The Whelming Flood

Frank
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness…
His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood
-‘The Solid Rock’, Charlie Hall

Warning! Do not continue to read if you are not doctrinally and politically open-minded!

I was recently reading about another blogger’s baptism and it got me thinking about my own. I remember friends standing out in the cold (I was baptized in February in a creek) praising God and embracing me. I remember my “good confession”. And of course I remember the frigid water. I was raised religious, considered myself a “good person”, and had many doubts about whether I even needed to do this. But as I stood in that cold water I was overcome by sense of peace and resolve. I knew I was going to be raised up from that water a new creation filled with the Holy Spirit. But I wasn’t expecting what would happen while I was under the water.

Naturally at a time such as this, when so many eyes upon me taking such a momentous action, thoughts flooded my mind. Thoughts of family and friends, thoughts of sins encouraged and sins rejected, thoughts of what may happen next. And as I was dunked under the water all those thoughts rushed through my mind, much like my life flashing before my eyes. I’ve heard similar accounts from others after their baptisms, some more vivid than others. But each experienced some kind of “life flashing before your eyes” in a very spiritual while also very real sense.

Ok, so maybe you’re uncomfortable with my putting so much spiritual weight on a “sacrament”. I’m not going to get into any doctrinal or theological debates on this subject right now, but I want you to be in the same frame of mind I was in.

I was encouraged by these thoughts, and they continued through the day. I even had the above song (or at least the quoted verse) playing over and over through my head. Until lunch when I read an article that included the video below. Now here’s your warning. The subject of the article? Waterboarding.

Ok, maybe I’m a little crazy relating baptism to waterboarding. But like I said, this was my frame of mind. So as I watched the following video I was thinking about what must have been going through his mind. As I was immersed under water, unable to breathe, spiritually sacrificing my life, the above thoughts and feelings flooded over me. Imagine having a towel placed over your head and water poured over you. But instead of peace, you feel panic, instead of your spiritual life flashing before your eyes, your physical life passes before your eyes in the very real sense that this may be the end. In both cases, it is the end of your life as you’ve come to know it.

Christopher Hitchens brings up a good point in this interview- if you have some “intelligence” to share, you feel a sense of overwhelming betrayal, and if you don’t, you have no hope because there would be no end to the flood. So I wondered how a Christian, at peace with his or her convictions and looking forward to a home that is not of this world, would react to waterboarding (remember, Hitchens is an atheist). But at the same time, wouldn’t a Muslim feel much the same way? It’s not as if their convictions are weaker. And while they don’t practice baptism in the Christian sense, they do practice ceremonial washing (much like in the Jewish faith on which baptism is derived) called Ghusl.

I guess my point is, the feelings of drowning and claustrophobia induced by waterboarding may remind one of baptism or Ghusl, but it does not end. You are not brought back up. Peace is replaced by panic. Yet, does a “true believer” respond differently than a non-believer? If you have no hope going in, I would expect the feeling of hopelessness. But what about Christian martyrs who suffered joyfully under all sorts of torture? Should we expect any different from a Muslim who is firm in their faith? It just seems to me, in hindsight after watching this video, that this method of torture wasn’t well thought out. But that’s just me.

I want to add that I’ve been blissfully ignorant about all of this. Yeah, I’d hear about this on the news and see it dramatized in movies, but I’ve never given it a second thought. This video was made two years ago. I saw it yesterday.

Save Your Life

Frank

So a couple of weeks ago, I played “All In” by Lifehouse to kick off my small group’s study of Chip Ingram’s Living on the Edge. Well, our study slipped a few weeks, but we’re picking it back up tonight. Not much more to add to that post other than another song to make the point. As I mentioned in “All In”, the idea of total surrender to Christ seems foreign in mainstream Christianity. This song is still growing on me, but there’s a lyric that keeps jumping out and grabbing me: “If you surrender, you will live… It’s gonna save your life”.

Here’s “Save Your Life” by Newsboys.

Flashback Friday: Origins

Frank

To make up for not being online hardly at all this week, I’m offering a two-for-one special: a Flashback to my very first post plus a little more about me.

