Category: Luke (Page 22 of 24)

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

Go and Do

March 9, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

The lawyer in Luke 10 wants to justify himself. His question, “Who is my neighbor?” seeks to create a distinction. He’s suggesting that some people are neighbors and some are not. He implies that God’s people are only called to love God’s people. And we get to decide who those people are! This expert in the Scriptures is saying that, whether due to geography, heritage, ancestry, skin-color, or socio-economic factors, some people are non-neighbors.

That’s what Jesus is reacting to when he tells his story.

A priest walks by and sees the victim by the side of the road and does nothing. A Levite sees this half-dead man and does nothing. Two religious leaders who’ve known and taught the Great Command — Love God and Love Neighbor — for as long as they can remember. They saw and they passed by on the other side.

And then Jesus gives us the emotional twist that both astonishes and convicts.

A Samaritan walks by and sees. Then he went to him. The two verbs here are so important. He saw and he went. And then he verbed this man completely back to health. He gave this victim, this helpless soul, this desperate and dying man created in the magnificent image of God, everything he needed. Look at all the verbs.

He went to him. He bandaged him. He poured on oil and wine. He put the man on his own donkey. He took him to an inn. He took care of him. He took out his money. He gave his money to the innkeeper. He promised to return and reimburse.

And Jesus says, “Now, define ‘neighbor’ for me. Who’s the ‘neighbor’?”

Then our Savior looks this expert right in the eyes and gives him two verbs: Go and Do.

Jesus’ words, Go and Do, totally end the conversation. No more questions. No more answers. No more religious loopholes and religious line-drawing and religious double-talk. No more interpretations of Scripture. No more using God or the Word of God as a way to avoid or dismiss the real hurting men and women we see in our lives.

When we understand the story, we understand that something big is going on and I’m told I can get in on it. Actually I’m told, “Go! Get in on it!”

It’s not “Who is my neighbor” as if some people are and some people aren’t. That’s the wrong question. The question is, “Will I be a neighbor?” Everybody sees all the pain around us. Everybody sees all the hurting people. Everybody sees all the lost. God’s people, though, see and do. We see and render aid. We see and provide help. We see and then we sacrifice and serve in joining our God to make things right.

Go and Do. In Northeast Tarrant County and Nairobi. In our subdivisions and in downtown Fort Worth.

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Another Four Horsemen Campout/Advance in the books. Twenty-four hours at Tyler State Park. 55-degrees warmer than last year. Four hours of sleep. Seven bags of chips. No major injuries. This one, though, to be forever remembered for three things.

1) The Food. All of it provided and cooked by Kevin. Four-inch-thick ribeyes and football-sized baked potatoes. And salad! Salad? Yeah, I know. Followed up by perfectly-prepared eggs, toast, sausage, and bacon Saturday morning and ham and turkey sandwiches Saturday afternoon. No offense to Jason and his water-in-a-jug pancakes from years past. But the food this year was, by far, the best ever.

2) The Raccoon. He stole Kevin’s bag of marshmellows from right underneath his chair while we were all sitting by the fire. He came within a couple of feet, twice, of nabbing my bag of jalapeno potato chips right next to my chair. While we were all sitting there. Jason had a clean shot at him with a football from about four feet, but short-hopped it bad. Choked under pressure. Somewhere, in the deep recesses of Tyler State Park, a raccoon is throwing up 48-jumbo marshmellows. I hope.

3) The Near-Death Experiences. Falling trees. Flying ax handles. Slides down dangerous cliffs (OK, just the hill from the parking lot to the lake). Jumping rocks. It was an adventure.

The best part, though, is always the mutual encouragement, the prayers, the study, and the counsel that’s shared. Every year. We know each other so well that the prayers are always dead-on. I mean, right-between-the-eyes, yes, thanks I needed that, kind of prayers. We pray for each other’s ministries, each other’s churches, each other’s families, and each other’s personal walk with Christ. We ask God to give us all the strength and power to do his will, the courage and boldness to do it his way, and the character and integrity to do it with pure hearts and clean motives, above reproach.

