The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Exodus (Page 6 of 8)

Kings & Priests

October 28, 2010 / / 2 Comments

Hope the Rangers got all that out of their system last night. Good gravy, what was that?!? Elvis and Young booting balls all over the infield. Cliff Lee looking more like Cliff Claven. Vladdie needing a GPS in right.

Remember how good we were feeling after Texas took the first two at Tampa and then how immediately bad and bleak it got. Remember how awful it was when the Yanks came back to win the ALCS opener and how quickly it went the other way.

That’s the way baseball go.

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A few of you have asked for a copy of the kings and priests pledge we all took together at Legacy a couple of Sundays ago. We were preaching the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. We were looking at Exodus 19 and Revelation 1 and 5 and 1 Peter 2. We were considering just what it meant to be these priests. Holy go-betweens. Powerful mediators. Intercessors with authority.

We reflect the holiness of God. We offer spiritual sacrifices to God. We intercede for others before God. And, mostly, we represent God to man. We bless people. We take what God has given us and we, in turn, give it to others. We graciously share his love and mercy and comfort and forgiveness to everyone we meet with his power and authority as his kings and priests.

The priesthood of all believers breaks down the barriers between clergy and laity. We are all powerful priests in the sight of God. Nobody in God’s Church has more power or more authority or more permission than anybody else. We’re all the same. We’re all called the same. Nobody’s exempt. We’re all authorized to pray and teach. We’re all authorized to lead Christian ministry. We all have the same authority.

So, right at the end of the sermon, we had everybody place little silver sheriff’s badges on their neighbors. We had printed them up in advance. And we all stood together, 800 of us with these shiny little badges, these little signs of authority. And we raised our right hands and said these words together:

I, (state your name), do solemnly swear, as a faithful member of God’s royal priesthood, to act like a priest.
I promise to henceforth and forever more regard myself as a minister in God’s Church.
I promise to honor and respect and love and cherish my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
I promise to encourage and not tear down, to bless and not to curse, to submit and to serve in compassion and kindness.
I will not be hindered in my priestly duties by time or decency and order, but will place the spiritual well-being of my church family above all other priorities until Christ returns.
As a minister and a priest in God’s Kingdom, this is my pledge as surely as the Lord shall live.

Peace,

Allan

Faithful Love

October 1, 2010 / / 0 Comments

 “The Lord, the Lord…abounding in love and faithfulness.” ~Exodus 34:6

Abounding in Love & FaithfulnessThe Hebrew word is emeth. It means faithfulness. Firmness. Truth. Fidelity. Steadfastness. It’s volitional, not emotional. That means it will not quit. It will never quit. It remains true to the course. Devoted to the commitment. Loyal to the promise.Faithfulness always finishes what it starts.

Another Hebrew word that comes from emeth is “amen.” When we say “amen” after a prayer, we’re affirming the words of that prayer, its truth. We are participating in that prayer. We’re saying, “Those are words I’ve prayed with that person. I’m with that person who just prayed that prayer.”

In a way, God says these words to us and about us by revealing himself as faithful. This marvelous facet of God’s eternal glory is a word of confirmation to us. God says, “I’m with this person.”

“I’m with you.”

And he proves it by coming to earth, putting on flesh, suffering as a human, and staying true to the course all the way to the cross. Faithful to the promise to forgive our sins. Devoted to the plan to redeem us as his chosen people. Loyal to his Word to breathe his Spirit into us and give us eternal life.

“God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” ~1 Corinthians 1:9

Peace,

Allan

Know That I Am The Lord

August 2, 2010 / / 2 Comments

I felt like I was in the final scene of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The conference room at the back of our worship center was packed — jam-packed — with more people than it was ever intended to hold. As I pressed and pushed and excuse-me’d my way to the center of the room, untold dozens of men and women kept pushing money into my hands. Twenties and tens. Lots of twenties and tens. Several dozen checks. A couple of hundred dollar bills. People gave me phone numbers and email addresses. And lots of money. Smiling people. Loud people. Happy people. Giving cheerfully. Offering themselves sacrificially. Some of these people I know very well. Others, I’m not sure I’ve ever met. I can still see their wide open faces. But there’s no way I can remember them all. I didn’t know what to say. Almost 36-hours later, I’m still not sure what to say. I just stood there. Speechless. Yes, without speech. I kept waiting for someone to break out in “Auld Lang Syne.” (Is that how you spell it? Probably not.) Surely another Clarence somewhere was getting his wings!

