Category: John (Page 5 of 29)

Secure in Not “Falling Away”

August 13, 2020 / Allan / 2 Comments

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.”
~Psalm 125

Another thing that can mess with our safety and security in the Lord is the possibility of “falling away.” Backsliding, maybe. I once was lost but now I’m found. And I might get lost again.

Some Christian traditions teach “once-saved-always-saved” like it’s a non-negotiable contract. Once you say “yes” and sign on the dotted line, you can’t become a free-agent again no matter what the league commissioner rules. Well, that’s just not true. You certainly can turn away.

If God does not force you to faith in the first place, he’s not going to keep you against your will. Think about Judas. Think about Hymenaeus and Alexander. The Bible says they rejected their faith and their good conscience. They shipwrecked their salvation.

“Those who turn to crooked ways, the Lord will banish with the evildoers.” ~Psalm 125:5

So if it is possible to fall away, how do I know I haven’t? How do I know I haven’t already lost my faith, especially when my feelings are bad on the inside and bad things are happening to me on the outside?

Please, hear this. It is not possible to drift unconsciously from faith to out of favor with God. It doesn’t happen without you knowing it. It can’t. Yes, we all wander around like lost sheep, but Jesus is a faithful shepherd who pursues you relentlessly. Yes, we have our ups and downs, but he is a rock. A mountain. We do break our promises sometimes, but our Lord never breaks his. Discipleship to Jesus is not a legal contract where if we don’t live up to our end of the dead, God is free to bail on it, too. It’s God’s covenant. God establishes the conditions and he alone guarantees the results.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” ~John 10:28-29

How does the song go? No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand?

Yes, you can quit if you want to. You can say “no” to God. You can turn to the crooked way. God is not going to hang onto you against your will. But you’re never going to accidentally fall away from God or lose your salvation without knowing it. Turning away from God, losing your salvation, is a deliberate decision. In fact, we should never use the phrase “lose your salvation.” Nobody loses his or her salvation like you lose your car keys. You can give it back. You can turn your back on it. But it’s no accident or oversight. It’s a sustained, determined, on-going rejection.

1 Thessalonians 5 says the God of peace is sanctifying you through and through. He is making you holy. He is keeping you blameless. He calls you, he is faithful, and he will do what he’s promised to do. He’s the one making your salvation happen, not you.

But I’m a sinner.

All the great people of faith you know are sinners! I don’t know a single perfect Christian, do you? I’ve never met one.

Our security is not tied up in our performances. It’s grounded solidly in the faithfulness of God.

The first line in Psalm 125 says “those who trust in the Lord.” Not those who trust in their obedience or in their own righteousness.

“This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life… I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” ~1 John 5:11-13

God wants you to be more sure of your salvation than you are. You belong to him forever.

Peace,

Allan

Eyes Off the Hills!

July 15, 2020 / Allan / 0 Comments

Lots of Christians believe that once they repent and confess Jesus as Lord and begin living in the righteousness of God, nothing bad should ever happen to them again. Christians should not have accidents or arguments with spouses, they should not be misunderstood at work or talked back to by their children. No problems, no pains, no setbacks, no sins, no issues.

Even Christians who don’t believe that sometimes talk like they do. Too blessed to be stressed!

So, when something does go wrong, some Christians don’t handle it very well. Maybe a doubt creeps into your head. Maybe a loneliness moves into your soul. An illness puts you in the hospital or an argument lands you in the doghouse. A misunderstanding leads to anger and pain. A person walking in the way of faith gets into trouble and starts looking for help.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from?” ~Psalm 121:1

What does this person see on the hills? What’s happening on the hills?

The pagan religions were practiced on the hills. That’s where the pagan gods were worshiped. The high places on the hills are where the nations built their altars to Ba’al and erected their shrines to Asherah. People went to the hills to engage in acts of idol worship they believed would ensure their safety or fix whatever is wrong. You worshiped the pagan gods on the hills to enhance the fertility of your livestock and crops. The pagan rituals would keep you safe from invading armies. The religious formulas and good luck charms would make you wealthy and wise. It would protect you from evil.

