the Tooth Fairy brings quarters for teeth,
God is handing out new hearts because that is who God is.

God isn’t give you a new heart because you’ve earned it, because you haven’t.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,
drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that
those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21

God is wanting to give you a new heart to show forth His grace and mercy.

Jesus came shouting, “New hearts for old!” but most people wanted to keep their old
hearts saying, “I’ll fix it myself”

Are you still trying to fix your old heart? Are you still try to persuade yourself that without
God, your heart is in better shape?

The Apostle Paul says that in Christ, all things are new. God comes to your house, like
the Salvation Army, and not only picks up your ratty old heart but brings you a new one.

“New hearts for old!”, He continues to call. You are loved.

Lent Day 36: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could
be made right with God through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

I love simple things. A good sandwich, a good movie and good conversation. I don’t
need to fly to Paris (not that I could) to enjoy a croissant in the Eiffel Tower. A breakfast
sandwich from Burger King will do.

I also love simplified things. I am the kind of person, like many of you, who likes to take
hard things and make them simple. I mean, who likes to complicate already complicated
things like relationships and algebra?

I like my faith simple but not simplistic. A faith that can be easily explained, but has lots
of depth, is my kind of faith, oh, and it also has to be true.

2 Corinthians couldn’t be more simple

God made Jesus sinless so He could be offered for our sin so that we could be made
right with God, through Christ.

Occam's razor states that the simplest explanation is preferable to one that is more
complex. Here’s an example,

“You have a headache?”, “Oh no… you might have the Black Death!” Sure, it's true that
one of the symptoms of the Black Death is a headache but, using Occam's razor, it's
obviously much more likely that you're dehydrated or suffering from a common cold. -
[Link]

We can take something simple, like the gospel, and complicate it,

“Our world is messed up, it must be because of people who have different politics than
me.” Yes, our world is messed up, but it’s not due to politics, it’s due to selfish, sinful,
unrepentant man; some who speak in the name of God and some who do not.”

When you mix politics, power, greed and manipulation with the gospel, things get
complicated.

When looking at your own life, how are you complicating it? Are you making others the
scapegoat to refusing the gospel? Are you holding on to past hurts and wounds that are
keeping you from retuning to the Lord?

God’s intent was to make the road back to Him simple, not simplistic.

God does not make things complicated, we do. You are loved.
Lent Day 37: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us
from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9

This is one of the first verses I ever memorized. It rolled off my tongue like poetry. I need
a verse like in my life because I was a sinner extraordinaire. I could peel the paint off
the walls with my colorful language. I could turn swear words into an art form.

Growing up Catholic, I was not new to confession. I would go to church, on a Saturday

mostly, sit down, tell the priest the things I did, he would give me prayers to say and
absolve my sin.

Say what you want about Catholicism, the model for confession is there.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the
Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us
in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

I wish more churches had confession booths. I wish more churches would invite people
to confess their sins and then say, “You’re forgiven”. It would be a lot better than hiding
or holding on to your sin which only makes you sick.

As a child, I focused on my sin, even if what I did didn’t seem so bad.

As an adult, I look at God’s [Link] many times has God forgiven me and
cleansed me of my sin? More time than I can count and yet God himself willfully forgets
them, holding no grudge because of what Jesus has done for me.

Do you need a confession booth and priest to be forgiven? Of course not. As a

Christian, you can confess to God, He and forgives based on what I believe Christ has
done for me, but for those who do not know Christ as Savior, you have no priest, no
advocate to make the way for you to God. Jesus said,

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we
have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” I
John 2:1,2

To come to God, without Jesus, is like representing yourself in a court of law, before a
judge. You have little to no chance of winning.

Let Jesus be your lawyer, he knows the judge personally. You are loved. 

Lent Day 38: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they
believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them? Romans 10:13,14

Back in 2009, Penn Gillette of the magic duo Penn and Teller once said of evangelism
and proselytizing,

“I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could
be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really
worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward, and atheists who
think that people shouldn’t proselytize — ‘Just leave me alone, keep your religion to
yourself.’

“How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?” Jillette asked. “How
much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not
tell them that? If I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you
and you didn’t believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point
where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”

I recently was reminded of this quote when I had an opportunity to share the gospel, it
was an utter a soft ball of a pitch, and I blew it. I asked myself, “How much do you hate
them?”. I guess I hated them a lot because I didn’t share my faith.

Maybe this incident made me ask. “How much do I hate the people who follow me on
social media to not offer a clear and compelling invitation to Christ??” So, has this 40
days been an act of penance? Maybe, but I also think it’s me trying to wake up a once
fervent love I had for God and people.

The truth is the truth whether I’m “feelin” it that day or not. Those who are not believers
or who once believed but have walked away from the faith deserve as many bites at the
apple (pun intended) as possible from someone who does love them and wants them to
share eternity with them.

My hope is that you know that after these 40 days, God still loves you and wants you to
know him.

You are loved.

