Zero Pressure

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Robert Franklin

Every winter we give thanks to God for the extra refrigerator space.  As the outside temperature drops to near or below freezing, remaining consistently cold for weeks on end, the little deck outside our home becomes our extra cold storage space.  Leftovers from the family feast, sodas, prepared foods for large upcoming events, it is amazing what we find to put outside.

Sometimes it gets too cold, however, and we have to move items back into the warmer clime of the Frigidaire.  Often we are tardy in this task.  This is why I lost a couple of Coke Zeros a little more than a week ago.  The liquid inside the aluminum canisters froze and literally blew apart the cans, except for the one pictured here.  I am sure some physicist could explain the properties of this particular container and mathematically provide the reasons why this can survived even when its nestling neighbors were obliterated.  I am not able to provide such an explanation, so I am left to marvel at the “Zero that made it through.”

As I mourned the loss of this Zero’s friends and cleaned up the frozen mess of their demise, I couldn’t help but begin to think about how this situation is a microcosm.  I witness over and again people put in the same harsh environmental situation, sometimes side-by-side; some survive, some do not.  What is the difference?  In the case of the Zeros it was the ability to endure pressure. The mystery of this can’s refusal to succumb made it stand out from its cola brethren and caused its ordinary contents to be precious.

How much more for those who are pressed upon by the extremes of this life we live.  Pressure within, pressure without, from where does the ability to survive and be precious come?

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:7–10, ESV)

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What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Robert Franklin

Yesterday I shared with my friends at Main Street that this line from the Tina Turner hit song has been banging around in my head since November 2010.  I am relieved to finally get to share some of my thoughts about the impact of God’s love on our present reality.  Perhaps once February 2011 is past, Tina will leave me alone (forever?!)

Yes, this is the month where we are instructed by a myriad of commercial interests to remember to love someone.  Since we live in an uncertain world, we are also instructed to hope that we are loved in return.  Sadly every Valentine’s Day disappoints many.

I find it exceptionally odd that the only one whose reputation is founded on promises to love in all circumstances is probably also the most maligned by “disappointed” people.  It is simply not enough to be created unique amongst the billions and yet more durable than a snowflake.  It is simply not enough to have at hand resources to sustain life and yet the ability to experience pleasure.  It is simply not enough to be mobile and yet retain in memory where we have been.  It is simply not enough to communicate our thoughts, and yet consider an alternate perspective.  It is simply not enough to wonder or wander, and yet be convinced of common certainties.  It is simply not enough to be guilty, and yet know that we are truly and freely forgiven.

No, we expect all these things and a diamond pendant or an 80 inch flat screen television and a nice card, of course.

“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

(Ephesians 3:14–19, NLT)

 

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Devotion: A Flaky Pastry?

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Robert Franklin

Some years ago I decided that I needed to learn how to make Danish pastry.  I had little idea of what was required.  Only after I had passed “the point of no return” did I realize just how much effort is required to make these delectable treats.  Suffice it to say, the next time I purchased a Danish from the bakery I appreciated all the more the flaky sweetness and the bakers craft and time I knew were invested in providing me this favored delicacy.

Many approach the idea of daily Christian devotions with the same mindset I possessed about the making of a Danish.  We may think spending time with God, enjoying a bit of His character, and being encouraged by His direction would be sweet to taste.  We may have purchased some prepackaged devotional material to sample in the past, found it satisfying and enjoyed it without the least idea of the work necessary to produce it.Now we are trying to read our Bible on our own and find it difficult (maybe even dry or boring).  We feel a little guilty, so we either quit daily devotions or we rush down to the local Christian supermarket and peruse the aisles for a quick fix.

If I may repeat my wife’s encouragement to me when I complained about Danish being so much more complicated than my signature oatmeal raisin cookies.  Don’t give up, the end product is worth it!

I have practiced daily devotions for about thirty years now, and I have some helps I learned along the way. [Not one of the following are unique to me; I tested each suggestion provided me by others and found these helpful and made them part of my daily devotional practice.]

Be Awake. Daily devotions are far more helpful when the brain is active.

Begin by talking to God.  I ask God to reveal Himself to me through the reading of His Word and to show me how to apply His Word to my present situation.

Choose a place to begin, and park there a while. I suggest the Psalms, Proverbs, the Gospels, or Ephesians for starters.  I love the narratives of Genesis and Exodus 1-20, of Joshua, Judges, the Kings and Chronicles and Acts, but not everyone is patient enough to begin with these involved and sometimes complicated stories.  We know God meets us along the way, however the, “open the Bible and read whatever is there,” devotion is the least helpful method.

