The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Isaiah (Page 5 of 12)

Partnership

September 11, 2015 / / 0 Comments

AngelsLongToLook

“All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” ~Genesis 12:3

God calls his people and saves them and changes them in order to bless the whole world. He pulls them out of Egypt, he rescues them from slavery, and he gathers them to his presence on the mountain to commission them for his work on behalf of all the earth.

“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” ~Exodus 19:4-6

Israel belongs to God. And, yes, they are called out to be separate from the world. But they are not separate in that they live in isolation from the other nations. As holy and priestly, Israel’s purpose is to save and bless the entire world in a partnership with God. The covenant is international in scope. It’s global. Israel is saved, not just for Israel’s sake, but so God can work through them to save all of humanity.

When God’s people break the covenant, when they live their lives in ways that are not holy, yes, it has serious implications for their relationship with God. But, much bigger than that, it thwarts the salvation plans of heaven for everybody else. In the exile, when Israel felt the full weight of the consequences of her disobedience, the focus in Scripture is on how it’s impacting the salvation of the rest of the world.

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob  and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” ~Isaiah 49:6

Even in the darkest period of Israel’s history, when her own release from captivity was the most pressing concern, God reminds his people of the bigger picture. He reminds them that it’s not just about them. Why are they going to be released? Why are they going to be saved? For the sake of others, not themselves. To use God’s blessings to bring salvation to the rest of the world.

We are covenant partners with the God of Heaven and Earth.

Somehow, though, we have encouraged the question, “What can God do for me?” or “What can the Church do for me?” Somehow, we’ve nurtured a culture that’s concerned with, “What can I get out of believing in God? or “What can I get out of going to Church?” Somehow, we’ve fostered an attitude that being a Christian means not much more than going to church to ask God for what we need and to thank him for what he’s given us. And that’s all. No wonder strong, smart, healthy people are completely bored out of their minds with church! And Christianity!

We are not just creatures of God. We are creatures uniquely made in God’s image, equipped by God and empowered by God as God’s partners in and for the world. We are partners whom God has invited and commanded to join his business of preserving and caring for the world. Of doing justice and showing compassion in human society. Sharing the suffering of those who suffer and freeing those who are enslaved by their own sins and oppressed by the sins of others.

Being in covenant with God is not a passive thing. It’s not just hanging around the church building waiting for Jesus to come back. It’s not like just sitting in the dark, eating your popcorn and talking to your friend, while you wait for the movie to start. We’re in the movie! We’re in the play! By virtue of the covenant, we’ve all been given and have all accepted the holy responsibility to advance the salvation cause of our God.

Peace,

Allan

Very Good

August 28, 2015 / / 0 Comments

CreationGodWe’ve spent this week looking at the inspiring beauty of Act One of the Story of God, the Pattern of the Kingdom the Creator establishes: God and mankind living in perfect harmony together, ruling and reigning together over a perfectly wonderful heavens and earth. Act One is good. It is “very good.” It’s an eternal blueprint for everything God is doing.

Now, today we don’t live in Act One. It’s long past. But what Act One tells us has important meaning for all people right now. In the beginning God created. That doesn’t just mean back there and back then. The Story says not only that God was Creator but that God is Creator! God’s creative activity is not limited to the distant past. It’s not like a long time ago God did everything he planned to do and then retreated from the scene to let the world run by itself.

Romans 4 tells us that even now, today, our God gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. 2 Corinthians 5 declares that right now, today, we are a new creation in Christ Jesus our Lord. When we confess that God is the Creator, we are saying that God is continuously making new beginnings, opening up new possibilities, initiating new events. God is our Creator. And he is doing new things in our lives.

The psalmist did not say, “God created Adam and Eve a long time ago and we’re all descended from them.” He said, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Read that again. You’ve heard it dozens of times. Read it again.

“You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

We know the facts of life. We know where babies come from. But we also know that the process of procreation and gestation and giving birth don’t tell us the whole truth about where we came from, who we are, and where we’re going. We believe that God the Creator stands at the beginning of every single human life and goes with us on every single step of our own ways.

Your life might be formless and empty. Chaos. Darkness. Void. It can be obvious darkness and chaos like addiction or abuse or violence or disease. Or it could be a chaos underneath the surface, a chaos of the heart that’s hidden from almost everybody.

Jeremiah 31 says, “The Lord will create a new thing!” Our God, the Creator of “very good” things, can speak light and life into that darkness and void. He made you in his image. He made you “very good.” And his desire to live in a righteous relationship with you means he came here in Christ Jesus to make it happen. He’s committed to it. Your story, whatever it looks like to this point, is being written by a powerful and loving Creator who is devoted to your “very good.”