Lent Day 39: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

He carried our sins in His own body when He died on a cross. In doing this, we may be
dead to sin and alive to all that is right and good. His wounds have healed you!
I Peter 2:24 NLV

What’s the point? Seems like the go-to conclusion for many about life. I have said this
many times, usually in a state of depression or when I’ve had a run of and luck. Some
people are frail and break easy when life hits them hard, but as the fictional boxer
Rocky Balboa once said,

“It's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving
forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.”

I know some of you have been hit pretty hard by the church or people of faith. I have
bruises and still have open wounds, caused by “well meaning church people” but I have
also caused bruises and inflicted wounds. Yet, here I am, a spiritually beat up fighter
who gets up every time the bell rings. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment.

You, on the other hand, may have thrown in the towel a long time ago. You walked away
from the faith ring and said “I’ve had enough”. Maybe you’ve turned to alternative faiths
or no faiths at all. I can understand that, yet, maybe the arena of faith is calling to you
once again. Maybe God is saying, “Don’t quit fighting. Get back in the ring. There is
something worth fighting for.”

“What the point?” You say.

The point is, Jesus carried your sins and the sins of the person who wounded you on
the cross so you could be “alive to all this is good and right”

His wounds have healed your wounds, if you want them to be healed.

Maybe no person of faith has hurt you, but you see world as one big ,miserable wound
you have to live on and suffer through. May you’ve found a faith that “works for you “ but
it’s more of a coping mechanism than the truth. You may get by but you’ll never be free.

“What’s the point?” You say.

The point is, there is a God who loves you and wants you to fight through the doubt, the
apathy, the hurt and the pain to know Him or to return to him.

From one fighter to another, if I can do it, so can you. You are loved.
Lent Day 40: Love Letters To The Exiled, Spiritual Nomads and the Lost

He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” John 21:5a

If someone I betrayed, who had the power of a god, walked up to me and said, “Hey
friend”, the next thing I would expect is to explode into a million pieces. I would not
expect that person to give me instructions on how to bless my life. Yet, that is exactly
what happens here.

Peter had denied Jesus three times and is hanging out with a few others who ran out on
him and hid. Jesus walks up, greets them and, as he did when he first met Peter, told
him how to catch an abundance of fish.

Jesus holds no grudges. He does not sink their boat (which I would have done) but
instead he calls them friends, even after all they did. Jesus did not give up on them and
He does not give up on you.

Maybe you’ve denied His very existence.

Maybe you’ve cursed his name.

Maybe you’ve abandoned him.

He still wants to call you friend.

What kind of God does this?

The God who sees you as you are and still loves you.

The God who forgives and restores.

The God who said,

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5

Jesus revealed the character of God and kept his promise when He went back for Peter
and the other disciples. They didn’t deserve this grace, yet here comes God.

I can tell you, I have been more like Peter than Jesus in my life, yet God keeps coming
after me and blessing and restoring me and give me purpose and hope when I do not
deserve it.

Think about what you deserve. Now, think about what God offers you.

May you be overwhelmed by the Spirit and receive this grace. You are loved.
Conclusion

There it is, my version of sitting down, having coffee and sharing the truth with you. It
wasn’t that bad, was it? Sure, it may have hurt a little but overall a pretty painless
experience.

Everything I have shared was shared with me, at some point. It hurt me to hear it and,
somedays, it hurts now to hear it because I’d rather do what I want to do.

We’re more the same than different. I am certainly no better than you, in fact, some
days I may be worse. The only real difference will come when we part ways in the life.

I hope you received every page as a love letter for God telling you how much He
misses you.

Be well, and until that day, you are loved, always.

Paul Turner

Someone Who Cares

40 Days of The Gospel

Day 1 Acts 17:30

Day 2 Revelations 3:20

Day 3 Acts 16:31

Day 4 2 Timothy 1:9

Day 5 Psalm 62:1

Day 6 Acts 2:21

Day 7 John10:10

Day 8 Romans 10:9,10

Day 9 Titus 2:11,12

Day 10 Luke 19:10

Day 11 2 Peter 3:9

Day 12 Luke 18:27

Day 13 John 11:25,26

Day 14 Matthew 7:13,14

Day 15 Hebrew 9:28

Day 16 I Corinthians 15:22

Day 17 Romans 1:16

Day 18 Ephesians 2:8,9

Day 19 Romans 5:7,8

Day 20 John 10:9

Day 21 John 3:16

Day 22 John 3:17


Day 23 John 3:18

Day 24 Titus 3:5

Day 25 John 14:6

Day 26 Matthew 7:21

Day 27 Acts 2:38

Day 28 John 3:36

Day 29 Romans 6:23

Day 30 Romans 3:23

Day 31 John 3:3

Day 32 John 5:24

Day 33 2 Peter 3:9

Day 34 John 3:5

Day 35 2 Corinthians 5:17

Day 36 2 Corinthians 5:21

Day 37 I John 1:9

Day 38 Romans 10:13,14

Day 39 I Peter 2:24

Day 40: John 21:5a