Ask three simple questions about whatever passage you read:

What does the passage say?  Allow the obvious and direct language used in the Bible to speak first.  Don’t fall into the trap of making the Bible into metaphors about whatever the imagination will inspire.

How is the passage connected to other passages of Scripture?  A lot of the nonsense people take away from reading their Bibles is the result of disconnecting a particular passage from its Biblical roots.  Pay attention to the immediate context of a passage [It is advantageous, however, to ignore the chapter and verse divisions as often as possible].  Many Bibles have “cross references,” look some of them up to see how a thought or statement is connected to other portions of Scripture.

How does the passage apply to life presently?  Not every passage will immediately apply, but the reader will be pleasantly surprised how much of God’s Word will speak to the need of the day.

Jot down some notes. When we keep some kind of a record of our daily devotion we leave behind a “trail of crumbs” to serve as testimony to our spiritual journey.  I regularly go back and read what I wrote last year, or last decade, in order to remind myself of things learned previously, to be challenged by lessons still unlearned, to be encouraged by the faithfulness of God.  I have no desire to leave my children the riches that will cause strife, that will be stolen or decay.  I do deeply desire to leave them a legacy of honest interaction with the Creator who met with me day-by-day.

Don’t quit. Because I have journals from years past, I have written proof of periods of time (sometimes months) where I drew from a dry well.  Maybe I wasn’t listening, maybe God wasn’t talking (I suggest the former to be more true than the latter).  Either way, even the a trek through the desert gets the traveler to the other side.

If you find something particular meaningful to you, share it with others. Yes, people will think you weird if you talk about what you learned from God in your daily devotions.  You will most certainly freak folks out if you speak about God speaking to your heart through His word.  Still, God has an uncanny way of making sure that those who need to hear from Him through you will be around to hear you speak about the time you spent with Him.

“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.” (Psalm 19:7–11, NLT)

I think I am going to go home and make some Danish!

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The Gift that is Me!

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Robert Franklin

Once upon a time, arrogant persons were oft met with the insult, “Who do you think you are, God’s gift to [fill the blank]?” It was an odd thing to say.  The words not only cast into question the character of the person being chided, but also the God who would give such an unwanted gift.

Since our culture no longer really believes in God, I no longer hear the phrase.  We have moved on to the newer insult, “He thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips” which I also think odd, but I will leave further comment to someone else.  Even though the “God’s gift” insult is arcane, its impact reverberates still.  If I were to poll people who do believe in God and ask them the question, “Do you believe you are a gift from God to the world?” the response would not be in the affirmative.

Unless they were arrogant.

Or Biblically literate.

It is a great tragedy that the Church stopped teaching that every person bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus and adopted into God’s family is a gift from God to the world.  It is even a greater tragedy that Christians stopped believing this simple truth.

God did not rescue us from slavery to sin and the eternal penalty of death just so we could hang around for a few years, accumulate heavenly treasure by being “nice” and then abandon this orb for “a better place.”  God did not graft us into his redemptive story so we could plant our backsides at “Church” once a week, give some money, and volunteer some time to keep His organization going for another generation.

No, God had far better things in mind when he took residence as Sovereign in the hearts of those who receive by grace through faith.  God makes each of us a gift to those we call neighbors and God also places us where he would have us participate in His continued work as His priests.

Modern Christians don’t like this.  If each individual is a gift from God to the world (specifically to the Church) then no individual would have excuse to excuse themselves from being a fully functioning part of the body.  Christians would be forced to discover what God intended when He spoke through Paul,

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6, NLT)

Such behavior would simply be uncomfortable.  Christians believe it is far more prudent to claim ignorance or inability or whatever pretense at hand to leave the work of the Church to the obviously “gifted”: the singers, the preachers, the teachers and so on…so long as it is someone else who bears the responsibility.

Paul believed each individual belonging to Jesus is a gift from God to humans, even as he singled out those whose responsibility it is to repeat this truth to those willing to listen.

“That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:8–13, NLT)

If you belong to God, be His gift to the world, you may be surprised how valuable a treasure He gave.

 

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Dink, Dink

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Robert Franklin

Dink, dink: the unmistakable sound of emptiness at the bottom of the consumed pot as the ladle is pressed down for one more drought.  Oh, if only I knew how to spell the scraping sound of hope as that same ladle is willed to produce something by its owner.  Tilt, roll, swish and whirl, even the best manipulators cannot produce what is simply not there.

