God called, sent him to voicemail…

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Robert Franklin

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=voice+mail&iid=833610″ src=”8/9/7/4/MacWorld_Expo_Contiunes_eb73.jpg?adImageId=12983773&imageId=833610″ width=”234″ height=”350″ /]I recently met with a friend of mine for lunch. He is one of those men most cannot help but to desire to be his companion. He is intelligent, easy-going, extraordinarily talented, a good conversationalist. As we chatted over our food, he said the most extraordinary thing, “God’s been calling me; I have just let him go to voicemail.” In one simple, contemporary phrase he poignantly captured not only his personal spiritual reality, but also the reality of most of the Western Church.

I immediately told him I was going to use his phrase. He graciously extended his blessing.

The worship of the God of Israel, Isaac and Jacob has always focused on God’s unique and personal intervention in the lives of those he claims to own. This intervention is often referred to as “the Call.” It is the conviction, adopted and applied across a thousand or more generations that God speaks with authority to what we are to be, where we are to go, what we are to possess, yes even to what we say and think. After all, he is God.

Once upon a time not so long ago, God’s call had no “rollover” option. Humans were forced to act in either obvious rebellion or complete obedience. Modernity created a pseudo, “third option”: receipt without response.

“Yes, God, I know you called. I am not necessarily opposed to doing as you wish, but am much too busy to get to the details of your instruction, so be patient, I will consider your command in the order it was received.”

While the “third option” may be comfortable to us, it is nothing less than damning sin. Those of us who are parents would not accept the “third option” response from our children; and we are finite. How much more an offense to tell the infinite Sovereign of the Universe, “I’ll get to it when I can, if I can. Don’t worry, though, I got it saved for future reference.”

It makes me shudder to think how many times I have uttered the very same sentiment as my friend. Lord, let it no longer be so.

And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” John 3:36 (NLT)


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Thankful to Suffer and Die

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Robert Franklin

If I knew I would soon die I would have many regrets, but would be thankful for the knowledge and make the best of the moments yet to come. If I knew I would soon suffer and then die, I believe I would be wretched. I don’t do suffering well. I become surly, sour, and petulant. When I suffer, I quickly lose my natural gift to see things others cannot see and instead only focus on me. It is the absence of character, a source of shame.

Adjacent to the climax of the suffering of the Incarnate, He paused with his friends and gave thanks to God. The gospels do not record the text of the thanksgiving, but it may have sounded something like this,

Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Jesus broke bread and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

How did the sufferer say, “Blessed be God who will take this ‘dust’ and allow it to be broken?”

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=bread+loaf&iid=264980″ src=”0261/f0981abd-ce16-4139-a666-66737718f465.jpg?adImageId=12969794&imageId=264980″ width=”234″ height=”166″ /]

Jesus took a cup of wine and uttered another thanksgiving, perhaps,
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. Let us gratefully drink.

Jesus then handed the cup of wine to his closest friends and said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins…”

How did the sufferer say, “Blessed be God who will take this sinless life and pour it out so that many will have their sinful existences covered and then forgiven?”

This upcoming week my friends at Main Street will consider these questions. When we meet for worship on Memorial Day weekend, we will center our worship around the Lord’s table and speak to the questions the prayer of the Suffering Servant, Jesus the Messiah, bring to us in this day.

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The Iron Imbecile

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Robert Franklin

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=iron+man&iid=8764690″ src=”4/b/2/4/Iron_Man_2_f15c.jpg?adImageId=12859394&imageId=8764690″ width=”380″ height=”301″ /]I took my teenagers out to the movies last night. We all assumed Iron Man may be worth the price of the ticket.

We were wrong.

While my young ones did not have quite the distaste for the movie as I did, all of us thought that the movie left more than a lot to be desired.  All four of us were in agreement that the “final battle with the bad guy” was a complete disappointment.  It didn’t even meet the gratuitously violent, hero is almost dead but saves himself by his own ingenuity/strength with an “unexpected” twist low standard.  It is a rarity all four of us agree on anything, so I am positive the climax was lame.

I could waste a lot of words but suffice it to say the whole of the movie was like the kid in middle school who exulted in being annoying, but knew you couldn’t do anything about it, so the child was annoying for the sake of being annoying over and over and over and over and over again.  I left the theater wondering who I was supposed to dislike more, the self-aggrandizing, hyper-arrogant superhero or his over-the-top whiny (yes WHINY) adversary.

Two things are of real concern to me regarding this wildly popular movie:

First, Iron Man, is referenced in the movie as the penultimate true AMERICAN.  If I desired to advance the stereotypical worldview of Americans being narcissistic, amoral, rebellious, violent, greedy, wasteful, haughty people governed by a thoroughly corrupt government, I would copy this film and send it to everyone on the planet.

