Walking with God

Walking with God is step by step, moment by moment, realization and actualization of the presence and leadership of God in my personal life. It is intentional, submissional, and beyond my control except for my attention toward His direction.

The cost of discipleship in Christ is beyond high, it is complete.

Jesus on Carnival - A Few Thoughts

Carnival!

Well, its here again, and in full swing as the Crescent City shuts down freely and often to go nuts catching beads, stuffed animals, cups, and medallions! Its crazy how much fun it is to catch absolutely worthless junk thrown from a moving (or stopped if the tractors break down) vehicle!

Only in New Orleans would people go so nuts over plastic beads, and be so excited about meeting complete strangers on the sidewalk as Rex gets ready to roll! Just the other day, I watched as a couple of executives had a full on conversation with an apparently homeless man… amazing… three men from apparently opposite ends of the socio-economic spectrum, sharing a pleasant afternoon talking as peers!

So what would Jesus do with a situation like that?

On one hand, it gets crazy. As Christians, should we be in the mix with the craziness? Where’s the line not to cross? I mean, there are some obvious situations that a Christian just shouldn’t be in, but what about the grey areas?

To answer this question over the years as I’ve followed Christ in various situations and cultures, I’ve deepened the question of “What would Jesus do?” (which is an excellent measuring stick, by the way), and have begun asking the very concrete, but often more difficult question of, “What did Jesus do?”

Have you thought about that lately? We have the observations of those men who followed Christ day-in and day-out with concrete accounts of what Jesus actually did in difficult, and grey, situations. The really tough thing about the answers we often find to this question is that Jesus went, and led His disciples, right into the heart of the same type of “grey” situations we struggle with today… like Mardi Gras! So just in case you might be dealing with this dilemma, I thought I’d share a few general observations I’ve noticed over the years in the behavior patterns of Jesus Christ, which we would do well to copy into our own lives, especially in times like these.

First, Christ went where lost people were… and often where He was invited to go. Have you ever wondered why the Pharisees had enough evidence on Jesus to publicly accuse Him of being a wine-bibber (Matthew 11:19 - a “drunken party-animal” in modern lingo)? Well, here’s the deal, Jesus went where lost people invited Him to be a part of their lives. Often that took Him into pretty wild, “grey” sort of situations. I doubt He would pass muster in some churches today, but Christ seems to have lived out His time here showing that holiness is not the product of outside forces, but the sustenance of walking with God.

Second, Jesus seems to have had a good time! Sure, it might be fun to invite the rabbi to a few parties as a token gesture, but speaking as a preacher, I can tell you that you don’t get invited to the fun parties unless you’re willing to have fun. This does NOT mean being willing to compromise Christian conviction or ethics. In fact, I am quite certain that you would have never, ever found Jesus drunk at a party! If He was, that would disqualify Him as the sacrifice for our sins, and since we know Jesus lived a sinless life, we can at least know that about His party-going behavior. Jesus shows us that holiness does not negate the ability to have fun… good ol’ belly-laughin, good to hang with at a party fun! Holy Fun!

And Finally, Jesus was always ready to touch someone’s life at a social occasion. How many times do we find Jesus teaching, if just for a moment, in the middle of a party when, as life relaxes around Him, someone asks, or becomes ready to hear the truth about life, death, and God? The Apostle Paul told Timothy to be ready in season and out of season (II Timothy 4:2), and this is what we see in the life and social behavior, party behavior, of Jesus Christ. That as we live out Christ and Him crucified in our lives in the power of the resurrection, we just might be asked some pretty serious questions about life, death, and Jesus, in some pretty not-serious venues.

This week, take Jesus with you fearlessly and lovingly into every situation. Let your actions, your partying, your resting, and your speaking follow His example as you catch copious and ridiculous amounts of worthless beads! Laugh deep belly laughs from a holy life of devotion. Scream out, “throw me somethin’, mistuh!”, from the depths of the beauty of salvation. Go where lost people are, where they invite you to join them, and live out your faith as you go. Have fun, and be ready… God might just choose to touch someone’s life through you this year at Carnival!

In the Peace of Christ,

John

Thoughts on Truth

When Truth is treated as a subjective art, its handler looses both the scientific efficacy of its nature, and the subjective beauty of its application. Truth is the stasis about which the subjective finds definition; it is the maypole into which all moving parts must tie to find their purpose; it is the heart of both science and faith, and can only be embraced in the eternal, for it is without change.

The idea of defining Truth is by nature inconceivable, for Truth defines the hearer. The responsibility of discerning Truth amidst a sea of impostors is as arduous as life itself and can only be enlightened by Truth itself, real and ever evident both in the simplicities and complexities of life and the universe.

Into a world of subjective artistry comes Truth, and will find few homes, for it does not entertain the folly of personality and experience, and is willing only to guide the keen hearer in its singular path. Truth simply remains. It does not change. Long after the folly of the subjective fades from the canvas of reality, Truth goes ever onward.

