Category: Church (Page 47 of 59)

“Act like you love each other!”

I find myself saying that to our daughters anytime I witness them bickering or acting selfishly or speaking to one another in tones that are less than lovely. “Act like you love each other!” I think I may have picked that up from my own parents somewhere along the line.

Treat her with respect. Act kindly toward him. Think of his needs. Consider her feelings. Do something nice. Compliment him. Help her.

Act like you love each other.

Why does our God tell us the exact same thing? Will acting like we love each other actually cause us to, over time, really like each other? How does that work?

Christian love is not an emotion, it’s a matter of the will. It has nothing to do with feelings; it has everything to do with attitude. It’s not a sentiment or a sensation; it’s mindset, a worldview.

In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis says, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did.” Lewis claims that behaving as if we liked each other, even if we don’t, is really one of the great secrets of the universe. “When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

By trying to treat everyone kindly, whether we like them or not, Lewis writes that a Christian will find himself liking more and more as he goes along, including people he could never have imagined liking at the beginning.

Same thing with loving God. You don’t have to read the judges or the prophets very carefully before you realize they obeyed God, they did what would please God, even in times when they didn’t necessarily feel very close to God. Even when they disagreed with God, even when they felt God was being unfair, God’s people behaved as if they loved God. They obeyed God even when they weren’t sure they even liked God.

More Lewis:

“Nobody can always have devout feelings, and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will. If we are trying to do his will we are obeying the commandment, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.’ He will give us feelings of love if he pleases.

The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, his love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to him.”

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Yes, I know. Reading Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address is tough sledding. It’s not easy. It’s a little more difficult than reading the King James Version. But I encourage you to plod through it. The payoff is huge. Read it, knowing that the fires for restoring the biblical unity to Christ’s Church that burned within them is the same passion that birthed our stream of the Christian faith. It’s our heritage. Let it excite you. Let it make you proud to be a part of such a noble and Godly cause, even if we have, in many respects, lost our way.

For those of you needing some help, here’s a link to a modern rendering — a translation? — of the 13 Propositions of the Declaration and Address. Doug Foster, professor of church history and the director for the Center of Restoration Studies at ACU wrote them. I think it captures the heart of the ideas pretty well. Check it out by clicking here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are 26 days left until the Cowboys kick off their 2009 NFL season down in Tampa Bay against the Bucs. And our Red Ribbon Review counts down the days with a look at the second-bests, the also-rans, the runners-up. These are the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. And today’s #26 is the very first ever “third-down back,” Preston Pearson.

Pearson spent the last six years of his 14-year NFL career in Dallas where Tom Landry had devised a scheme specifically for him. On obvious passing downs — third down and second-and-long — Pearson lined up mostly as a running back with Roger Staubach in the Shotgun formation. Pearson could then stay in and block blitzers, allowing Staubach time to find a deep receiver, or release out into the flat or find a spot in the middle under the coverage and take the pass himself. His success as a clutch receiver also served to open up the draw play for Pearson. He made his living and his name and solidified his legacy as the Cowboys’ third-down specialist.

Pearson never played football in college. He was a basketball player at Illinois when the Colts took a chance on him in the 12th round of the 1967 draft and turned him into a running back. Three years in Baltimore, five years in Pittsburgh, and six in Dallas proved to be perfect timing for Pearson. He was charmed, for sure. Pearson is the only player in NFL history to have played in Super Bowls with the Colts, Steelers, and Cowboys; to have played for Hall of Fame coaches Don Shula, Chuck Noll, and Tom Landry; to have been quarterbacked by Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas, Terry Bradshaw, and Roger Staubach; and to have lined up beside Hall of Fame running backs Lenny Moore, Franco Harris, and Tony Dorsett. Incredible.

His six years in Dallas produced 1,207 yards rushing, 2,274 yards receiving, and 16 touchdowns — almost all of it on third downs. The best year of his career was his first as a Cowboy when he racked up 509 yards rushing, 351 yards receiving, and another 391 yards on kickoff returns. That was the Dirty Dozen year when Pearson, in two playoff games, ran for over 200 yards and three scores and helped lead the Cowboys to Super Bowl X.