I’m blessed to have three such great friends, such great men of God who love me and take care of me. They know exactly when I legitimately need genuine encouragement and they know exactly when I just need to suck it up and get over it. God continually touches me and speaks to me and blesses me through these great men. They challenge me and push me. They model for me what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus. I can’t imagine trying to do it without them.

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And Terrell Owens is in Buffalo, where in December it’ll be 19-degrees with a 35 mph north wind. The Bills will be 5-9 at that point, they’ll be playing the Ravens, and he’ll be split out wide where he can get a good view of another running play. The 13th play out of their past 15 that have stayed on the ground. Sweet.

As Dan Miller would say, “Life is good.”

Peace,

Allan

Legacy Morning Prayers

February 25, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“What’s happening in your church or in your ministry that’s really, really good?”

I get that asked that question quite frequently. Other preachers from other churches, distant relatives, people I don’t see that often and some people I visit with all the time are increasingly asking me this question.

“What’s something good, something positive and encouraging, that’s happening in your church?”

Two things. I always lead off with these two things: Small Groups and Legacy Morning Prayers.

Legacy Morning Prayers began in December as an effort to be more available as elders and ministers to pray with and for the people of our church family and our community. Every weekday morning, on a rotating schedule, our shepherds and ministers are here in our worship center, lifting up to God the prayer requests of our congregation and those that come in over our church website. The folder is thick. The requests are many. The hour is almost not long enough.

We want everyone in our congregation to participate. The worship center’s open every weekday morning. There’s a shepherd and/or a minister in there to pray with you and for you every weekday morning. We want people from the community — those driving by our flashing sign on Mid-Cities Boulevard, those reading about Morning Prayers on our website —to join us so we can pray for them and with them.

We want this to be an aid to strengthening our bonds in Christ. Increased unity and fellowship. A way to facilitate the love and mercy of God in Christ to a hurting church and a hurting community.

There’s no better way to get to know your brother or sister in Christ than to spend an hour with them in prayer. Listening to each other’s hearts, listening to each other’s thanksgiving, participating in each other’s suffering and pain. I’m always overwhelmed by the lists of requests. Real people. Real families. Real diseases and death. Real divorces and unemployment. Real moms and dads. Real grandparents. Real kids. Real relationships. Real reaching out to God for his comfort and peace, his healing and forgiveness.

I’m encouraged every time my turn comes up. I love praying with my church family. Quincy’s teaching me how to talk to God like a true best friend. Rick is showing me what it looks like to give God full and unabashed praise and thanksgiving. Jesse is modeling for me humility and awe in the presence of our Holy Father. Paul confesses his sins. Bob prays like a shepherd. Keith calls on God to be accountable to his promises.

I love Legacy Morning Prayers. And you would, too.

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Allright, I’ll finish Tell It Slant before I go to bed tonight. I want to give you one more quick passage from Eugene Peterson’s latest book, this on prayer. It fits.

Prayer is not begging God to do something for us that he doesn’t know about, or begging God to do something for us that he is reluctant to do, or begging God to do something that he doesn’t have time for. In prayer we persistently, faithfully, trustingly come before God, submitting ourselves to his sovereignty, confident that he is acting, right now, on our behalf. We are his “chosen ones,” and don’t ever forget it. God is, right now — the word is “quickly” (Luke 18:8) — working his will in your life and circumstances. So keep praying. Don’t quit.

Peace,

Allan

The Call

January 30, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Ever seen a burning bush?

If you ever did, how would you respond?

How about the clear, unambiguous call of God to his Church — to us! — to apply the holy words of Scripture to our lives, to be transformed more and more into the image of Christ, to connect with each other and to minister to one another and to serve each other like family, and to take the good news of God’s mercy and grace and forgiveness into our neighborhoods and communities?

That’s a huge burning bush! That’s an Aggie bonfire towering in front of us, crackling with possibilities and blazing with the fire of God’s call!

The spiritual leaders of the Legacy church body, the elders and ministers, are all firmly convinced that the proper response to this eternal inferno of God’s commission is best made in weekly Small Groups Church.

