Heaven is for Dead People

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Robert Franklin

To the modern Western mind, there are fewer more boring places than Heaven.  Who would want to go there anyway?  Maybe it is a nice place for dead people, but anyone who really wants to live…I mean really live will avoid heaven at all costs.

Don’t believe me?  Ask Kenny, he sings it better than anyone I know:

Everybody want to go to Heaven…

John Eldredge speaks to the predominant mindset of the “Christian” group,

Nearly every Christian I have spoken with has some idea that eternity is an unending church service…We have settled on an image of the never ending sing-along in the sky, one great hymn after another, forever and ever, amen.  And our heart sinks.  Forever and ever? That’s it? That’s the good news? And then we sigh and feel guilty that we are not more ‘spiritual.’  We lose heart, and we turn once more to the present to find what life we can.”

Heaven is regulated to the corner of life-that-is-no-more.  “____is in Heaven now,” is a quasi pithy aphorism people attempt to share with those in mourning in some hope it may be of comfort.  If we Westerners were more honest, we would instead say, “I am sorry for your loss; bummer [your loved one] is in Heaven. Tedious existence, I hear.”

All that talk of a “better place” is really a bunch of nonsense.    In order for heaven to be “better” than here, a person must here be racked in pain, or horrifically disfigured, or completely disabled.  To suggest that someone dead goes to hell, well that wouldn’t be polite at all, so that option is removed.  We only tell the living, “Go to hell!”

Since Westerners are in-practice and philosophically sold out entirely to materialism, we know we simply stop existing when we die.  Heaven is the spoonful of sugar that makes the reality of nihilism a bit less tart.

My friends at Main Street are going to journey with me for the next six weeks on a quest to discover whether or not Heaven is worth our attentions at all.

Maybe it is just a good place for dead people.

Posted in Bible Study | 4 Comments

Just Tell My Why!

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Robert Franklin

When my children were little, we had a “Why? bucket.”  It was really just a plastic cup I conscripted from the kitchen cupboard, but we made it work.  The purposes for the Why bucket were many, but two were primary:

  1. Invite my children to question the happenings of the world in which they lived.
  2. Assist my children in assigning a value to the privilege of questioning.

For instance, if we told our children to do something and it didn’t suit them well enough to just obey, they could respectfully ask why they were told to do a task.  While they were preschoolers, an answer would cost them a nickel (inflation hit during the school years).  We would simply respond, “Go put a nickel in the Why? bucket and I will answer your question.”  Even at their young age we could see the mental wheels turning, “Is the answer going to be worth a nickel?”  Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn’t.  It was their choice.  Yes, every now and again we were petitioned for refunds!

Modernity made answers to questions perfunctory.  We either are disinterested in questioning or we expect answers without effort.  In either case assigning value to the ability to question is lost to our culture.  This is a contemporary tragedy.

God made us inquisitive.  We are wired to investigate what we don’t know and evaluate conclusions we make.  To ask, “Why?” is a primordial gift that makes human.  Modern humans most often succumb to the arguments of the loud or the eloquent or the powerful and accept information without consideration, or even worse, “Why?” is asked only to demonstrate belligerence or rebellion.

Throughout human history, God revealed himself in such a manner as to answer our questions.  He is not the God who just says, “Because I said so…” (although that is always the prerogative of the Sovereign of the Universe).

For the next six weeks my friends at Main Street will consider ancient stories handed down from generation to generation for the purpose of revealing the character of the God and answering some significant “Why?” questions.

This week’s question is, “Why Can’t We Do Whatever We Want?”

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.–Isaiah 1.8 ESV

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Connect

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Robert Franklin

We in the West developed a culture that purports to be all about the “connect.”  We are not really as connected as we pretend, just see how well we do when our connect to electricity is pulled.  Like so many other things in our life we use power to maintain appearances.  I noticed during the past three or four years the press of the “connect” we commonly practice is so overwhelming that many are choosing disconnect in the midst of the flood of too much information.

For instance, I have a friend who was recently ill.  I called my friend to check in and to see if there was something I could do to be an encouragement, but had to leave a voice mail.  It was a few weeks before we made contact.  When, in the course of conversation, the unanswered voice mail was mentioned my friend asked me if I hadn’t kept up on Facebook.  I had to admit that I had not and I felt uneasily guilty: I felt guilty for not even thinking to check on a sick friend on Facebook (how 90’s of me) and I felt guilty for feeling guilty about rejecting this popular connect point in lieu of actually hearing my friend’s voice.