Believe it or not, this blog started as a chain email. You know the kind: “the world is going to hell in a hand basket so forward to 100 people or you don’t love Jesus!” Honestly, I was tired of getting those. The straw that broke the camel’s back (or caused my inbox to exceed its limit) was one I had received a dozen times already about not praying at school being the reason our country is in the state it’s in.

I thought about that for a moment. Is the lack of prayer in schools the problem with our country, or is the problem the hundreds or thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of so-called Christians who think their religious duty is limited to showing up on Sunday (when there’s not a game on or the kids don’t have a soccer tournament) and forwarding religiously-themed emails? I was amazed that I had received this very same email so many times from so many different people.

So I wrote my own, complete with “forward this or make baby Jesus cry!” I wrote about how is it that 85% of Americans call themselves Christians yet… divorce rate is greater than 50%, more people are in prison per-capita than any other industrialized nation, x-number of abortions a year (I should know that number off the top of my head, does that make me a bad Christian?), more children are born into homes with a single parent than are born to two-parent homes (recent stat, but seriously???), and on and on.

I was curious if I’d ever see that email forwarded back to me. Honestly I doubt anyone I sent it to forwarded it on. Too much fire and brimstone. But it got me thinking how the internet could be used as a ministry tool and how individuals were empowered to voice their message to the faceless crowd. I thought a lot too about what kind of message that should be. I had just started following a couple of blogs and saw the community created around the shared convictions and open discussion. Maybe there was something to this. So what’s the message?

I realized, looking around at the Christian-consumer landscape, that generally Christians have isolated themselves on social islands. They like what the Christian marketplace tells them to like (Fireproof!) and vote for who they are told to vote (Palin!). Now that’s a broad-brush and not really fair, but that’s how I felt at the time. Add to that the divisions between churches (I’m right, you’re wrong and going to hell for it!) creating other islands in this ocean of culture, and I choose to write about that. Current events. Politics. Even throw some Bible in there. Of course, it’s evolved since then, but here I am almost five years later still shaking my head at what I see out there (while thankfully spending more time concerned about what’s going on in here, plank in my eye and all).

Something else, since it keeps getting asked, here’s the story behind “fatha frank”. I was raised Catholic, for one, and was almost guilted into going into the priesthood. When I was baptized in a campus ministry, I was in grad school, making me one of the oldest students in that ministry (older than our campus minister, in fact). Between those two I got dubbed “Father Frank” by a few friends. When I set up my accounts and online identity, I wanted to keep the name, but I didn’t want strangers (since I was going to post openly to anyone on my blog) to think I was an actual priest, so I changed it. In fact, a friend and I came up with it at the wedding reception of another friend of ours. So blame him.

So now you know a little more about me, tell me something I don’t know about you.

And for entertainment purposes only, here is my very first post:

What the World Needs Now

Is another religion/politics blog, like I need a hole in my head! (sung to Cracker’s, “What the World Needs Now” [ed note: actually the song is called “Teen Angst”) So why me? Why this blog? And if you’re here because of a blog search, I’m sorry! There’s not much content yet, but I’m working on it.

A couple of years ago the world was introduced to a new term, “values voters,” a segment of the population that (gasp!) voted their conscience. It didn’t take long before this “new” segment of Americans became commercial, worldly, co-opted by special interests, and the new pop-culture buzzword. Since the ’04 election some ministers have become politicians, ministries have become special interests, and being a Christian became more about how you vote than how you live. Now we’re on the dawn of mid-terms, and both sides are fighting to capture the value vote.

So what makes me different? After all, aren’t I buying into the system by becoming yet another religious/political blog? That’s exactly why I’m doing this. To be different. While I’m not ashamed of this being political, I want the dialogue (or would a blog be more of a monologue?) to be more deep and broad than, “W sux!” or, “W rox!” I also want this to be more than just politics, but also how religion ties into pop-culture and what we can learn from what’s going on in the world.

The links to the right are a work in progress. So far “resources” are related to the topics I post about, while “blogs” are brothers in Christ whom I respect that post on their convictions and their life. You might notice some of the links look like they don’t belong (ACLU????). But I’ll talk about that next time. So please come back!

Sing!

Frank

I get a kick out of the song “Music” my Manic Drive. But every time I’d hear it, it would remind me of another song. And it was killing me because I couldn’t figure out which. Then I heard “Sing” by My Chemical Romance and the light went on. Two songs that musically have nothing in common, but I think share a common theme.