Last year’s first cycle of SGC began with 692 men, women, and children and ended last month with 778. And we certainly anticipate bigger things in this next cycle that starts in April. With an average of 21 people in each of our 37 groups, there’s no room to grow. We need every former Co-Leader and at least 30 others to sign up this Sunday. If you already have your co-leading partner, please sign up. If you want to Co-Lead but you’ve not yet secured a partner, sign up anyway. There’s time to find your buddy. We need 100 total Co-Leaders to lead 50 groups when we start up again in April.

That’s the challenge. That’s the call. To you.

Now, what’s your objection?

“Nobody will follow me.” Abraham’s servant said that, and the Lord’s angel told him, God will make it happen (Genesis 24:6-7).

“I’ve tried it before and failed.” Moses said that, and the Lord said, it’s not about you, it’s about God (Exodus 3:12-4:17).

“It’s too hard for me.” Isaiah threw that excuse out there and he was promptly told, God sees and controls the big picture (Isaiah 6:11-13).

Jeremiah said, “But I’m not a good leader.” The Lord told Jeremiah, God is with you and will provide for you (Jeremiah 1:8).

Ezekiel was brutally honest and said, “I don’t want to go.” The answer came back over and over again, with God, there’s nothing to fear (Ezekiel 2:6).

“I’m too old.” That was Zechariah. The angel replied, God will give you signs and proof of his presence (Luke 1:19-20).

Mary said, “I’ve never done this before.” She was told, nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

Paul said, “I’ve got a rotten past.” Christ told him, God is empowering you for his mission (Acts 22:21).

Ananias offered, “It’s too risky, it’s too dangerous for me,” only to be told, God is taking care of the details (Acts 9:15).

See, the deal is that we usually view God’s call and God’s will and God’s plan for me as all about me. This task is too big for me. It’s beneath me. I might make someone mad. I’m too busy. I’m not gifted. I’m not qualified. I don’t know how. I’ve never done that before.

And God says, you’re right. But it has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with whether or not you think you can handle it. God says, “I AM.” I am qualified. I am powerful. I am the God who’s doing this, not you. I just want you to jump into it. I just need you to trust me. Believe in me. Allow me to do this with you and through you for my purposes and my Kingdom.

The call is right in front of you. How do you respond? With every reason and excuse as to why you can’t or shouldn’t act? With reasons and excuses as to why you can’t go to Egypt? Or by throwing yourself completely into his mission, wholeheartedly, in total faith and trust, no reservations, brakes off, full steam ahead, no looking back? By hurling yourself into the project, confident in our Lord who promises to deliver?

Small Groups Church is messy. You put a thousand people in each other’s homes and in each other’s lives, it’s messy. It’s difficult. It’s a real challenge. It’s full of suprises. It’s full of hospital visits and funerals, soccer games and car pools, different dynamics and diverse discussions, some extra dusting and vacuuming.

And lots and lots of wonderful stories.

I beg you to jump into the middle of it — or at the front of it — as a Co-Leader at Legacy. Jump head first, all the way. And allow our Father to do amazing things with you and through you for his people within this church family.

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We just got home a little while ago from Scottish Rite in Dallas. They took Whitney’s cast off. (Shew-wee!) Dr. Herring grabbed a pair of pliers and pulled the four-inch pin out of her heel. (Yech!) And then he pronounced her perfectly well and the reconstructive surgery a smashing success. She’ll be weaning herself off the walker as she regains strength and flexibility over the next couple of weeks. Praise God for her healing! Thank you so much for your prayers, your cards, your calls, your visits, all the wonderful ways you’ve encouraged and blessed our oldest daughter over the past two months. God has showered us with his love through you, our dear friends.

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Last thing: I’ll never forget — ever — a telephone conversation I had with my sister, Rhonda, back on Super Bowl Sunday 1994. It was about 2:00. I don’t remember what we were talking about, but in the middle of the conversation, I told her I was skipping church to go to a Super Bowl party at a friend’s house.

She was genuinely surprised. “You’re skipping church to watch the Super Bowl?”

