Category: Ephesians (Page 17 of 19)

More Than Enough

August 24, 2009 / Allan / 1 Comment

Faith is living in the knowledge and confidence that our God is always going to give us everything we need in order to live. But it’s also knowing that the truly important things — the eternal things, the things that really matter — he gives us in abundance. We have more of those things than we know what to do with.

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul uses hyperbole to describe these great spiritual gifts. In fact, the actual greek word he uses over and over is pronounced “hyperballo.“ It’s translated into the English words “incomparably,” “immeasurable,” and “surpassing.” It’s extravagant! It’s over the top! It demands exclamation points!

Ephesians 1:19 – “his incomparably (hyperballo) great power for us who believe” Overflowing power! Overwhelming power! More than enough divine Holy Spirit power within me to annihilate sin and death and Satan and everything that works so hard to separate me from God!

Ephesians 2:7 – “the incomparable (hyperballo) riches of his grace” Through the kindness of Christ Jesus! Buckets of grace! Grace in spades! More than plenty of grace to be saved and to join God in doing good works!

Ephesians 3:19 – “love that surpasses (hyperballo) knowledge” Incomprehensible love! Love that cannot be fathomed! Heavenly love up to here! God’s love coming out my ears! A surplus of love that fills me to the measure of all the fullness of God himself!

God’s love! Christ’s grace! The Holy Spirit’s power! Lavished on us! More than we need! Why? Why does God give us so much?

“To the praise of his glory” ~Ephesians 1:14

“To do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” ~Ephesians 2:10

“Glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” ~Ephesians 3:21

Some of us are having to pinch pennies right now. Some of us are having to pinch half-pennies. Economically, some of us are struggling right now. What a blessing to realize that the eternal things, the things that will not fade, the rich blessings of divine power and grace and love are piled so high on top of us by our God, that inspired writers don’t quite know how to say it.

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

The three girls started back to school today. Whitney’s a sophomore at the all-new-and-improved Richland High School here in North Richland Hills. We attended the ribbon cutting and open house yesterday afternoon and were blown away by how nice the place is. It almost looks like Mark Cuban built the place with huge HDTV screens placed about every 20-feet throughout the campus. It’s now, by far, the high school with the nicest facilities in the district. Not sure if that’ll add up to another football win over Birdville this year. Valerie’s a 7th grader at Northridge. And Carley’s in the 4th grade now at Green Valley. Three girls at three different schools. Yeah, it takes 30-minutes taking them in the mornings and almost a full hour to pick them up in the afternoons. Carrie-Anne starts her second year at TWU next week.

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

20 days now until the Cowboys begin their 50th NFL season. And we’re counting them down with the Red Ribbon Review, a look at the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. #20 on our list is running back Ron Springs. You already know the moving story of Springs’ Type 2 Diabetes and how former teammate Everson Walls donated one of his kidneys to Springs three years ago. But do you also remember that he was a pretty good football player, too?

Springs was drafted in the 5th round out of Ohio State in 1979, mainly to back up Tony Dorsett. In that rookie season he was fifth in the NFL with an average of 9.8 yards per touch. And the Cowboys were forced to think up other ways to get him the ball. So Springs lined up at fullback. He lined up as a wingback. As a tight end. In motion of the backfield and then in the flats for a pass. He was big enough to stay in and block blitzing linebackers on third-and-long and quick enough to run a draw play up the gut for 12 yards and a first down. In his six seasons in Dallas, Springs racked up 2,180 yards rushing, 2,028 yards receiving, and a total of 38 TDs. He played in 3 NFC Championship Games.

The image, though, that’s stuck in my mind is of Roger Staubach joyfully leaping in Springs’ arms after throwing a fade route for a touchdown to Tony Hill in the back-right corner of the end zone at Texas Stadium to complete a 35-34 come-from-behind win over the Redskins that simultaneously clinched the division title for Dallas and knocked Washington out of the playoffs. Dallas actually overcame two separate 17-point deficits that day in a win that turned out to be Staubach’s last ever victory. I love the picture.

Catching up from yesterday, #21 in the Red Ribbon Review is probably a backup running back you’ve never heard of. Doug Dennison was an undrafted free agent out of Kutztown State in Pennsylvania. (I couldn’t make that up.) He made the team in 1974 and only carried the ball 16 times that rookie season. But four of those runs resulted in touchdowns. He had a nose for the end zone. So he was able to hang on until his big break in ’76 when he filled in for an injured Preston Pearson. Dennison led the team with 542 yards that season. He scored a team-leading seven touchdowns the next year. But in ’77 the Cowboys drafted Tony Dorsett and that pretty much ended Dennison’s career in Dallas. Dennison only got a total of 26 carries in ’77 and ’78 and was traded to Cleveland before the ’79 season.

Peace,

Allan

Power In The Blood

July 7, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Some of the earliest Christian writings we have concerning the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper come from Hippolytus’ Apostolic Tradition, written in 215 AD. I want to share with you this morning part of a communion prayer from those writings. Keep in mind this is a prayer to God prayed by the community of faith as they’re gathered around the table on Resurrection day.