“Be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create!” ~Isaiah 65:18

Peace,

Allan

God Wants to Live with Us

August 27, 2015 / / 0 Comments

CreationGod

In the Creation accounts, we see God forming a “very good” environment for the people he’s creating and for himself. He creates the heavens and the earth, he furnishes it, he puts people in it, and then God rests.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” ~Genesis 2:2

God establishes the heavens and the earth, his creation, as his holy dwelling place.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool… Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ declares the Lord.” ~Isaiah 66:1-2

Notice the “resting place,” the place where God “rests.” It’s the same language as in Genesis. The heavens and the earth is where God lives and where he rules. And where he rests.

“He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.” ~Psalm 104:2-3

God rests, he settles among his creation. When the Old Testament speaks about God’s resting place, it uses the earth and the temple interchangeably.

“He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.” ~Psalm 78:69

“This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.” ~Psalm 132:14

God wants to live on this earth with us. That’s the pattern of his Kingdom.

Come into this world I created, come into the place where I live and reign and rule. Come live with me. Reign with me. Let’s dwell together in mutual free-will relationships of love and life. Let’s oversee this “very good” place together. Let’s live in the face-to-face presence of one another forever.

God is not in conflict with humans. Act One shows us God linking arms and linking futures with men and women. He and the human image-bearers are in perfect harmony. That’s the way it was established in the beginning.

Notice the six days of creation all have an evening and a morning. Those days all have an ending. But not the seventh day. The day God takes up residency in his created world with his created people, that day never ends. It’s still going. God with us. It doesn’t end. He designed all of it so we would live together forever.

That’s the pattern for the Kingdom. And it’s good. It’s “very good.” It’s the eternal blueprint for everything that God is doing. Creation makes everything else in the Story make sense.

Peace,

Allan

Where Would You Rather Be?

May 26, 2015 / / 1 Comment

“No one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house.” ~Jesus

“Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce? This is what the Lord says, ‘Yes! Captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save… Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer.” ~Isaiah

Where would you rather be?When you’re rescuing captives and taking plunder from the devil, you’ve got to go into some pretty dark places. And our church at Central, I think, presents a pretty compelling picture of that. This church is full of rescued captives and liberated slaves. Central is made up of former prisoners: alcoholics, drug abusers, prostitutes, sex addicts, the mentally and physically disabled, ex-cons. There are extraordinary Gospel stories scattered all over the worship center every Sunday. God is involved and things are changing for lots of men and women at Central.

And when God brings us all together, sometimes it can be less than decently and in order. People who are rescued tend to celebrate wildly. People who are being freed are less inhibited. Central’s not like a lot of other churches. You never know what’s going to happen during our assembly on Sundays. God is bringing all different kinds of his precious treasure and valuable possessions together in this place. And it’s exciting. Every Sunday morning here is an adventure.

And it’s disorienting. It’s not the status quo. Honestly, I’m still trying to get used to it. But it’s SO GOSPEL! It’s SO KINGDOM OF GOD!

Where else would you rather be? In a church where everybody’s sins are exactly the same? Where everybody’s salvation stories sound just alike? Where everybody is comfortable all the time? That’s not nearly as much fun as what goes on here.

We’ve got the full picture here. As messy and as upsetting as it sometimes can be, what we’ve got here is real. We see it on every pew; we hear it and feel it all around us. And if we continue to embrace it in all of its unpredictable glory, if we’ll rejoice in it and find ways to celebrate it — I mean the weird stuff, the mess — the city of Amarillo will hear the good news. Our city will understand the Gospel that we embody: that God really is involved and even the darkest and worst and most hopeless situations can change.

Regardless of the personal and corporate cost, may we always be a church compelled by the love and power of Christ to stand up to the devil and his powers, to storm the house of Satan with our Lord to take the plunder and rescue the captives.

Peace,

Allan

All On A Mission

April 6, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Opening Day. And I can’t remember a spring in my lifetime when the Rangers appeared to be as undermanned and ill-prepared. Brand new manager. No ace. Bullpen a work in progress. Questions in the outfield. Predictions for last place. Again. The Cactus League never gives the full picture, but the Rangers only won nine out of 33 games. And they looked bad doing it. First innings exploded against the starters, late leads were squandered by the relievers, and the offense has never really looked like it clicks. But I can’t wait for the first pitch tonight at 9:05. There are a lot of supremely talented young guys on this team. Choo and Fielder are both healthy. Who knows? It’s a long, long season. A lot can happen. It’s finally baseball time in Texas. Go Rangers.