I am concerned that in the cauldron of a culture that thinks itself completely connected that we have lost the ability to genuinely connect with each other…and with God.

I cannot look into the eyes of an emoticon.  I cannot hug a Skype screen.  I cannot properly interpret the inflection of an email.  I cannot accurately nuance information presented in 140 characters or less.  I was thoroughly upbraided for replying “k” in a text when “ok” was expected because “‘k’ sounds like your angry.”  Really?  When I express this frustration to my friends some agree, some roll their eyes, and some return blank stares as if I speak some alien language.

Rarely does anyone see the connection between the means we are currently choosing use to connect and our relationship with the God who connects with us in the hidden depths of our being.  I will be suggesting some key ways we can connect to God this upcoming month at Main Street, it is my prayer that we discover together some “old” and some “new” but all significant means for the best connect ever.

I wonder what you would say to God if you wanted to connect today?  Feel free to use the comment field below.  Use 140 characters or less…if you dare.

Posted in Current Events | 5 Comments

Time is Ticking Away

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Robert Franklin

Each week I plan for the weekend, but not like most folk, I assure you.  For me Sundays are “work” days but also they are also the best day of the week.  This past Sunday was supposed to be a particularly great day.  I ask God regularly to surprise me with His work and presence.  This past Sunday was plain evidence God is listening.

My family at Main Street planned on getting together at one time (11:00a) and then sharing a picnic on the church grounds immediately after “doing church.”  Getting a people together who normally worship in two separate hours is something we wish we could do more often.  There is a special energy in the room when we are all together, especially when lunch is in view.

We also planned on celebrating the completion of year one of the Yes, Lord! initiative.  This part of the celebration was particularly exciting because construction on the expansion of Kid’s Avenue just started two weeks ago.  It is always good to see something tangible come from the sacrifices of many.

We had a wonderful time together.  The music was very good, people sang along loudly.  After the message of the morning, people came to pray.  I had opportunity to celebrate with two families whose children made commitments to follow Jesus.

The day would prove to be the highlight it promised to be, but as I prepared to leave the sanctuary Phillip Brunner called me back to the platform.  I immediately began mentally kicking myself over what I possibly could have forgotten.  My anguish was short-lived as Phillip explained that it was time to recognize ten years of service at Main Street.

For this I was completely unprepared.  My staff gloated over being able to completely surprise me and I had the honor of standing alongside my lovely wife and ministry partner, Michelle, and our children Ryan, Alyssa, and Emily.  For the next (forever) my friend and fellow Elder, Joe Ivey, spoke about the last ten years.  I was amazed by the thoughtfulness of what he had to say. Next my friend and co-laborer, Phillip Brunner, shared encouragements from the church staff.  Then my dear friend, Claudia Henderson presented me with an antique clock (pictured, howbeit poorly, above) as a gift from the congregation through our personnel team.

I am glad I was not offered the opportunity to speak.  I was speechless.  In fact it has taken about a day to get my thoughts organized enough to begin to attempt to say, “Thank you.”  A little more than a fourth of my entire life is spent here at Main Street.  While being recognized is always welcome, the thoughtfulness of the honor bestowed upon my family and me is worth far more the quarter I deposited.

As I sit in my office listening to the gentle ticktock of time continue to roll past, I pray again and again that Main Street sees far greater things than this past decade.  I passionately ask the Father to surprise me again, not with honors and gifts, but with the magnificent work only he can imagine.  I want my family at Main Street to be just as astounded as I am.

So be it.

Posted in Current Events | Tagged | 6 Comments

$1.10 Gasoline…while it lasts!

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Robert Franklin

If you went to the gas station expecting to pay well over $4.00 for a gallon of gasoline and watched the pump tally your purchase at the rate of $1.10 what would you do?  Would you go in and offer to pay the difference?  Would you text all your friends and inform them of the windfall?  Would you honor the request of the station owner and help offset his $21,000 one-afternoon loss by paying your fair share?

These and more “moral responsibility” questions are being considered today after the situation described happened in Wilmington, CA.  I know enough about the news cycle to be certain that this whole story will be forgot by tomorrow or perhaps even this evening.  The story does stir my heart, however, perhaps not for the reasons the reader may expect.