Where do your eyes go when things get a little shaky? Who do you look to? Where do you put your trust when things go bad? There are all kinds of things we can look to for help besides God. And all those things are idols.

In the Bible, the hills are where the idols are worshiped. Hosea 4:12-13 and Ezekiel 6:13 are two of dozens of biblical references. 1 Kings and 1 Chronicles describe the high places where God’s people set up sacred stones and Asherah poles “on every high hill.” Think about the altars of Ba’al on the hills of Mount Carmel. Think about King Rehoboam who built his altar on the high place at Dan. Think about the hills of Caesarea Philippi where the temples and shrines were built to Pan and Ba’al and Asherah and where they worshiped Roman Emperors and sacred goats.

When you run into trouble or when something goes wrong, you holler help. And if you look to the hills, there it is! All kinds of help! Instant help!

Except for one thing: it doesn’t work. It’s an illusion. Nobody is ever really helped by what’s happening in the hills.

“We will come to you, for you are the Lord our God. Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception.” ~ Jeremiah 3:23

If you think the next election is going to fix things, you’re looking to the hills. If you believe the next scientific breakthrough is going to heal things, you’re eyes are on the hills. If you think your next promotion or pay raise is going to put you over the top and fill the hole in your soul, you’re looking to the hills.

When you look to science, technology, or politics for help, you’re going to be disappointed. When you put your faith in the economy or your family, your education goals or your career plan, you’re going to be let down. When you try to ignore your pain or distract from your troubles with pills or drinks or vacations or sports or some kind of busyness, it just leads to more pain and more trouble.

“My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” ~Psalm 121:2

Your help comes from the Lord, not from what’s in the hills. You don’t need any supplemental insurance from what’s going on in the hills. When your loving Father is the Maker and Sustainer of the Universe, you don’t need your safety or security to come from the hills.

“The Lord will keep you from all evil — he will watch over your life.” ~Psalm 121:7

That doesn’t mean you’re never going to stub your toe. No one gets out of this life without the experience of pain. The promise is that no injury or accident, no illness or distress, no tragedy, nothing that can ever happen to you will have evil power over you. Nothing can ever happen to you that can separate you from God’s purpose for you.

That’s the Lord’s Prayer. That’s the expectation. “Deliver us from evil.” That prayer is answered for you every day. Sometimes several times a day.

Take your eyes off the hills and place them directly on the God of Heaven and Earth who says, “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who says, “In this world you will have trouble; but take heart, I have overcome the world!”

Peace,

Allan

Hope of the World

July 2, 2020 / Allan / 0 Comments

We noticed yesterday that uniting as one is the prayer of our Lord. Today, I want us to recognize that all Christians living and worshiping and serving together as one united people is also the hope of the world. It’s the only thing that will work.

“I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All the ones I have are yours, and all the ones you have are mine. And glory has come to me through them… Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name — the name you gave me — so that they may be one as we are one… My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world… I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe… May they be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me.” ~John 17:9-23

That the world may believe. That the world will know. That the world will turn to Christ. That the world will change. May they be one so the world will see it and believe. May they brought to complete unity so the world will see and experience how to love, not hate; how to forgive, not condemn; how to meet the needs of others, not stake out their own claims and rights; how to live in the peace of Christ, not in the violence of this world; how to live in harmony with those who are different, not in conflict and strife.

Jesus does not say, May they worship correctly so the world will believe. It’s not, May they structure their church leadership in such a way that the world will know. It’s not, May they memorize the right verses, pray the right prayers, vote the right party, read the right books, or advocate for the right laws. God’s people uniting as one is the only hope of the world.

I’ve heard people say, “Stop preaching unity and start preaching doctrine.” I’ve got news for you: Christian unity is doctrine! Uniting as one is the prayer of our Lord and it’s the only hope for this world.