There’s a verse in NEEDTOBREATHE’s “Garden” that I think is appropriate to these two songs:

Let the songs I sing, bring a joy to you
Let the words I say, confess my love
Let the notes I choose, be your favorite tune
And Father, let my heart be after you

So for fun, enjoy these two songs to kick off your week.

I pray your life is a song, sing it loud.

Flashback Friday: Flight of the Navigator

Frank

***Originally posted June 10, 2009 after Air France flight 447 crashed into the ocean on its way from Rio to Paris. Reposted as the second black box was found and details begin to emerge. The most chilling detail so far: the plane stalled and literally fell out of the sky in 4 minutes before crashing. 4 minutes. That’s a long time to think about your fate.***

“Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of carelessness, incapacity, or neglect. ” -Anonymous

I first read the above quote in one of the many articles I’ve read on the Air France disaster. Sadly, this event reminds us just how unforgiving flying can be. Yesterday, airlines replaced the speed sensors suspected to have been the cause of the accident even though the “black box” hasn’t been found and there’s limited information from data sent from the plane prior to its crash. These are experts in aviation however, who have reached this conclusion. So I trust they know what they’re talking about.

And I can understand, even relate. Imagine you’re the pilot of this plane: you’re flying over the ocean, you can’t see any landmarks and you’re surrounded by blue, above and below. Your sensors then give you conflicting readings of your speed. You’re cruising, not climbing, so you don’t have a physical sense of how fast you really are going. There’s nothing on the ground or on the horizon to relate your speed with. You have no choice but to trust your instruments.

This had to have been extremely difficult for the pilot. I was once handed the controls of a plane and had the pleasure of experiencing aviation beyond the textbook. We were approaching a mountain peak when the guy I was with told me to climb to a certain altitude. I thought the peak was a long ways off, but sure enough, by the time I reached that altitude I could tell the peak was right there. It’s very difficult to judge distance, and therefore speed, from the air.

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” -Martin Luther King

Spiritually, it’s also very difficult to judge not only how fast we’re going but also where we’re going. How do we know we’re doing alright with our relationship with God? How do we know we’re making the right decision when given choices? How do we know we’re honoring God when we seize opportunities and not honoring ourselves? We can’t trust our own instruments. If we do, we’re likely to crash. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9)

Thank God we don’t have to rely on our own navigation. He gives us a guide, a navigator. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.'” (Is 30:21) We can trust the Holy Spirit when our instruments fail. I pray that as many as possible on that flight had a navigator they could trust.

Words Matter

Frank

A weekend ago I attended the 6th Antelope Valley Christian Writers’ Conference. It was my third time attending, and I continue to be challenged and encouraged in my writing endeavors. A theme this time that seemed to be consistent to many of the invited faculty was the priority of Jesus in our lives. Writing as a calling is a challenge, especially if you have another occupation, have family to care for, and/or are otherwise easily distractable. Where do you find time for Jesus in the midst of overcoming writer’s block, doing research, and submitting queries and proposals?

The keynote the first night called our attention to the “writer’s chapter” in Matthew. Matthew 23 to be exact. You are most likely familiar with this passage as the “woe to you!” rebuke from Jesus. But look closely to whom Jesus is rebuking: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees…” (verses 13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29 in the New King James, emphasis added) The charge against these scribes, aka the writers of their day, was hypocrisy- writing one thing but living another. As a blogger and writer-to-be I have to take this seriously. Do the words I type on the screen match the life I’m actually living?

The guard against this, of course, is Jesus. So he continues in verse 34, “Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city…” Ok, maybe the last part isn’t encouraging. But what is encouraging is that Jesus sends prophets, wise men (and women!) and writers into the world to spread His message. And in order for writers to be sent from Jesus, they need to start with Jesus.

So I ask myself, “how often do I pray about the blog I have yet to write? How often do I seek spiritual counsel about the topics I’m discussing? Am I writing this for my own vainglory or the Glory of God? Am I trying to become famous, credible, have a large following? Do I spend more time ‘social networking’ than in personal Bible study?” and on and on. Naturally, I don’t like the answer to many of these questions.