It was too much. Almost chaotic. People were cramming themselves around the room. Others were pressed against the glass, unable to squeeze in. A line three and four across stretched out into the halls from both doors. I fully expected the ceiling tiles to be ripped apart and more people to be lowered down on mats and ropes. We had to move everybody back out into the worship center.

A Legacy family is in crisis. Major crisis. And we gave it to God by giving it to his Church. We spilled it all before the whole Body of Christ. No holds barred. Raw honesty. Brutal truth. All the pain. All the sin. All the darkness. Here it is, we said. Now, let’s help this family.

And we did. And we are. And I still can’t believe it.

Why am I so surprised? God is faithful. He’s always promised to take care of us if we’ll just depend on him. And he’s never broken one of those promises. Never. So why am I so shocked that he moved our church to such great depths of Christian love yesterday? Why was I so blown away?

Because it’s so rare?

Maybe.

Why is it so rare?

Because we don’t always depend on God the way he wants us to?

Maybe.

I really believe the key is to totally and completely and wholly rely on God instead of ourselves. And we never do that. Except when we get in a “hopeless situation.” Except when we find ourselves in the middle of a cyclone of horrible news and dreadful circumstances. Except when we hold meeting after meeting after meeting and discover we’ve got nothing. Nothing. No answers. No wisdom. No suggestions. No solutions. Nothing.

And we wind up with no choice but to give it all to God. In all humility and brokenness and helplessness, we give it to God.

And then he does that thing he always does. He rescues. He saves. He delivers. Just like always. And I imagine our heavenly Father looks at our surprise and says, “Now you know that I am the Lord.”

Praise God. He alone is God. There is no other. Praise God.

Allan

Reflecting God's Steadfast Love

July 26, 2010 / / 1 Comment

ReflectingGod’sSteadfastLoveHave you ever taken that middle part of 1 Corinthians 13 in which Paul describes love in both positive and negative terms and substituted your own name for “love?” You know, “Allan is patient, Allan is kind, Allan does not envy, he does not boast…” Sure you have.

But if I’m called as a child of God to reflect the glory of our God — and I am! — that means I must reflect his steadfast love, too. His abounding love. His overflowing chesed. Faithful love. Loyal love. Love without limits. Not some abstract love or love concept. Not a friendly feeling. A genuine love proven by its actions.

And that’s not just me. That’s you, too.

“To God be glory in the Church…” ~Ephesians 3:21

So, I’ve made some modifications to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in a church context. In a “one another” context. It’s one thing to say, “Allan is patient.” It’s another thing entirely to put that in a specific setting or circumstance.

Allan is patient with his brothers and sisters at Legacy.

Allan is kind to the people who don’t like him or approve of him.

Allan does not envy others’ spiritual gifts.

Allan does not boast in the gifts he has.

Allan is not proud of anything he accomplishes, recognizing that all things come from God and we’re all doing this thing together.

Allan is not rude to anyone at Legacy. No matter what.

Allan seeks the good of others; he looks out for others’ interests instead of his own.

It’s impossible for anyone at Legacy to make Allan angry.

When Allan is wronged by someone at church, he forgets about it immediately.

Allan gives other people the benefit of the doubt.

Allan always protects people at Legacy.

Allan always trusts people at Legacy.

Allan always remains positive.

Allan will never ever give up and quit. Never. Not on the people. Not on the church. Not on the community. Never.

As a man of God, I am called to look like God. To act like God. To increasingly grow to think like our God. To be God-like, holy, sanctified, in the way I live my life and interact with you. I’m called, I’m ordained by God, to reflect his eternal glory, to reflect his steadfast love as it’s revealed to us in his Word and by his actions with his people in history.

And I usually think I’m doing pretty well. In fact, I generally think I’m very good. When I compare myself to other people I run into or even other Christians, I know I’m a very mature disciple.

But when I actually read Scripture, like 1 Corinthians 13, and compare myself against the standard that God has set, I see very clearly how wrong I am. And how far I need to go.

How about you?

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” ~1 John 4:11

Peace,

Allan

Backfire!

