I thought I’d share a funny little story with you. A while back a man approached me with a strange question. He’d heard me make references to my heritage before, and so he approached me with a curious look on his face and began to ask a few questions.
“You’re a Cajun man, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” I smiled back.
“Well, shouldn’t Cajuns be kind of dark-skinned and brown-eyed? You’re light-skinned and blue-eyed.”
Hmmm. That’s a good question, I thought. I laughed to myself and then I answered it the best I could.
“Well, there’s somebody in the woodpile. And we don’t know who it is and we didn’t ask!”
“Well, who did your ancestors marry?” he asked with curiosity.
“Anybody they could find!”
When you live on the swamp all your life and the only things you see are alligators, any woman will look good! So when some toothless woman comes along and you go, “Mama! What’s happening! You lookin’ fine!” That woman will put a kiss on you so sloppy it’ll cover you whole face!
I don’t know who everybody married back then! Obviously they weren’t too prejudiced though, because just take a look at me! My hair is white now but it used to be chocolate brown. I loved it. It was beautiful!
But get this: I grow a red beard but all the hair on the rest of my body is blond! Figure that one out! There is no telling who’s in the woodpile in my family!
I’ve had people ask me, “What is a Cajun?”
By now, who knows? I do know that originally Cajuns were called Acadians and they were people who emigrated from France (because they got kicked out) and went to Nova Scotia. Then (because they got kicked out again) they traveled to America and followed the Mississippi River to the very end of Louisiana, where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Most settled along the waterways (bayous) that wind through the land where the swamp waters were plentiful with seafood and the land was full of wild deer and duck. (Sounds like a brochure, huh?)
Cajun isn’t a race of people really… I think it’s more like a culture. Although the Cajun people are still predominantly French, we’ve got healthy mixtures of people from places like Germany and Ireland. And of course there were many Native Americans here, so they’re in the woodpile, too. To be honest, by the time you get this far South, just about every one is mixed and few are pureblood anything. You know us French…we’re a lovin’ people! Whoever came to town was good enough to marry!
Cajuns are just part of the melting pot of America. But in this melting pot, we cook better food than anywhere you’ll ever go! You get all of those different people swapping recipes and spices and you’ve got one good gumbo!
Some people think Cajun food is just hot, but those of us who live here know better. Most people outside of south Louisiana think a bottle of cayenne pepper is all you need to make food “Cajun.” But it’s the flavor, not the fire, that makes a Crawfish Bisque so good you want to slap your grandma!
But you know, God isn’t prejudiced like people are. He doesn’t care if you’re a purebred proper Englishman or a mixed-breed casual Cajun. God loves our differences and treats all of His children as if we were His favorite. Why? Because He can’t help Himself! His love is too consuming! It’s His nature to pour out too much of it!
God is looking for a people who He can intimately talk with on a daily basis. People who are unafraid of Him and who are ready to accept the love that He’s pouring out. God is looking for people who are willing to put aside the world’s views and start paying attention to His views. Simply to drop the religion and begin having a relationship with Him.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Jesse Duplantis, minister of the Gospel, motivational speaker, television personality, and best-selling author, has been in full-time ministry since 1976 and is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, located in the Greater New Orleans area of south Louisiana in the United States of America. With over four decades of sharing his unique blend of humor and faith around the world, generations of believers have been inspired by his messages and countless numbers have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior through his ministry.
Known for his unflinching, status-quo-breaking messages and humorous take on experiences in the life of the believer, Jesse continues to draw large audiences of believers through social media, television, and meetings held around the world. With speaking engagements booked years in advance, Jesse Duplantis continues to keep an intense traveling schedule, flying throughout the United States and the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With no booking agents pursuing meetings for him and no set fees imposed upon churches for speaking engagements, Jesse chooses his outreach meetings based on the same two criteria he always has: invitations that come in and prayer over each one. This uncommon way of scheduling in today’s world means Jesse’s many followers may find him speaking in some of the largest churches and venues in America and the world, as well as a great many small and growing congregations, too. No church is too big or small for the Holy Spirit, as he says.
Side by side with his wife Cathy Duplantis, the co-founder and chief of staff of Jesse Duplantis Ministries and the senior pastor of Covenant Church in Destrehan, Louisiana, Jesse continues to fulfill his life’s calling by daily taking up the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Through social media, television broadcasts, books, and other ministry products, as well as through many evangelistic meetings, the JDM website, the JDM app, and Voice of the Covenant magazine, Jesse Duplantis continues to see growth in his ministry and expand each year while maintaining his roots. Jesus is the center of his life. The salvation of lost people and the growth of believers is the purpose of his ministry. And for both he and his wife, every day is another day to “Reach People and Change Lives, One Soul at a Time.”