My words matter. So I need to be firmly rooted in Jesus and His Word. I need to be about Him, not me. I need to take seriously the truth that the words I type have spiritual consequences. I need to take seriously the warning from James: “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (v 3:1) And as an author I have to recognize the ultimate Author in “Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2)

Putting Your Money Where Your Faith Is

Frank

A quick update to this post: Jim Tressel resigned over the weekend as the scandal at Ohio State seems to get deeper and deeper. As we learned from the Reggie Bush sanctions against USC (which were just upheld on appeal) the school will get hit while the coach gets off scott-free. Meanwhile, Cam Newton and his laptop were picked first in the NFL Draft, so he should make enough money to pay for his dad’s church to get up to code.

So in this cesspool of college athletics and religion I keep waiting for the next shoe to drop. Mark Richt, evangelical celebrity and University of Georgia football coach, just put his two-million dollar home up for sale. A home he bought just a couple of years ago. A sign of trouble ahead? To quote Lee Corso, not so fast my friend! (man, I can’t wait for college football season to start back up)

After rampant internet speculation of Richt being in danger of losing his job, Georgia being under investigation, or some other malfeasance, the coach came out and stated that he is selling his home because of a book. The coach was convicted by The Hole in Our Gospel by World Vision president, Richard Stearns, who writes that 40% of the world’s population lives on $2 or less a day and 15% live on $1 or less. Meanwhile those in the United States live on an average of $105 a day. In that backdrop, this coach who has made more than $25 million since joining UGA choose to sell his home.

It is exciting to see someone actually put their money (literally) where their faith is. Like Francis Chan, who also was convicted by Jesus’ example and downsized his home and eventually stepped out of his mega-pastorate, Mark Richt is catching criticism for valuing treasures in heaven more than things on earth. Yet I pray his example, and the examples from books like Stearns’, Chan’s, and David Platt’s motivate Christians in this country to re-examine our priorities and comfortability.

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:33-34)

The Mission Field in Front of You

Frank

Yesterday I talked about world missions with the desire to preach the World until the whole world hears. But doesn’t the “whole world” include the world right outside our doors? Take my co-worker, whom I mentioned organizes mission trips to Russia and Mexico. During his 4-5 hour drive on the way down to Mexico, he will drive by on the order of ten million first-generation Mexicans. Most of us will never get the chance to take a missions trip, but how hard would it be to board a bus to the inner-city?

Last week I had the blessed opportunity to visit the headquarters of World Impact and take a tour of their Teen Center. I find it funny that an urban missions organization calls itself “World” Impact and is headquartered in the heart of Los Angeles. Until I consider the above. The truth is, the whole world is represented in LA, so I can spread the gospel to the “whole world” by driving only an hour or so. I like World Impact’s vision: they consider urban areas a mission field, “missionaries” move-in to run their programs, and they plant house churches in blighted neighborhoods where they then train up local pastors and lay-leaders. An inspiring model, quite honestly. In the process they’ve opened up schools, recreation centers, and medical clinics just as you would on the foreign mission field.

Completely coincidentally, I had the opportunity to  hear World Impact’s founder, Dr. Keith Phillips, speak at a National Day of Prayer function. His short talk blew my socks off. He started by himself in Watts in the mid 60’s. (think about that for a second) Once he realized the Projects were too tall a task for only him, he solicited the help of Biola University and soon he and 300 students were reaching out to more than 3000 inner-city youth.

If your vision has been focused on the mission field overseas, consider: in LA 45,000 people slept in garages in want of a home while 45,000 more slept on the street in want of a garage (citing Dr. Phillips’ numbers to the best of my recollection). A million and a third people in the inner-city of LA do not have access to a hospital. On average, most children who grow up in the inner-city will never travel further than five miles from where they were born. Those stats stirred my heart and Dr. Phillips didn’t even mention crime rates, average income, the number of children growing up without fathers and mothers without husbands (the modern-day orphan and widow), the ridiculously low life expectancy, and I could go on and on.

Yes, foreign missions are important. And if we don’t have the opportunity to go, we should generously give what we can to support those who do. But at the same time, we cannot neglect the needs right in front of us.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)

Missionary Man

Frank

You can tell it’s that time of year when churches are fundraising for foreign missions. Videos are being posted on Facebook from sponsored churches and missionaries are making the rounds to local congregations. Churches may be raising money to send someone from their own congregation long term or for the summer, or they may be raising money to support a church in the mission field. My church is in the midst of the latter, supporting churches in the Baltic and Nordic regions of Europe.

That may not sound sexy, but both are hit with unique challenges. In the Baltics, they still bear the scars of the former Soviet Union. I met a guy last week who was in Russia for nine years. He was in the middle of Siberia. We talked about how when communism fell everybody wanted to go to Russia, but few made it further than Moscow. In the meantime, the former Soviet Republics were suffering for being a forgotten mission field. In the Nordics, the situation is different. They are not necessarily hurting financially; they are first-world, yet they are taxed to such an extent that there is very little disposable income. No disposable income translates into an inability to pay ministry staff, rent facilities, or otherwise maintain an active church (unless that church is state-sponsored). Before I moved to California, the church I was a part of supported churches in the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos who face abject poverty, communism/dictatorships, and many other obstacles to the Gospel. So they, too are on my heart.

I can’t embed the Flash videos from Facebook, but here are updates from the Baltics and from the Pacific Rim. (I’m not sure if the privacy settings will let you through or not, they’re not my videos)

At the same time, there’s a risk of being tempted to just throw money at the mission field without a personal stake. An attitude of “let someone else deal with it.” David Platt gives an example in his book, Radical, where he was speaking at another congregation and was being thanked by the local pastor:

“Brother David, we are so excited about all that God is doing in New Orleans and in all nations, and we are excited you are serving there. And, brother, we will continue to send you a check so we don’t have to go there ourselves…
I remember a time at my last congregation when a missionary from Japan came to speak. I told that church that if they didn’t give financial support to this missionary, I was going to pray that God would send their kids to Japan to serve with that missionary…And my church gave that man a laptop and a whole lot of money.” (Radical, pg 63)

So I admire those who are willing to pack up their things and actually put boots on the ground. One of my coworkers organizes semi-annual mission trips to Russia while also spending a long weekend in Mexico quarterly. One of these days, I tell myself, I’m going to tag along.

Once upon on a time, my family of churches shared the attitude of “go anywhere, do anything in the name of Christ.” As we’ve all gotten older that attitude seems to have waned. It will be easy for some to give exponentially to these foreign missions, while I recognize in the current economic climate it will be hard for others. But I wonder if it would be easier for all of us if there was an actual passion on our hearts for that mission field. That if we can’t be boots on the ground, we can pray fervently, we can keep in contact with the churches overseas (made even easier today with Facebook and Skype) to encourage and strengthen them in the faith, and we may share their struggles with others to possibly inspire and encourage another to “stand in the gap” in our place. That together we may share the Gospel until the whole world hears.

Unitl the Whole World Hears

Frank

In case you missed it, the world did not end Saturday (but we’ll get a second chance in October). While it would be easy to point fingers and mock those who sold everything, quit jobs, and otherwise lived as though they wouldn’t be sitting next to you at church on Sunday, we need to remember that Jesus can return at any time, like a thief in the night.

With that in mind, I’ll repeat a point that was buried in the text Friday: don’t ask yourself what you would do if you knew you only had a short time to live, ask yourself what you would do if you knew in a short time you’d be standing before the Creator of the universe.

Another important point to consider regarding Jesus’ return is that he promised he would not return until the whole world hears.

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14, emphasis added)

While this could be disputed (the whole known world was reached during the time of the Acts of the Apostles) the point is still important considering the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and an alternate version in Mark 16. (make disciples of “every nation” in the former and go into “all the world” in the latter) Those commands are still valid today.

Will Jesus come back in October? I don’t know. He might come back tomorrow. But has the whole world heard the Gospel of Jesus? It is estimated that there are more than 11,000 “people groups” in the world (unique ethnicities, not necessarily nationalities) and six thousand are “unreached” (based on numbers from David Platt’s Radical Together). Another way to look at it is the 10/40 window where nearly two-thirds of the world’s population resides and includes the poorest regions of the world as well as the most unreached.

Either way you slice it, we have our work cut out for us if Jesus is to return in October. Maybe He was planning on coming Saturday and saw that we weren’t finished yet. No, that doesn’t work either, you’re either ready or you’re not.

So what are you doing to make sure the whole world hears?