The King of Fruit

The beautiful fruit on the left is a Fulford Gala. It is described as such:

"It comes from a cross between the Kidd's Orange Red [apples] and Golden Delicious [apples]. Gala was introduced to the United States in the 1970s. Because of its popularity, many different 'sports' of Gala have been propogated, each having some beneficial characteristic. In general, Gala is a very 'safe' apple. Not too sweet or sour, no unusual tastes or textures, but offering a very pleasing aroma and eating experience. Fulford Gala hails from New Zealand. Its color is a bright orange-red with yellow background. Fulford Gala is a larger sized Gala, with a blush red rather than stripe."

The ugly fruit on the right is a durian, from the Malay meaning "thorn".  It is revered throughout Southeast Asia as the "King of Fruits".  It is mostly described as smelling like pig dung.  More facts:

"Southeast Asian cultivators and connoisseurs will swear that the durian is a fruit without compare. Durian is called King of Fruits in Southeast Asian countries where it is widely abundant. People who have just seen and smell it are immediately turned off by its strong, pungent odor, while for the brave, who manage to taste the fruit itself, the offensiveness of the smell quickly wanes. Some people describe the odor of durian as strong and pervasive that the best hotels refuse to allow their guests to bring durians into their room. But the proof is in the eating, and most people who have tasted it become lifelong addicts."

Along with the alleged "addictive" taste, the health benefits of the durian are pretty remarkable and undeniable.  But the question is, who would want to eat such an ugly, offensive fruit regardless as to how good it may taste after you get passed the sight, smell, and feel of it?  Even if it offers so many health benefits, surely there must be another way to get these same nutrients than to deal with partaking of such an ugly and offensive fruit!

The Cross of Calvary was also such a fruit.  Ugly and offensive; the shame of Christ's nakedness and the weight of guilt of all our sins on his back, the ruthless and vile beating he received on our behalf, the relentless mockery of this "King of Jews" and the world's enjoyment of his torture on a tree.  This ugly and offensive act was and is the only way that you and I can stand blameless before a sovereign God.  And we have been called to participate in this ugly and offensive act daily.  We must deny ourselves and no matter how unpopular or how undesireable to our flesh, we must pick up our cross and walk down the same path that our savior did - straight to Calvary.

The apple above represents the fruit of self; our innate desire to decide right and wrong for ourselves.  When we are left to decide what's right and wrong, we decide the path we can take to knowing God.  The problem is that those paths we choose are relative to our thinking and the reality is they only lead to a god we have created.  It is self-seeking, self-motivated, self-inspired, and self-pleasing.  It is our participation in the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:6).  

The durian represents the fruit of the Spirit; the complete surrender and dependence upon God for all things.  God provided his son as an example of the great mystery that we should follow in his God-seeking, God-motivated, God-inspired, God-pleasing steps.  It is the participation in the fruit of the Tree of Life.  A fruit that was for some reason never desired by Adam or Eve, even though it was right next to the Tree of Knowledge and they had full permission to eat of it (Gen 2:9).  So why didn't they?  

The beautiful and fragrant Fulford Gala apple, the ugly and pungent durian - which fruit will choose to eat today?

President Elect Barack Obama

Excellent thought and prayer for President Elect Barack Obama as written by Pastor Paul Louis Cole. God bless.

"If you will allow me a moment, I have some personal thoughts to share regarding the new President-elect of the United States, Senator Barack Obama. What happens in this nation affects for good or bad, every other nation on earth. This is not intended to be a corporate positional statement nor a fully constructed treatise on Sen. Obama, but, my personal thoughts and observations... and prayers – herewith;

It is the wondrous miracle of America, the measure of its promise and rich heritage, that seventy-two years ago on the shores of Lake Victoria in rugged, steamy equatorial East Africa, in a small misshapen hut, a baby boy is born to a simple cook working for European missionaries... and in the loins of this boy are carried the seeds of life for the 44th President of the United States.

That boy born seventy two years ago in the jungles of Kenya grows up and by virtue of American largesse travels to America, a Kenyan student of the wild and free ‘beat era’ who meets a girl named Stanley, a free spirit herself, and the product of that short union is a child named Barack.

As a young man Barack is shuttled about from bohemian living in the States to village life in Indonesia, meeting his biological Kenyan father only once at the age of ten, finally as a young man settling in with his grandparents and being raised by his grandmother. He is an unfathered man. He follows the paths that seem to open up, then finding some balance of purpose matriculates at Harvard and begins to excel, thriving through the intrigue of law school, heading up the prestigious Harvard Law Review, moving to Chicago and becoming a community activist, connecting with the philosophies of Saul Alinsky and other activist writers and leaders.

Then, in one theophanic moment he comes to a place of faith that seems to impact his life deeply... it is the moment he recounts his accepting of Jesus Christ as his Redeemer. In his own words, from a speech given to a private group of pastors a few years ago here is his recounting of that moment –

“So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard the pastor deliver a sermon called “The Audacity of Hope.” And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life.

It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.”

I do not agree with Senator Obama on many issues - I am concerned about the men who mentored him over the past twenty years, the relationships with those whose philosophies are antithetical to Biblical values, his stand on abortion, his Alinsky leanings...

But, I am thrilled we have an African-American man as our new President, I am blessed by his concern for fathers and fathering, I enjoy seeing him with his children and the gracious way he treats his wife, to witness that virtue of life-long and deeply held friendships. He seems to be a man who thinks, and cares.

And, in all these things, I trust God. I truly believe that He speaks to the hearts of leaders, that God is always about the redemption of mankind... and, we must be fully focused on rescuing God’s intention for mankind, the dream that the world can be a better place. That Christ returns for a strong, vibrant, powerful Church!

Here is my prayer for President-elect Obama.

“I pray that what happened that day in Chicago, as he surrendered his heart to God, will come alive in his most private moments. That he will hear the voice of Almighty God speak words of wisdom into his inner man, that his heart will open to the counsel of Godly men, that he will find an unshakeable new place of faith, that his legacy will not be one of social/values experimentation, but one of blessing to our children and grandchildren... that America will be stronger, and by the vibrancy of this nation, be a light of grace, assistance and virtue to a world in desperate need of righteous leadership.

I pray for the Church of Jesus Christ to be a bastion of strong men and strong families - that the Church will be a bold voice for life, liberty, faith, righteous values, and Godly grace. In the mighty name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of Almighty God. Amen”

I believe our greatest days are ahead...that does not lessen the heat of the battle, nor the resolve needed, nor the willingness to be unpopular, nor the understanding that it will be a fight to carry the name of Jesus into the marketplaces of the world.

It is a fight, and we are joined together as allies in the greatest moment the church has ever seen...

grace/peace,

Paul