“When he was handed over to undergo voluntary suffering, to destroy death and to break the chains of the Devil, to crush hell beneath his feet, to establish the rule of faith, and manifest his resurrection, taking bread he gave thanks to you and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body broken for you.’ In the same way, taking the chalice, he said, ‘This is my blood which is shed for you. When you do this, do it in memory of me.'”

These are powerful words. These words thunder with the very powerful image of the saving work of God in Christ. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection served a history-changing, earth-altering purpose. Christ’s work did something huge and eternal. It won a great victory over a mighty opponent. And it will stand forever.

Destroy. Break. Crush. Establish. There is great power in these words. This is the work of the Savior of the World! And we celebrate the eternal benefits of that work when we commune with our Holy God. We rehearse the story, we remember the work, with words and images of power — “his incomparably great power for us who believe.” This is the picture and message of power that we celebrate together around the table. This is the picture and message of power that needs to be shared with a lost and dying world.

“That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” ~Ephesians 1:18-23

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

We’re counting down the days until the Cowboys kick off their 2009 season with the Red Ribbon Review, a list of the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. There are 68 days left until Cowboys season. And today’s #68 is offensive lineman Crawford Ker.

Ker was a third round pick out of Florida in 1985 and became the highest paid offensive lineman in Cowboys history. He played six years in Dallas. But he never was a starter for a winning Cowboys team. The Cowboys won the NFC East with a 10-6 record in Ker’s 1985 rookie season. Tom Landry would later say that was probably his best ever coaching year because the team really wasn’t very good. And they proved it in subsequent seasons.

Ker became the full-time starter at right guard in ’86, the year the Cowboys went 7-9 and ended the longest consecutive winning seasons streak in NFL history at 20 in a row. Clint Murchison died in ’87, another dark moment in Cowboys history, and the team finished 7-8. Steve Pelluer was named the starting quarterback in ’88 and led them to 3-13. Jerry Wayne came in and Jimmy Johnson held on to Ker for two more losing years before shipping him off to the Broncos before the ’91 season. Ker was a starter on the Cowboys line for five seasons during which the team went 25-54.

Ker’s success has come since his retirement from football. He owns and operates Ker’s Winghouse, a Florida-based chicken and burger joint with 22 locations and 1,700 employees, that raked in almost 60 million dollars in revenue in 2007.

It’s only fair to mention that Ker did taste some success before he left the NFL. It wasn’t all gridiron failure. In his one season in Denver, he got to block for John Elway and made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game.

Peace,

Allan

Great Power For Us Who Believe

April 20, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“…far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” ~Ephesians 1:21

Because Jesus is Lord, because he is King, because he is above all for ever more, we do not lose hope over any temporary, earthly setbacks. Those things, we understand, only contribute more to that ultimate victory for our Savior and the Kingdom.

Any failings, any struggles, any dark valleys, all of our temporary trials just make the victory of our Lord and Savior that much more magnificent. It makes it that much more huge. It gives us that much more confidence and joy!

Our attitude is, “You can’t do anything to me. The world can’t do anything to me. The world can’t do anything to us because we belong to the resurrected and exalted King!”

Jesus is Lord.

He is Lord over all the nations. He is Lord over all our schools. He is Lord over all the churches. He is Lord over every economic system. He is Lord over every form of government. He is Lord over your street and your family and your career. He is Lord! He is Lord over your greatest thrills and your darkest fears. He is Lord over all! There is nothing that is above him. There is nothing not under his authority and control. No situation, no circumstance, no power, no bully, no disease, no layoff, no relationship, no nothing. You name it! Name anything! There’s nothing over our Christ. There’s nothing too big or too strong for him to control. There’s nothing too small or insignificant for him to be concerned about. The Scriptures say all rule, all authority, all power, all dominion! And every title that can possibly be given, now, today, in this present age, and in the age to come for ever and ever. Amen!

And that’s great news! It’s wonderful news! It’s earth-shattering, history-changing, mind-blowing good news for us who believe. Because our Holy Scriptures make it very clear that his incomparably great power is for us. It belongs to us and to all who believe. Resurrection power. Exaltation power. Holy Spirit power.

That power is in you.

It’s in you giving you the courage to defend someone being picked on or insulted or attacked. It’s in you giving you the strength to endure one more chemotherapy treatment, one more day without a job, or a spouse. It’s in you — this great Resurrection power — giving you the boldness to say you’re not going to that party this weekend because you know what’s probably going to happen. It’s in you, empowering you to teach, to give aid, to encourage, to make peace, to sacrifice and serve and love. It enables you to live like our King, to live with our King, to live in our King; to live the fullness of this new life.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” ~Ephesians 1:18-19a

Peace,

Allan

Reversing Fortunes

March 20, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“Remember that in your lifetime you received good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.” ~Luke 16:25

Jesus tells his story about the rich man and Lazarus to illustrate several points, among them that the things God considers of value are not recorded with numbers and dollar signs. But I’m particularly interested in the reversal of fortunes theme that appears to be synonymous with the coming of the Kingdom of God.

