Rainy Day for Pooping…Joy!

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Robert Franklin

It’s 4:50am and my morning prayer is already lifted up and I am up out of bed trying to convince myself that I need to go workout. I lose the argument, succumbing to the queasy rumble in my stomach and the allergy-induced throb in my face. imagesSixty more minutes of rest and it is time to take the dogs out for their morning relief. It is still dark and it is raining, really raining. Since we moved to the condominimum it has been my privilege to accompany our golden retriever and peek-a-poo outside every morning and then to pick up and dispose of what they leave behind. I am so glad it isn’t cold yet and that God made me a “morning person.”

On mornings/days/weeks like these I feel so justified as I get wrapped up in my life, making a picture in my mind of a life far more significant than any real reason could justify.

Francis Chan wrote the following in Crazy Love,

When I am consumed by my problems—stressed out about my life, my family, and my job—I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God’s command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a “right” to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities. (pg. 41)

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (Philippians 4:4-6, NLT)

Plastic bag out…hand full of unmentionables…open the trash bin…in goes my attitude.

For the sake of joy, and re-joy!

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God Wears Tattoos

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Robert Franklin

…Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands… (Isaiah 49:15b-16a, ESV) henna hand tattoo

I remember the first time I came across this verse. I was teaching through Isaiah, looking at all the passages that mentioned or foretold or “imaged” the coming Messiah. Because Jesus’ hands were pierced by the cruel nails of my sin, he literally bears the scars of remembrance. I am along with countless others indeed graven on his hands. What a declaration of commitment on God’s part.

Contentment for the Christian is so important. It is important for me. How can I be discontent when I remember that I am tattooed on His palms? What arrogance do I possess when I say, “Lord didn’t you know?” How can I not be assured every day when He says he knows my rising and my sitting; that He knows the number of the hairs that is falling (rapidly!) from my head? How much differently I would lead my life if these truths would constantly abide in my consciousness?

Father, forgive the way I have belittled your knowledge of me, of your thought of me, of your sacrifice for me. Let me rest in the knowledge that I not only abide in the palm of your hand, but that I am engraved on that very same palm.

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Joy in the Planning

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Robert Franklin

Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace! (Proverbs 12:20, NLT)

What would my life look like if I were “planning peace”? peace-off

I believe that most would immediately conjure some sort of political action, some “solving” of the problem of war in the world.  The writer surely does not have this in mind (at least not exclusively).  Wisdom is far more concerned with how individuals interact.  Wisdom knows peace in the life of a fallen race is not the result of evolutionary chance, but an effort of Spirit-filled will.  Wisdom knows in order for me to plan peace, I must surrender my drive to be the authority and be content in the reality of the present.  The only way for me attain contentment within the circumstance of the day is to rest in the love I receive from God in Christ Jesus. That love allows me to examine the truth of my situation and, even in the midst of my helplessness or distaste of my portion in life, to possess pure joy.  Joy is the partner of peace and first fruit of love.  Joy embraces every station of life and makes beauty even in the midst of the dung heap a possibility.

Wisdom says when we “plot” evil, deceit is well from which humans draw.  This deceit begins with the self.  I place my desires at the center of my attention and subsequently excuse myself from any damage the pursuit of my desires must bring.  The infamous mantra, “it won’t hurt anybody,” becomes my creed.  I am blinded to the consequences of whatever acts necessary to accomplish my course and press on toward the goal of grasping what Want tells me I need.

I simply must choose joy, what shall you choose?  

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The Joy of Terror

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Robert Franklin

terror plateThe “T” word is now part of our regular vocabulary.  As with many other contemporary words, “terror” once conveyed a definite meaning, but now the word is stripped of its emotional power through common usage by unimaginative and unmotivated news writers.  This time of year many actually seek to be terrified for entertainment purposes.

Terror was once the response of the purveyors of evil as they beheld the face of justice.  In our day we have replaced justice with either senseless retribution or with detached wrangling over legal minutia and not the facts in a case.  We have empowered the wicked to ply their trades without the visceral fear of being held to account by the righteous and so our cultural decline resembles the slow spiral descent of the carrion bird.