He was never a regular starter. But Preston Pearson is the second-best Cowboy to ever wear #26.

Peace,

Allan

“Act like you love each other!”

I find myself saying that to our daughters anytime I witness them bickering or acting selfishly or speaking to one another in tones that are less than lovely. “Act like you love each other!” I think I may have picked that up from my own parents somewhere along the line.

Treat her with respect. Act kindly toward him. Think of his needs. Consider her feelings. Do something nice. Compliment him. Help her.

Act like you love each other.

Why does our God tell us the exact same thing? Will acting like we love each other actually cause us to, over time, really like each other? How does that work?

Christian love is not an emotion, it’s a matter of the will. It has nothing to do with feelings; it has everything to do with attitude. It’s not a sentiment or a sensation; it’s mindset, a worldview.

In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis says, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did.” Lewis claims that behaving as if we liked each other, even if we don’t, is really one of the great secrets of the universe. “When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

By trying to treat everyone kindly, whether we like them or not, Lewis writes that a Christian will find himself liking more and more as he goes along, including people he could never have imagined liking at the beginning.

Same thing with loving God. You don’t have to read the judges or the prophets very carefully before you realize they obeyed God, they did what would please God, even in times when they didn’t necessarily feel very close to God. Even when they disagreed with God, even when they felt God was being unfair, God’s people behaved as if they loved God. They obeyed God even when they weren’t sure they even liked God.

More Lewis:

“Nobody can always have devout feelings, and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will. If we are trying to do his will we are obeying the commandment, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.’ He will give us feelings of love if he pleases.

The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, his love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, I know. Reading Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address is tough sledding. It’s not easy. It’s a little more difficult than reading the King James Version. But I encourage you to plod through it. The payoff is huge. Read it, knowing that the fires for restoring the biblical unity to Christ’s Church that burned within them is the same passion that birthed our stream of the Christian faith. It’s our heritage. Let it excite you. Let it make you proud to be a part of such a noble and Godly cause, even if we have, in many respects, lost our way.

For those of you needing some help, here’s a link to a modern rendering — a translation? — of the 13 Propositions of the Declaration and Address. Doug Foster, professor of church history and the director for the Center of Restoration Studies at ACU wrote them. I think it captures the heart of the ideas pretty well. Check it out by clicking here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are 26 days left until the Cowboys kick off their 2009 NFL season down in Tampa Bay against the Bucs. And our Red Ribbon Review counts down the days with a look at the second-bests, the also-rans, the runners-up. These are the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. And today’s #26 is the very first ever “third-down back,” Preston Pearson.

Pearson spent the last six years of his 14-year NFL career in Dallas where Tom Landry had devised a scheme specifically for him. On obvious passing downs — third down and second-and-long — Pearson lined up mostly as a running back with Roger Staubach in the Shotgun formation. Pearson could then stay in and block blitzers, allowing Staubach time to find a deep receiver, or release out into the flat or find a spot in the middle under the coverage and take the pass himself. His success as a clutch receiver also served to open up the draw play for Pearson. He made his living and his name and solidified his legacy as the Cowboys’ third-down specialist.

Pearson never played football in college. He was a basketball player at Illinois when the Colts took a chance on him in the 12th round of the 1967 draft and turned him into a running back. Three years in Baltimore, five years in Pittsburgh, and six in Dallas proved to be perfect timing for Pearson. He was charmed, for sure. Pearson is the only player in NFL history to have played in Super Bowls with the Colts, Steelers, and Cowboys; to have played for Hall of Fame coaches Don Shula, Chuck Noll, and Tom Landry; to have been quarterbacked by Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas, Terry Bradshaw, and Roger Staubach; and to have lined up beside Hall of Fame running backs Lenny Moore, Franco Harris, and Tony Dorsett. Incredible.

His six years in Dallas produced 1,207 yards rushing, 2,274 yards receiving, and 16 touchdowns — almost all of it on third downs. The best year of his career was his first as a Cowboy when he racked up 509 yards rushing, 351 yards receiving, and another 391 yards on kickoff returns. That was the Dirty Dozen year when Pearson, in two playoff games, ran for over 200 yards and three scores and helped lead the Cowboys to Super Bowl X.