What’s going to change the racial division and strife? What’s going to slow down all the violence and death? What’s going to stop all the selfishness and sin that has plunged the world into so much peril and despair?

I’m convinced that God’s Church uniting as one is the only hope. Not better laws or deeper science or faster technology or all of us simply trying harder. It’s been proven for centuries now that none of that works! Any positive lasting change in our world must begin with and go through our Lord Jesus Christ and his Church. The Body of Christ. That’s the only way.

This is not just Jesus’ prayer and his plan, this is our mission. As disciples of Jesus, this is our calling.

“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” ~John 17:18

Jesus was sent into this world by the Father to show everybody who God is and what God is all about. He said it himself, If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. So Jesus comes here and he loves unconditionally. He is liberal with his forgiveness. He gives everybody the benefit of the doubt. He worked so hard to tear down the walls that divide people. He refused to label people. He stood with the powerless against the powerful. And he ate meals with everybody.

People from different countries, people with different social standings, people with darker or lighter skin, people who differed from Jesus’ group politically — he went into their homes and he met them in public and he ate and drank with all of them.

And God’s people committing to thinking and acting and living that way in the world is the only hope for fixing what’s destroying our society today. It’s the only hope.

But we can’t just talk about it. We have to live it. It’s got to be real or nobody will buy it. And it’s got to be us, the Church, or nothing will really change. Who else will do it? It has to be us!

We’re the ones who believe that every man, woman, and child on this planet is created by God in his holy image. We’re the ones who know so well our God’s heart for the oppressed. We’re the ones who obey our God’s command to love our neighbors. We’re the ones who trust that God is working right now to bring all people of every tribe, language, color, and tongue together around the table at the wedding feast of the Lamb.

This is the solution given to us by our God. This is the vivid picture that makes it real. This is the bold call for what’s needed. This is the vision that can invigorate our imaginations and our witness in a world that’s groaning for what God’s Church has to give.

The time is right now. The opportunity is right here. And it’s not going to be easy. The racial division among Christians and the racial injustice in this country is territory our Enemy has held for a long, long time. And he’s not going to give it up to a bunch of Christians like us without a fight.

But our faith is in God through our risen and reigning Lord Jesus. And our trust is in his promise that the presence and power of the Holy Spirit flows through us to equip and encourage, to embolden and to heal, when we’re together. When we’re united as one. THEN the world will believe. May that day begin this day.

Peace,

Allan

Prayer of Our Lord

July 1, 2020 / Allan / 0 Comments

It’s striking to me that in the very last recorded conversation between Jesus and his Father in the Gospel of John, just hours before his hands and feet would be nailed to the tree, Jesus is talking about our unity as his followers. These are some of the very last words of our Lord. And they carry so much weight.

This prayer of Jesus is very familiar to us. Maybe a bit too familiar, like maybe we’ve heard it so often and read it so much and NOT made it the priority that Christ does, we’ve NOT pursued it and practiced it or been willing to die for it like Christ is. Maybe it’s lost its punch. Verse ten has really jumped out at me the past couple of weeks. Maybe the message of verse ten can revive the punch in our Lord’s prayer.

“All the ones I have are yours and all the ones you have are mine.”

All those who belong to God belong to Christ and all those who belong to Christ belong to God, which means all those who confess Jesus as Lord — “all who will believe in me” — all belong to each other. We’re not promoting Christian unity here, we’re practicing it. Christian unity is not something we chase or pursue, it’s not something we must generate or create; it’s already the reality! Christian unity is the gift we’ve all been given by God in Christ.

Scripture tells us we all form one body, that this is the way it is in Christ.

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink… In fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be… Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” ~1 Corinthians 12:13, 18, 27

We don’t try hard to be a part of the body. We don’t do our best to share in the blessings of belonging to God’s one universal and united people. No! Listen to the Bible! You. It’s plural, actually, so, you all. Y’all ARE the body of Christ. So act like it.