Second, the superhero is presented as an individual of incredible talent, intelligence and vice.  He is counterbalanced by a female of equal intelligence, evident talent, and no obvious vice.  The movie viewer is expected to approve of the “super-male’s” equal (the woman) excusing the male’s repeatedly vile behavior and ignoring his flaunted sexual promiscuity in order to be willfully waiting for him to make a half-hearted commitment to her because he “remembers” to save her in the day of trouble.  Pathetic and pitiable is such a scene.  It would have been far more fitting for the final act of movie violence to be the quasi-heroine tossing the hero-cad off the roof as he suavely attempted to make his advance.  He was in no manner her peer.  It was not to be had, however, so we witnessed “wierd” kissing instead (“wierd” not my word but the hero’s own scripted term).  It is ok, we are left to assume, because he is a hero-man and thus worth her attention and desire.   

Regurgitation and refunds are in order.

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Talking Back

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Robert Franklin

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=talking+child&iid=263944″ src=”0260/4c57b11d-4169-41a3-98e9-415af9f41a03.jpg?adImageId=12823163&imageId=263944″ width=”234″ height=”350″ /]”Don’t talk back” was a common refrain at my childhood home. My siblings and I were adept in the use of the English language and thus had to learn the discipline of when to “use our words” and when to keep the mouth shut. I must confess that while I did better than some, I was not as quick a student as I should have been.

The common use of the phrase “talking back” is nearly always negative because it is most often used to describe an inferior addressing a superior. What about when the situation is reversed? Is it ever the case the superior “talks back” to the inferior? The answer is “yes” and we would do well to know it.

Most Americans claim to pray on a regular basis. Survey after survey attests to the self-belief that we are a people of prayer. If my email inbox is any indication, we are culturally open to others beseeching the Divinity on our behalf. It is my experience, however, that most people pray like they play the lottery. Players and prayers spend a little to keep themselves “in the game” but hold little real hope of ever seeing their “ticket come home.” We toss up some words, sometimes even with desperate lilt, but in the end go about our business as usual.

I believe God talks back, but Americans are too dull to hear. I believe God responds to us on a regular basis, but we are too busy, too distracted, or too small in our faith to give ourselves an opportunity to listen to what God has to say.

If this is indeed the case, what can we do about it? How should we adjust our lives to exchange a few meaningless nouns and verbs for a vibrant conversation with the One who loves us so much that He invites us to be in constant communication with Himself?

Rejoice always; pray wthout ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5.16-18

My friends at Main Street will be considering the answer to this question over the next few weeks.

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Getting Rid of the Fuzzies

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Robert Franklin

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=dryer&iid=162088″ src=”0158/a637e299-bac1-4c54-9089-9308ae4b0ecd.jpg?adImageId=12599585&imageId=162088″ width=”234″ height=”351″ /]After waiting a little too long, I finally asked Michelle to pick me up some new clothes. She did some great bargain hunting and arrived back home “mission accomplished.” The next day I wore one of my brand new polo shirts. I like the lightweight fabric and it fits well, but the shirt came adorned with some little fuzzies. There weren’t many, but one of the other older pieces of clothing must have become jealous while tumbling in the dryer the night before and had sloughed some hate on my new shirt. I spent a good fifteen minutes brushing fuzzies.

I believe many of us know this experience not only in our wardrobe but also in our spiritual life. God gives us something new but the old seeks to mar the gift we received. God blesses us with effective tools to brush these fuzzies out of our life. Here are but a few.

Strength not our own, but from the Lord.

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power .Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10–11, NLT)

Courage from the Lord.

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13–14, NLT)

Resources from the Lord to give away.

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”” (Luke 6:38, NLT)

Confidence in knowing what the God desires for me.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NLT)

Participation in God’s plan instead of my plan.

“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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Power

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Robert Franklin

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=power+lines&iid=5146947″ src=”2/5/f/f/High_voltage_electric_9a36.jpg?adImageId=12580546&imageId=5146947″ width=”355″ height=”360″ /]Modern Christianity has more or less limited itself to the ability to convince its adherents to voluntarily conform to a certain standard of acceptable behaviors.  This “self-betterment” is in essence no different from any number of psychological constructs designed specifically to lead an individual through partially self-directed change.  From my point of view there lacks a clear distinction between committing one’s life to serve others and quitting smoking.  Both activities are helpful, even healthful, yet may be accomplished by human means directed by human ingenuity.

The kind of life to which Jesus calls his disciples is far outside human capacity to perform.  Jesus knew this and promised to empower his followers by his own indwelling presence. 

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:16–20, NLT)

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” (Luke 24:49, NLT) 

It is a sad fact that much of my life bears few marks of the energizing movement of the Holy Spirit.  I have far too often chose personal comfort against participating in the mighty work of a Sovereign God.  I absolutely hate this.

God patiently allows me opportunity after opportunity to reflect his magnificence and not my own paltry attempts at being important.  Why His patience remains is truly a mystery, but here I am breathing my confession.

I do feel an internal and irrepressible urge to beg God to allow me to participate in things only He could accomplish.  The utterance of such a request gives me frightened chills for in my unworthiness I still ask.  I am Peter, one foot planted on the boat deck, one floating on the water, one firmly stuffed in my mouth.

The question is, “When God calls this time, will I say “Yes, Lord!” and go directly to Him?”

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