Yes, the gas station owner’s catastrophic loss at the willing hands of his customers is sad, but no more so than the loss of hundreds of farmers along the Mississippi valley spillway are experiencing right now.  What is troubling is the underlying values to which our adrift culture currently clings.

Since we have told God to “go away” and leave us alone unless we need someone to curse, we Americans have fully adopted the idea “more for me” is nearly always a good thing.  Even the famous mantra, “Well, it didn’t hurt anybody,” is now abandoned for the, “It didn’t hurt anybody I care about.”

Even within the Christian church the confession, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” is regulated to the silly notions of ancient religious fanatics.  We worship together at the base of the engraved image of the system that promises to us so long as we get more for us there will always be more to get and those with less will eventually benefit by our consumption.  To suggest that an American should live less comfortably for the sake of another person’s survival (or minimal comfort) is akin to high treason, or better yet, terrorism.

A friend gave me one of the best gifts I have received in a long while, a series of one-on-one interviews with a fascinating people speaking to the content of their published work in a variety of fields (see the Mars Hill Audio Journal).  I found the interview with John C. Medaille particularly compelling.  His work on the economic theory of distributivism is worth consideration by modern Christianity.

It is my belief that unless the Church begins to take Jesus’ instruction on the mount more seriously we are dooming ourselves to consciously take advantage of each other more and more often.  $1.10 gasoline will be the least of our worries.

“And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ” (Matthew 5:40–46, ESV)

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Entitled

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Robert Franklin

The weather yesterday was exquisite.  I had the privilege of being outside for a while and engaged in an aimless walk.  During my time “out” I came across this,

Now I understand the investment of some $60,000 (give or take “ten g’s”) might make the owner a little skittish about parking lot damage, but I say, “Too bad!”  If the car is too valuable to use only one parking space in a completely FULL parking lot, the owner probably should not be patronizing places where valet parking is not mandatory.

The photo is a window into an entire generation and this horrifies me.  While this vehicle is most likely owned by an “X-er”or a “Boomer” The people our culture is currently making are all about parking in two spaces because, “They deserve it.”  Don’t believe me?  Take up Generation iY, by Dr. Tim Elmore.

Elmore’s book takes an inside view of the generation coming, allowing those of us ahead in years to confront what kind of mess we are creating.  Here are a few of far too many quotable, quotes:

In 2007, the American College Health Association surveyed the largest randomized sample of college students since its inception.  Their study revealed that:

  • 94 percent of students reported feeling overwhelmed by their lifestyles.
  • 44 percent said they felt so depressed it was almost difficult to function.
  • Almost 10 percent had considered suicide in the past year.

In the early 1950s…only 12 percent of teens aged fourteen to sixteen agreed with the statement ‘I am an important person.’  By the late 1980s, an incredible 80 percent–almost seven times as many–claimed they were important.

These kids really do desire to change the world; they just don’t have what it takes to accomplish their lofty dreams.  When the work becomes difficult, they change their minds and move on to something else.  The new term for them is “slactivists”–they are both slackers and activists.

60 percent of college graduates return home with no plan.

The [Michigan] university’s Institute for Social for Social (sic) Research looked at 72 studies that gauged empathy among 14,000 students over 30 years.  Empathy has been in a steep decline, especially since 2000.  The research finds that students today display 40% less empathy than students in the 1980s and 1990s.  Spokesperson Sara Konrath said one reason students are less empathetic may be that people are having fewer face-to-face interactions, communicating instead through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

And since Mother’s Day is this upcoming Sunday…

The day after Mother’s Day 2006 USA Today carried an article on what young people had given their moms for this special day. Thousands had decided to give themselves gifts in honor of their mothers!  The gifts ranged from getting a haircut to putting money in their own bank account to cleaning up their apartment.  And the mothers were pleased with those gifts!  The children played such a central role in their own happiness that mothers felt good about the vicarious gift…By overemphasizing self-esteem and underemphasizing (sic) qualities like unselfishness and responsibility, adults made it easy for these kids to be consumed with self.

The book is not all gloom and doom. Dr. Elmore does try to find the “bright side” in the iY generation and offers many opportunities for the “elders” to maximize this generation’s unique abilities.  From my cultural perch, unless we “adults” quickly find some integrity and discover the ability to impart and imbue wisdom to our children, this generation may just be the next-to-last American generation.

Everybody knows “Z” is the end.

“Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together! My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. ” (Psalm 49:1–3, ESV)

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