April 20, 2010 / / 1 Comment

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God…” ~Exodus 34:6

I’m haunted by these words of atheist-author Sam Harris in the preface to his most recent work, Letter to a Christian Nation:

“Since the publication of my first book, The End of Faith, thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ’s love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism or rejection. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondants always cite chapter and verse.”

Backfire!Have you ever considered that maybe the Christian emails you forward or the Christian petitions you sign or the Christian bumper stickers on your car actually violate the character of our God? Have you ever wondered if the Church itself is fueling the fires of atheism by the ways we interact or don’t interact with our community? Have you ever thought about the ways your words and actions at work or at the grocery store or on the airplane or in your neighborhood might turn people away from God?

What if the ways we defend God and stand up for Christian values and Backfire!promote Christianity are giving the world a distorted view of the Creator and Savior we claim to follow?

Our God is a compassionate God. He’s compassionate. That’s who he is. And if the world knew about our God’s eternal compassion, they would fall in love with him. But how will they comprehend our God’s compassion if they don’t experience it in God’s redeemed people? How will they know the great compassion of our God if God’s Church is not reflecting it?

Peace,

Allan

Glory in the Church

April 14, 2010 / / 3 Comments

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” ~Colossians 1:27

“To him be glory in the Church.” ~Ephesians 3:21

“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” ~1 Corinthians 10:31

Glory of God in the ChurchGod reveals his glory to us in the soul-stirring words of Exodus 34. God tells us very clearly that his glory has nothing to do with the way he looks. It’s not about his power or his rule. It’s about his character. It’s who God is. God’s self-revealing statements in Exodus 34 are the “I AM” defined.

Compassionate. Gracious. Slow to anger. Abounding in love. Faithful. Forgiving.

If the world really understood these things about our God they would beat down our doors to get to know him better. They’d be lined up around the block. We couldn’t keep them out. But how will they comprehend our God’s eternal qualities if they don’t see those characteristics reflected in God’s redeemed people? How will they know the character of our God, how will they see his glory, unless his Church shows it?

Why do people think God is grumpy and always on the hunt to judge and punish somebody? Do they see that in us? Have they seen that in you? Why do they think our God is distant, out of reach, untouchable, and unable to meet their deepest needs? What would make them think that? Have they experienced that in you? Why do some people believe God can’t forgive them, that he remembers their past sins? Have they noticed that in me or in my church?

As God’s children, we are called to reflect his glory. To live it. To reveal it. Embody it.

A lot of people say we are the hands and feet of Jesus. A real understanding of what it means for us to reflect his glory tells us the Church is actually the very heart of God. The glory of God.

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Austin GradI just completed all my registration forms for the 29th annual Sermon Seminar at Austin Graduate School of Theology late next month. It’s always an intense 48-hours of exegesis and outlines and sermon prep at the feet of the best scholars/preachers practicing today. I’ve been blessed in the past to work under Ben Witherington, Tony Ash, Rick Marrs, Eddie Sharp, Glenn Pemberton, Tom Olbricht, James Thompson, and Harold Shank, to name just a brief few. I’ve been inspired and encouraged and convicted during these serious sessions.

But this next one is shaping up to potentially be the best I’ve ever attended.

My great friend Jim Martin is presenting 2 Corinthians. And he’s the perfect guy to do it. Jim is a compassionate comforter. He’s sensitive to people and their deepest needs. He embodies the message of 2 Corinthians with his every breath. The legendary Rubel Shelly is presenting the Sermon on the Mount. Jim Reynolds is discussing the Old Testament Story. And Paul Watson is back to show us how he preaches Ezekiel. I love Ezekiel because he is such a crazy, over-the-top prophet. Ezekiel’s prophesy illustrations were exotic and unforgettable. And Paul Watson really knows how to make the biblical text come alive. I was moved by his presentations of Jonah and Ruth and Daniel in 2006. Those sessions helped shape our Missions Month this year at Legacy. And I know he’s going to make Ezekiel pop for us this year in Austin.

Everett Ferguson, the world’s foremost authority on early church history, is presenting a special session on “Baptism in the Early Church: What I Learned and What Surprised Me” and Wendel Willis is hosting a Q&A session on “Lord’s Supper Theology and Practice.”

Are you kidding me? I can’t wait.

If you’re a preacher, you should make the Austin Grad Sermon Seminar an annual event on your calendar. You’ll be better for being there. And so will your church.

Peace,

Allan

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