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All children of God and disciples of Jesus are on a mission. In Genesis 12, when God decides to tell us how he’s going to restore the world, how he’s going to fix the problem of sin and evil and rebellion and death, when he shares his plan with us, he lets us know clearly that we are in on it with him. God is not interested in saving the world by himself. He calls Abraham. He calls him and sends him. “Go,” God says, “to the place I will show you… All peoples on earth will be blessed by you.”

In Isaiah 49, God calls his people out of exile. He saves them and changes them for the purpose of participating in his mission: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches his followers how to pray: “Our Father… Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

And that’s exactly what happens. Jesus heals the sick because there is no disease in heaven. He feeds the poor because there is no hunger in heaven. Jesus raises the dead because there are no cemeteries in heaven. He turns the other cheek because there is no violence in heaven. He eats dinner with everybody because there are no divisions or distinctions among people in heaven.

And on that last night, he sends his disciples out: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do the same things I’ve been doing. In fact, you’ll do even greater things because I’m going to live inside you! Go! Go do it! And, remember, you didn’t choose me, I chose you! You are the light of the world! You are the city on a hill! Your good deeds will bring praise to our Father in heaven!”

Every one of us is on a mission. No one is exempt.

Matthew 25 says on that last day the King will separate us according to who was on a mission and who wasn’t.

Peace,

Allan

Precious and Honored

March 31, 2015 / / 1 Comment

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
do not be afraid, for I am with you.”
~Isaiah 43

Nola Havins finished her race earlier this afternoon. And she ran well. Very well.

A surprise of a brain hemorrhage took Nola down Sunday night a week ago. Nola and Derrell had just returned home from their small group where they and some of their oldest and dearest friends had been praying through Psalm 23. The dinner was great, the fellowship was sweet, and the time spent meditating and listening to the voice of God through the hearts of their friends had been inspirational. As soon as they got into the house, Nola bent down to pick a couple of towels off the laundry room floor. And that was it. Just like that. No warning. No signals or signs. No symptoms. No nothing. One minute Derrell and Nola are enjoying a really great end to a really wonderful day together like so many they’ve shared during their 57 years of marriage. And the next minute, Nola has left for the next life without even saying “bye.”

Whew! Tough pill to swallow. Very rough week. For everybody.

Derrell and Nola are like grandparents to our three girls. Valerie talks about her boyfriend with Nola. Carley hugs and high-fives Derrell and exchanges smart aleck comments with him. Whitney hugs them both like she’s known them for 20 years. Derrell and Nola are just those kinds of people. Nola is 76-years-old and defies you to add the word “former” to Rodeo Beauty Queen when you describe her. Just a strikingly gorgeous woman. Inside and out. Sweet as can be and just as healthy and active as anybody half her age. At Family Camp two years ago, there was Nola, strapped in to the zip line and ready to jump off the platform 45-feet in the air. Always encouraging Carrie-Anne and me. Taking us out for burgers at Buns Over Texas or catfish at that all-you-can-eat place in Umbarger. Always talking to our girls. And always loving each other with a  mutual affection and faithfulness that rubbed off on anybody who came near.

She goes down Sunday night and it’s a shock to everybody.

She’s in a coma for nine days, until 1:00 this afternoon and it’s just hard. Really hard. For everybody.

But Nola belongs to our God. She is his. He created her and he loves her. She is his daughter and he is her Father. And he is faithful to her, to bring her into his glorious face-to-face presence forever. We mourn today with Derrell and the kids and grandkids and everybody else in their super-huge, well-connected, and really fun family. We grieve. And we pledge to take care of Derrell; to love him and support him through very difficult times ahead. We vow today to remember in Nola the ways her gentleness and grace reflect the glory of our Lord. We encourage the family by reminding them of how much Nola touched our lives.

And we hug and kiss our husbands and wives tonight. We tell them how much we love them.

If there’s one thing Derrell has told me every single day — sometimes twice or three times a day — since that Sunday, he’s ordered me to tell Carrie-Anne how much I love her. “Promise me,” Derrell has said every day, “that tonight you’ll tell her. Because I didn’t get that chance with Nola.”

So, tonight, in honor of Derrell and Nola and their 57 years of marriage that truly reflected the glory of God and served as a powerful testimony to our Lord’s love for his people, tell your wife tonight how much you love her and how much she blesses your life. Tell your husband how much he means to you and how you can’t imagine living without him.

God bless all the Havins. And God receive sweet Nola into your faithful arms.

Peace,

Allan

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