Our cultural preoccupation with looking backward and forward across the plains of time so often misses the importance of thoughtfully considering the present.  The past is only helpful if it educates and informs the “today” and the future is promising only if we submit the contemporary to the Lordship of the One to whom the future belongs.

Yes, it will soon be a New Year and we will pretend like the worries, challenges, needs and obstacles of the year prior will somehow be mitigated by the ticking of the timepiece.  Just like so many other fables by which we comfort ourselves, this one will also prove to be ultimately ineffectual.  The best amongst us will be able to shed our “Christmas weight” and remaining majority will deal with the frustration of good intentions unrealized.

Yet hope renews year to year,  “Surely the days in the storehouse of the future will be better than the days in the garage of the past.”

What joy!  An unfriendly and impersonal world cannot offer such encouragement.  If all humans possessed were the deductions of the Science of Self, then what hope?  Even though we reject the rule of the Creator God, we Westerners depend on His idea of sustaining grace, of renewed strength, of regenerated mercies, and an end far better than the beginning.  Without His idea then we would be relegated to being a day older, susceptible to the dangers of the present and frightened of the uncertain realities to come.

So, how shall we get to the end of 2011 (God willing) with something left in the pot?

Wait on the Lord. Begin each day in God’s word.  Allow enough time in the busyness of preparing for work or school to listen to what God will say through his word.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. ” (Lamentations 3:25, ESV)

Converse with God throughout the day. I am so amazed I can express my frustrations, exult over my victories, plead for assistance, anytime and anywhere, tax and toll-free.

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.” (Luke 18:1, NLT)

Be obedient.  The greatest life-drains of my “pot” come when I do what seems best to me as opposed to what God ordained.  My way always leaves me empty.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5–6, NLT)

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Alexandria United

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Robert Franklin

A new thing is happening in the community in which I live.  Since I believe in an active and sovereign God, I will attribute this creation to His hand, but will leave it to the observer as to what to make of the events of the past few months.

In May of 2010 Main Street hosted James Baldwin, a Youth with a Mission Impact World Tour missionary.  We heard about James through a friendship connection with a congregation in Covington, KY.  James promoted the upcoming Northern Kentucky Impact World Tour and invited Main Street to join as support.  With the opportunity to connect to literally thousands of youth and young adults in the schools, we jumped at the offer.  The next few months were peppered with all sort of labors and congregations from different Christian denominations joined together for the sake of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ through this event.  Hundreds responded to the call to turn from self-rule and surrender to the forgiveness and authority of Jesus Christ.

Even a casual observer of the Church would raise an eyebrow, for the Church long ago lost any sort of shared passion for unity, even for the sake of God’s kingdom.  In decades (indeed centuries) past the Church exchanged agreement on the crucial truths of man’s sinfulness, Christ’s sacrifice, and God’s grace and rule in the hearts of individuals for separation by programming, liturgy and familial loyalty.  In spite of the fractured nature of the Church, the good news took root in the hearts of enough people for the Church to remain present in a culture fully enveloped in the worship of Self.

Then something happened I had long desired and yet had not anticipated.  A Methodist pastor and Assemblies of God pastor and an Independent non-denominational pastor and a Baptist pastor all agreed to set aside their predetermined message series in favor of a “United” series.  Yes, 2011 will begin with the same topics taught from the “pulpit” in a trans-denominational, simultaneous manner…for five consecutive weeks.

I know the dead are not yet raised and there is no leper running through the streets screaming, “I am healed, I am healed” but this is a miracle none-the-less.  This group of Alexandria area pastors are not great friends, nor have we held a secret meeting and broke out into a chorus of some sappy campfire song.  It is simply a few among many who desire more of God’s rule and less of petty differences.  More of God’s grace and less of territorial protectionism.  More of God’s love and less of enmity between persons who are required to love one another.

So this Sunday the different denominations will tackle the question of authority by teaching about the Bible and explaining how it came into existence.

The following Sunday will address the question, “What does it mean to be a Christian?”.  The Sunday afterward will answer the question, “What is the Church and why do we assemble?”.

The last two Sundays in January 2011 will focus on the topics of a Christian’s personal devotional life and a Christian’s responsibility to share Jesus with others.

What a great privilege to stand shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters and agree that these things are important and worthy of the attention of the Church regardless of the label on our meeting house signs.

Are greater things yet to come?  Time will tell.  In the present it is like we are actually fulfilling Jesus’ prayer for once:

…And the glory you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, just as we are one; I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that You sent Me and Loved them, even as You loved Me…(John 17.22-23)

 

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