“The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” ~Matthew 11:5

The roles of the rich man and Lazarus are reversed.

The rich man is very wealthy. He lives in a home with a gate and wears purple, an outward sign of great luxury. He dresses in fine linen, a description of his fancy underwear. Lazarus, by contrast, has nothing. He lies at the gate, begging, full of sores, unclean, and starving. His situation is as tragic as the rich man’s is sumptuous.

But now their fortunes are reversed. And it’s a permanent situation.

Isn’t this exactly what God through Christ has done for us? He has turned our lives completely around. He has totally reversed our fortunes. Permanently.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgression — it is by grace you have been saved.” ~Ephesians 2:1-5

Peace,

Allan

A Delivered People

February 16, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” ~1 Corinthians 6:11

We are Christians, yes. We are God’s children. We are his Church. Yes, we are sheep. We are saints. We are co-laborers with the Lord. We’re disciples. We’re a family. Yes.

But who we are only has meaning, it only brings us great joy, it only really matters, in relation to who we were.

Immoral. Idolaters. We are sinners. We are enemies of God. We’re dead. Dead in our transgressions. Dead in our sins. We are disobedient. Rebellious. Following the ways of the world. Following our own evil desires and thoughts. We are prisoners of Satan. Slaves to iniquity. We’re held captive by the devil. We’re in jail. We’re not going anywhere. Condemned by a holy and righteous God. Destined to be forever separated from the One who created us. We are hell-bound. Facing an eternity in a lake of fire and powerless to do anything about it. Powerless. We can do nothing. This is who we are. Not tired, not asleep, not sick, not even in a coma. Dead! It’s over. We’re finished. No hope. No luck. No chance. Only a promise. The promise of eternal damnation.

But…

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions.” ~Ephesians 2:4-5

The noose was around your neck. The chair had been kicked out and your legs were dangling when God rode in and rescued you. Through no merit of your own — nothing! not a single thing you did or could ever do — you were saved.

You were dead, but now you’re alive. You were lost, but now you’re found. You were headed to hell, but now you’ve been re-routed to heaven. And you’ve never done anything to deserve it. Christ Jesus took the punishment for you. Jesus took your place. Jesus stepped in and did for you what you could never do for yourself.

His love, his mercy, his grace, it makes no sense. It’s incredible. It’s amazing.

We are saved!

And this is what identifies us. This is who we are. This is what shapes the way we think and informs the way we behave. This is at the very heart of how we view our God and ourselves and one another. This is what gives us our great joy.

Who we are in relation to who we were.

Praise God for his amazing grace!

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

“The one unifying constant that defines whether or not such a congregation is included…is the practice of a cappella worship services.” ~Carl Royster, from his introduction to Churches of Christ in the United States

Wow. I had no idea we had just added a quarter-billion Eastern Orthodox to our movement! Who says our numbers are declining? Cool.

Sarcastically and sadly,

Allan

Who Am I, O Sovereign Lord?

January 20, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

In 2 Samuel 7, the recently-coronated King David decides he’s going to build God a house. A temple. A beautiful temple worthy of the Almighty Yahweh. But the Lord speaks to David through his prophet, Nathan, and says, no, you’re not going to build me a house, I’m going to build you a house.

And then God goes into great detail about all the things he’s going to do for his servant David.

I’m going to make your name great. I’m going to cut off all your enemies. I’m going to give you and all the people you rule rest from your battles. I will always be with you just like I’ve always been with you in the past. I’m making your name among the greatest in the world. Your sons, your family, will rule forever. I’m making you a dynasty.

And David is blown away. He’s completely amazed. It’s almost as if he doesn’t understand.

“Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your site, O Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this you usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord?”

Who am I? I’m a shepherd boy. I’m insignificant. I’m small. I’m human. I’m fallible. And you’re doing all this for me? Who am I? Are you kidding me? I’ve done nothing to deserve your great favor. I’ve done nothing to merit your marvelous gifts. I’ve done nothing to earn your rich blessings. I can’t live up to your glorious promises. Who am I? Is this how you treat everybody?

And, praise God, the answer is “yes!” Yes! This is how God treats man. In all our selfishness. In all our pride. In all our sin and rebellion and denial. In all our inclinations to evil. While we were dead, while we were enslaved, while we were paralyzed, while we were enemies of the Creator of heaven and earth, he reaches down in love and mercy and saves us. He rescues us. He’s with us. He lifts us up. He restores us. He blesses us. He forgives us. He protects us. He provides for us. He meets every one of our needs—and then some!—according to his glorious riches through Christ Jesus.

And like David, we realize that, through his great descendent, Jesus our Lord, we are given immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. More than all we ask or imagine. Some of us realize it much sooner than others. It takes some of us a long time to see it. To recognize it. I’m not sure any of us will ever fully understand it this side of glory. But once we at least recognize it, our lives are changed forever.

“How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you.”

Amen.

Category: Ephesians (Page 17 of 19)

More Than Enough

Power In The Blood

Great Power For Us Who Believe

Reversing Fortunes

A Delivered People

Who Am I, O Sovereign Lord?

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Allan's Links