“You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” ~Galatians 3:26-28

Because of our fallen, sinful nature as humans and because of the broken systems and structures of the fallen, sinful world, we don’t see each other enough. We don’t listen enough to each other’s stories. We don’t know each other well enough to practice and live this unity that’s already there if we’ll just pay attention to it. If we’ll just look each other in the eye. If we’ll really listen to each other well. If we’ll commit to loving all believers in Jesus as the brothers and sisters in Christ they are.

“In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” ~Romans 12:5

What does it mean for all Christians to belong to each other? It means we love each other. We forgive each other. We help carry each other’s burdens. We look out for each other and take care of each other. It means offering grace to people we’d rather punch in the throat. It means standing alongside those whose politics we might detest.

This is what Jesus prayed. This is who Jesus is. The way Jesus lived his life, the things he taught and the stories he told — he erase all the labels we attach to others. He obliterated the ways we draw lines and build walls between us and others. He lived and taught the complete unity of all God’s people.

When you see the hungry and thirsty — listen to the words of Jesus — when you see the alien, the naked and the sick, when you see the prisoner, you’re looking at me.

The Samaritan? Yeah, he’s your neighbor. That’s right, the guy who doesn’t look like you, his skin’s a different color than yours, he lives in a different part of the city, he doesn’t smell like you, he doesn’t vote like you, he believes and practices his Christianity a little differently than you — he’s yours. You are responsible for each other.

Jesus completely turned upside down the whole economy of the way the world operates. The first are last! The poor are blessed! The oppressed are kings! We love our enemies and pray for those who treat us wrong! Why would we ever stand by and ignore or go along with the world’s status quo when our Lord Jesus prayed that it would all be changed?

Each member belongs to all the others. All the ones I have are yours and all the ones you have are mine. Taking care of each other. Uniting as one. That’s the prayer of our Lord. It’s what he asked for the night before he died.

Peace,

Allan

We Need a Prayer

June 30, 2020 / Allan / 0 Comments

We need a clear solution for what’s wrong in our broken world. We need a vivid picture to make it real. We need a bold call for what’s necessary. We need the courage for what’s demanded. We need a vision for what’s really possible.

We need hope. We need a prayer.

Uniting as One is the prayer of our Lord and the hope of the world.

This is God’s goal and our destination. This is at the core of God’s covenant promise that his people would live and serve and worship together in joy and peace. It’s at the heart of who we are as followers of his Son, that we are all one together. It’s the very reason Jesus died on the cross, to destroy all the barriers that divide his people.

It doesn’t need biblical explanation as much as it needs fearless proclamation. We don’t need to read it and believe it as much as we need to preach it and practice it. Uniting as One brings glory to Christ and it testifies to the truth about Jesus and his claims. It validates who Jesus is as the Son of God and the eternal and reigning Prince of Peace.

This is the solution given to us by God. This is the vivid picture that makes it real. This is the bold call for what’s needed. This is the vision that can invigorate our imaginations and our witness in a world that’s groaning for what God’s Church has to give. Uniting as One is the prayer of our Lord and the hope of the world.

The time is right now. The opportunity is right here. And it’s not going to be easy. The racial division among Christians and the racial injustice in this country is territory our Enemy has had for a long, long time and he’s not going to give it up to a bunch of Christians like us without a fight.

But our faith is in God through our risen and coming Lord Jesus. And our trust is in his promise that the presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit flows through us to equip and encourage and embolden and heal us when we’re together. When we’re united as one. Then the whole world will believe. May that day start right now.

Peace,

Allan

Almost Easter

April 9, 2020 / Allan / 0 Comments

This is the video message we posted for our Central church family last night.

The church building might be empty on Sunday, but so is the tomb!

Peace,

Allan

Category: John (Page 5 of 29)

Secure in Not “Falling Away”

Eyes Off the Hills!

Hope of the World

Prayer of Our Lord

We Need a Prayer

Almost Easter

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