Perhaps this is why joy is difficult to find in these days.  Everywhere we turn our eyes we see the absence of justice and the presence, at one level or another, of terror.  For some, terror is the daily reality only for people far away, for others even a look out the windows of their home engenders terror.

I believe justice is worth yearning for so joy may once again reign in the hearts of the wise and terror in the hearts of those to whom it is due.

“Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.” (Proverbs 21:15, NLT)

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I’d Rather Not Know

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Robert Franklin

big mouthIn our lives there are always things we would just rather not know.  Information like, “How many germs are in my mouth…or in the mouth of the one I just ‘french kissed’ ?”(Ewww!) or “What really happens to food after I chew and swallow?”  (Gross!)

Our lives are much simpler because we choose take responsibility for only the information we pass through a mental filter.  Unfortunately we also filter what God has told us is important to know.  Things like, “Pray for those who persecute you. Don’t curse them. Pray God will bless them” and “Don’t use foul or abusive language.  Let everything you say be good and helpful so your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”

One of the most unfortunate filters we apply to our lives with Christ is the choice to ignore our responsibility to be stewards.  To followers of Jesus is entrusted the truth of the good news and the responsibility of loving each other in the same manner in which we are loved.

…A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them…When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. (Luke 12.42, 48b, NLT)

This week we will continue to look at the Biblical principles behind the book Crazy Love. The call of Christ is the call to live like him:  A life poured out for the sake of others, a life that values eternity so much that the sacrifices of today pale in comparison to the joys of the promises yet unfullfilled . This is the life to which we are called.

Or would you rather not know?

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Sneaky Jesus

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Robert Franklin

burgularWednesday night I finished sharing my heart with the Providence Baptist Church in Trimble County, KY. The congregation had patiently and persistently put up with me since Sunday morning as I was their “guest preacher” at their annual revival. It was an honor to be invited to come and they overflowed with graces to me.

I fear that I scandalized them a little more than I intended…I taught them about sneaky Jesus. Americans (in fact most Westerners) believe that Jesus’ return will be in secret and semi-inexplicable. I believe this is yet another point of our continuing disagreement with Jesus.

We are under recent delusion that we will not have to suffer tribulation as followers of Jesus, or at least the tribulation we do suffer will be of the more generic uncomfortable kind. Jesus said, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.” (Matthew 24:9, NASB95). We believe the disciples to whom Jesus was referring (the “you”) surely must mean some other disciples other than us. Perhaps the “other sheep”?

We claim as truth the self-deception of salvation through simple declaration without perseverance. I know the idea of the necessity of continuing to follow Jesus offends many American Christians. “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13, NASB95)

Endures what? Jesus already said, “life-threatening tribulation.” So confident was the Savior in the power of his hold on the hearts of men and women, he called his proclamation of the troubles soon to come as good news. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14, NASB95) It is a lazy and self-serving interpretation to redefine the gospel in this context to be a costless “salvation” and not the promise of deliverance through tribulation that Jesus is currently telling his disciples to expect.
Finally we accept the ridiculous notion that somehow Jesus is going to “sneak” back to earth and take up his people without anyone knowing it. How can one arrive at this conclusion when Jesus says, “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:27, NASB95) and, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30, NASB95)? I live in an area of the country where lightning storms are part of the normal weather cycle. I can call my friends who live miles away and talk about a celestial electrical discharge that both of us witnessed. Jesus said his return will be easily observable, so much so that all the tribes of the earth will “mourn” and “see.”

Consider this, when a sports team wins a championship do they return in the dead of night, as quietly as possible? Absolutely not! Even if their arrival is after the passing of day’s light the city burns their “torches” and people line the streets and welcome their victorious team. Fans and followers honk horns, scream and shout, wave flags and jump up and down. How can it be that the One who conquered death and hell, the One who won the souls of billions of humans by the shedding of his own blood, the One who is promised to be the judge of the whole world is supposed to come back in any other manner than that which is promised, “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:31, NASB95) ?

I don’t know about you, but I want nothing to do with a sneaky Jesus…I am looking and listening for the return in mighty power of the champion of my heart, even if it costs me everything while I wait. I want no disagreement with him.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

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