More Than a Story

Before I saw James Cameron’s Titanic, I had no idea it was a love story. My husband, Stewart, and I had heard endless talk about it, but always about the groundbreaking special effects, never the narrative itself. Honestly, I didn’t think the storyline mattered. After all, doesn't everyone already know how the Titanic story ends?

One Friday night, needing something to do, we decided on a whim to see Titanic on its opening night. I walked into that theater expecting something closer to a documentary, but I left emotionally wrecked by the unexpected love story I'd experienced. (I laugh now, recalling Stewart patiently waiting in the theater while I sobbed uncontrollably, refusing to get up until everyone else had left. I cried the entire way home. Poor Stewart.)

Soon, Titanic became THE movie everyone had to see. Well, almost everyone. Many heard the storyline second-hand or watched iconic scenes out of context—the heartbreaking image of Rose clinging to the door, Jack shivering in the freezing water. They knew the ending, so they skipped the journey. "They got it," or at least thought they did. Others watched the film but remained unmoved, dismissing it as overly dramatic or cheesy. Many grew weary of the hype long before it ever subsided.

And I wonder how many of us have engaged with the gospel—the good news of Jesus—in exactly this way.

Some people encounter the personal, living Jesus unexpectedly. They're overwhelmed by His love, grace, and forgiveness, and they walk away beautifully devastated, forever changed by His relentless love.

Others thought they knew the story, only to discover, when fully engaging it, that it's far deeper and more powerful than they'd imagined. It wasn't just facts; it was a radical, relentless love that shook them awake.

Still others have grown up with the gospel always around them. They know about Jesus, His death, His resurrection—but has it become personal? Have they been genuinely confronted by the immensity of His love? Has it ever "wrecked" them, reshaped their hearts, and profoundly altered how they understand their worth and the world around them?

Then there are those who have heard the gospel and are simply "over it." Perhaps they've been offered a watered-down version of Christianity—one reduced to rules, rituals, or a checklist of beliefs required to enter heaven, missing the vibrant relationship Jesus truly offers.

I am deeply grateful that, from a young age, I was told about God’s incredible love, not just as an abstract idea, but as a personal invitation. I've experienced God actively entering into my brokenness, pain, fears, and failures, comforting, forgiving, and healing me. Every time I stumble, God gently calls me to acknowledge my brokenness, freely forgives me, and then lovingly urges me forward, transforming me and inviting me to join His transforming work in the world.

My prayer is that the story of Jesus never grows stale or ordinary to me. Even now, when I share how God has intervened in my life, I can’t speak about it without tears. This story—this real, personal, overwhelming love—wrecked me once, and it continues to wreck me still.

I hope it continues to break my heart wide open regularly, keeping it vibrant, fresh, and real. Because the story of Jesus isn’t just a story—it’s a testimony of God’s relentless, radical love, actively creating and recreating the world today. It's a living testimony meant to be experienced anew every day.

So, if you're struggling to believe, if your soul feels hollow, if you’re exhausted from living from your own strength and ingenuity, I encourage you to rediscover and re-engage with the gospel of Jesus. Because this isn’t merely a story you’ve heard before—it’s a personal invitation to experience God’s profound love again and again, a love story that will never grow old.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV):