Following Jesus

I read this in an online journal this week about what it means to be a Christ follower. The article touches on the The Controversy that occurred in the Southern Baptist Convention in recent decades. The commentary seems to offer critic for both sides of the argument for forgetting what being a Christian is all about. I thought it was interesting.

I think being Baptist means being Christian. In turn, I think being Christian means following Jesus Christ. I think following Jesus Christ means investing our lives in the Kingdom of God. I think investing our lives in the Kingdom of God means incarnating a concrete obedience to the teachings of Jesus and a concrete imitation of his moral practice. A key aspect of his Kingdom teachings and practice is love of neighbor, including love of stranger, “sinner,” and enemy. To the extent that Baptists forgot how to love each other, and in other ways directly disobeyed the teachings of Christ in our denominational wars, we fought the Baptist battles at the cost of forfeiting our very identity as Christians. In this sense, no one won. We all lost. Christ’s cause lost.
Doctrinal clarity is part of following Jesus. Freedom is part of following Jesus. But following Jesus is the main thing. The only conceivable healthy future for Baptists will be found in following Jesus.

Excerpted from "Being Baptist Means Following Jesus"
By David Gushee
March 2008 issue of The Baptist Studies Bulletin

Late Easter Reflections

With the craziness of having a baby over Easter weekend I didn't get a chance to offer some reflections about the cross and the empty tomb. I reread a quote from Jurgen Moltmann a few weeks ago that has stuck with me through the last part of Lent and Holy Week.

The death of Jesus on the cross is the centre of all Christian theology. It is not the only theme of theology, but it is in effect the entry to its problems and answers on earth. All Christian statements about God, about creation, about sin and death have their focal point in the crucified Christ. All Christian statements about history, about the church, about faith and sanctification, about the future and about hope stem from the crucified Christ.

The Crucified God

More Pics of Charlotte

Hectic Pace

I forgot how hectic life with a newborn is...I'm sure it's compounded by the 2 year old running around wanting to hold, kiss, touch, "baby Charlotte."

Charlotte Olivia Pagliarullo

She is finally here. Her hair is blond in parts with a definite red tint. She is absolutely beautiful, not that I am biased or anything. She looks just like her mother! Claire loves her! All three of my girls are doing great. Praise be to God for his grace through all this!

Last of the St. Pat's Pictures

1. Claire and Mrs. Susan with some strange men we found in the park.
2. Claire and Izzy.
3. Claire and Izzy.
4. Claire and Izzy.
5. The only good picture we managed to take this year (8 days before baby Charlotte arrives).

Friendship

Stevie Ray Vaughn the legendary blues guitarist from Texas who rocked the music scene throughout the 80s with his gritty, soul-stirring, Texified version of classic blues and plenty of his original stuff. He has a song entitled "Life By the Drop" that is an acoustic, stripped down song compared to his other material. The song is a reflection of friendship that has been tried by distant, difficulties, and substance abuse. One of the lines always sticks with me...God it's good to be here walking together my friend. That line and the end of the song are filled with redemption and hope that leaves the listener thinking about his or her own friendships. I am always reminded of my best friend, who happens to be my beautiful wife and the friendship that blossomed and grew through all these years, nearly 12 that we've been together. In less than 48 hours we will be parents to not only one little girl but two. Our friendship often brings to mind this song lyric because there is no one I would rather be walking through life with than Cyd. The good, the bad, the funny, the sad, the joys of children, the heartache when they hurt...the times of stress when we are both exhausted but still have parental duties to do, the times that we can slip away for a few hours to enjoy each other and the love and friendship that God has blessed us with. There are many marriages in our world that are not based on friendship, which is why I am so thankful that mine is. I guess the warning sign was that we basically dated for about 6 months but we wouldn't call it that, we said we were "just friends."

This song also makes me cherish the times that I have with other friends and the situations that I get to walk alongside them with. Friends who are getting married, friends who are struggling with life and the situations that it has brought them, friends who hurt because other friends are hurting, friends who like us are celebrating life all over again, and friends who are just trying to make it day to day. Isn't that all that any of us can do? Our hope is in God to sustain us. The catch is he does it day by day not weekly or monthly. Remember the manna that God provided in the desert for Israel. It spoiled overnight so that they would learn to trust God to provide daily for their needs. Many of my friends and I are learning that art of trusting God daily...it's not easy, but "it's good to be walking together my friends."