John Franklin

Thoughts on Truth that Make Me Hungry

Sometimes when I'm writing a few things come out "just right"... these are a couple of those; segments of a discourse this past week.

"No-matter the common trends of either adding to the covenant, or seeking to de-formalize the covenant, God simply expects and requires His people to follow the pathway of the covenant. When we decide to adjust it one way or another (flavored to our taste so to speak), God simply does not follow our folly, but remains ever constant. We are reminded that God is "Yahweh", "I am that I am", as if to say that we are the ones who must bend to Him, not the other way around.

Truth is as palatable as a fine steak, and about as accessible. If we have only a taste for chicken nuggets and fast food, we might be offended at the idea of the truly exceptional cut of beef. But once the palate warms to the delight of a finely marbled cowboy cut ribeye, we cast off the cheap $1 hamburger with joy."

- John Franklin

Love

Could it be that in our zeal to appease and not offend a lost world in need of Jesus, that we have forgotten to adore the God who saved us; and that adoration often looks ridiculous even as it plants the seed of desire.

A couple looks lovingly into each others eyes for a little too long at a party, and someone shouts, "Get a Room!" Children run into the living room at Christmas time and we forget that the world is troubled if even just for a moment. My wife catches my eye, and peace in beautiful pools of brown eyed love grabs my soul and whispers that life is good.

Is love for God who made us in His image so different?

Are we not made in the image of the Almighty?

Have we gone so far in asking what a world without Jesus wants to hear, that we have forgotten to live in love with, and obedience to, God who loves and saves us? Could it be that a world in need of the grace of Christ might rally to it even as it shouts collectively, "Get a Room!"?

Perhaps we have forgotten what high price was paid for our lives. Perhaps a Christian in awe of His God might spread the Gospel of Christ more quickly than ever, if there was more concern for the smile of God than the embrace of this world.

Its just a thought...

John

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to take just a moment to wish you a very Merry Christmas this morning!

I hope you've slept a little late, found a nice cup of hot chocolate or coffee, and are daring to spend the morning in your pajamas! By the time you read this, I'll have been up for a while watching stars dance in the eyes of my children, and hopefully in the eyes of my bride, and talking about the reason we give gifts at Christmas time. It's been a subject for us all month, it seems, and the cool thing is that the kids really seem to get it pretty easily.

Have you thought about that lately? Why do we give and receive gifts at Christmas time? Did some anti-Jesus fellow plant that movement just to distract us from the "real" meaning of Christmas?

Actually, its very glorifying to God that we give gifts to one another in commemoration of both the gift of God in Christ to us, and in memory of the gifts of the Magi to Jesus.

In the letter to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." (Ephesians 5:1-2, NASB)

You see, when we imitate the actions of love with which God acts toward us, we walk in obedience to His will. We give gifts, then, to remind us of how God acts in love towards us. The key is that we don't forget the why behind the what.

This morning, in whatever context you find yourself, remember to copy and paste the love of God into your home. Let the hot chocolate and coffee remind you of the warmth and welcome of the forgiveness of Christ in His grace; let the gifts you give remind you of the gratitude we should live within responding to the amazing gift of God in Christ; let the relationships you foster reflect the love you find in Christ every day as we walk in relationship with Him.

Merry Christmas... and may the peace of Christ which passes all understand invade, overtake, and contour every part of your day!

Pax Christi!

John

Thanksgiving as it Swirls About My Feet and Climbs Upon My Shoulders

Sweet rolls for breakfast, strong black coffee, way too much snacking, and a little target practice with the b-b gun out back... now that's a relaxing mornin'. Today I woke up amidst the pines of East Texas and strode downstairs to the beautiful aromas of strong black coffee and the smiles of my children... a kiss from Penny and life was once again in balance for a new day!

It is the little blessings of God's providence which speak the loudest to me these days. The feast is the late-comer to a party already celebrated in the eyes of my wife and children. My heart is full before my stomach begins to smile at the yummy smells of the day. Mine is the life I dreamt of when just a boy, and for that I am beyond thankful, indeed I am simply drawn to a place of quiet amazement as the providential blessings of God spin around me in an orchestrated cacophony of life. I am blessed to pastor both my family and my church, and to hear the voices of my children ask questions and reveal the praises of the God who made us. I am blessed with a fellowship which would seek the simple profundity of the Word of God with me before the spectacular emotionalism of the world. I am blessed with a woman who loves me completely and looks bravely with me into the future of a life ordained for sacrifice. Through the natural accounting of pain and blessing, often intermingled, I find myself in awe that the Almighty might allow me such a life as this.

Well, the turkey's almost ready, and my children would rather their Daddy be off the computer... and I hope they always do!

May our hearts take note of the favorable providence of God, as did our forefathers who landed at Plymouth; and may our hearts find gleeful camaraderie with the cranberry sauce and apple pie!

Pax Christi ad Nobis!

John