He was never a regular starter. But Preston Pearson is the second-best Cowboy to ever wear #26.

Peace,

Allan

“…tired and sick of the bitter jarrings and janglings of a party spirit, we would desire to be at rest; and, were it possible, we would also desire to adopt and recommend such measures, as would give our brethren throughout all the churches — as would restore unity, peace, and purity, to the whole church of God.”
~ Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address

The meeting was held in Buffalo on August 17, 1809. Thomas Campbell and a large group of men “consisting of persons of different religious denominations,” had gathered to put aside their doctrinal differences and tear down their religious distinctions and cooperate in a mission to restore the unity to Christ’s Church. They claimed the Bible as their only source of authority. They rejected as binding the opinions and interpretations of man. And they envisioned a universal communion of love and acceptance — a brotherhood, a fellowship — of all those who claim Christ Jesus as Lord and do their best to keep his commands.

These men viewed church factions and denominations and schisms and divisions as arrogant sins against God. They railed against all division among Christians as contrary to God’s will and, unless repaired, a fatal impediment to the advancing of God’s Kingdom. They called for one Church. They were courageous. They were bold. They are heroes.

That night in Buffalo, 200 years ago today, they chose 21 men, led by Thomas Campbell and Thomas Acheson, to write up a statement of their mission and purpose. And the Declaration and Address, ratified by a unanimous vote on September 7, became the charter document of what we now call the Stone-Campbell Movement.

It is our history. It’s our heritage. It’s where we came from. It wouldn’t hurt to be familiar with it.

Between now and September 7, I’ll probably include a little bit of this document in these blog posts every day. I’ve read and re-read the 13 central propositions a hundred times. But I’ve never studied the entire document before from start to finish. But in light of the 200-year anniversary of this watershed writing, the increasingly frequent conversations that are taking place today between the three streams of our Restoration roots churches, and the Great Communion celebrations that are being planned all around the world, I’ve just last week read and studied the whole thing.

I encourage you to do the same thing.

You will be inspired by its vision of universal Christian unity ground in and flowing out of the gracious love and mercy of our God. You’ll be challenged by its uncompromising acceptance as brothers and sisters all those of every name who confess Christ Jesus as Lord and obey his commands. You’ll be comforted by the “thus saith the Lord” and “Christians only” and “no man-made creeds” language that marks several pages of the text. And you’ll be shocked to learn that very little of what we do and say in Churches of Christ today actually reflect the biblical mission outlined in our founding document.

Here’s a link to a copy of the Declaration and Address. Read it carefully and prayerfully. Here’s a link to more information about the Great Communion, planned for October 4 this year. I’ve added both these sites to the links list on the right side of this page.

“Not that we judge ourselves competent to effect such a thing — we utterly disclaim the thought. But we judge it our bounden duty to make the attempt.”

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27 days until the Cowboys kick off the 2009 season. And the Red Ribbon Review reveals the second-best player to ever wear #27 in Cowboys history, cornerback and kick returner Ron Fellows. A 7th round pick out of Missouri in 1981, Fellows played six years in Dallas as part of a young secondary that featured Everson Walls and Michael Downs. He played in 86 games for the Cowboys, including two NFC Championship Games in 1981 and 1982. He finished his career with 17 interceptions.

Catching up from the weekend, Tyson Thompson, a backup running back from 2005-2007, is our second-best #28. He racked up a grand total of 266 yards and a single touchdown in his three seasons. He was an undrafted free agent out of San Jose State. The Cowboys got everything out of him anybody could have. And that tells you all you need to know about the kind of player the Cowboys historically assign #28.

Even worse are the choices at #29. How about Clemson running back Woody Dantzler? I’m serious. That’s it. He’s clearly the second-best ever. Touted as a multi-faceted threat who could run, catch, and throw, he lasted only one year in Dallas, 2002. He never got one regular season carry. He did return 27 kickoffs that year for 602 yards, including an 84 yard return for a score. But that’s it.

Boring weekend for the Red Ribbon Review. Watching the Rangers bounce back and take the Wild Card spot away from the Sox was much, much better.

Peace,

Allan