“Well, yeah.”

“You’re kidding.”

I said, “Rhonda, come on! You know me!”

And she said, “I thought I did.”

That was the last time I ever skipped church to watch a TV show. I urge you to make the same switch in your lifestyle and in the message you send your kids and your friends starting this weekend. Please don’t skip church this Sunday night to watch a TV show.

Peace,

Allan

Where Are The Kids?

January 13, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Where are the kids? The local TV stations used to ask us at 10:00 every night. It’s the question I ask Carrie-Anne when I come home after work. Thirty minutes after church when I’m ready to get in the car. In a crowded mall. At the park. When it’s especially quiet in the house. When the bikes are left on the lawn. Where are the kids?

If we ask that question as we’re reading Scripture—where are the kids?—the answer always comes back, “right in the big middle of everything.” Right where God put ’em. Right where God wants ’em.

Matthew 21 – Jesus enters the temple in the last week of his life. The children are there shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David!” The religious leaders in the temple are indignant. Maybe the kids were clapping, I don’t know. Maybe just the fact that the kids were in the middle of the temple being loud was enough to upset these teachers and priests. Jesus answers their indignation by quoting Scripture. “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.”

Exodus 10 – Before the plague of locusts, God tells Moses he’s doing this “that you may tell your children and grandchildren…”

Exodus 12 – God insitutes the formational Passover Supper with everyone’s kids right there around the table. “When your children ask you…then tell them.”

Exodus 13 – God explains the dedication of the first-born. “On that day, tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me.'” Also, “when your son asks you…,” tell him the great story.

Deuteronomy 4 – God’s giving the Law to his people. “Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”

Deuteronomy 6 – Same thing. “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” And again, when your son asks you, tell him the stories.

Joshua 4 – Setting up the stones to mark the spot where they crossed the Jordan River. When your children ask you, tell them.

Matthew 18 & 19, Mark 10, Luke 18 – Parents bring their children to Jesus. And he welcomed them gladly. They brought their kids to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them and teach them. And he did. Jesus took little kids in his arms, he placed his hands on their heads, he prayed for them. He warns us not to ignore them or neglect them or discourage them in any way because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to our little children and he’s not willing that any of them should be lost.

In our Scriptures, the kids are always right in the big middle of everything. Exactly where God put ’em. In our Bibles, the children are never on the edges, they’re not peripheral participants in the community of faith. They’re not sent to the other room. They don’t eat at a different table. They’re not placed in an “age-appropriate educational environment.” They are critical components. They are integral to God’s plan for his people. They are the centerpiece to our sacred conversations and the core of our holy gatherings.

Where are the kids?

When you’re praying. When you’re reading the Word. When you’re singing praises to God. When you’re at the common table with your brothers and sisters in Christ. When you’re talking about our Savior and the Gospel’s impact on your life.

Where are the kids?

Christ Is Preached

November 19, 2008 / Allan / 4 Comments

“The important thing is that…Christ is preached.” ~Philippians 1:18

While Paul is in jail there are some other preachers there in Rome piling on. They’re preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry. Their motivations are all wrong. They’re involved in power plays and intentionally trying to harm Paul and discredit him in the eyes of the church and the community. It’s selfish. It’s insincere. And Paul says, Surprise!

“It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice.”

At the end of the day, after all their efforts to oppose Paul, they’ve only succeeded in doing the one thing that matters most to Paul: they’re preaching Christ! Paul’s not concerned about identifying this group. In fact, it’s impossible to tell who these other preachers are here, because to Paul, that’s not important. These other preachers are mean and selfish and they’re using Paul’s chains to promote themselves. But they’re preaching Christ and him crucified for the forgiveness of sins. So Paul’s attitude is just like what he told the Corinthians: “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?”

Just as in Corinth Paul felt it was more important for the church to act like the church than for its members to receive the personal satisfaction of winning lawsuits, he takes his own advice here in Rome. He’s facing people who’ve wronged him. But he shrugs off their animosity and is able to rejoice because they’re preaching Christ.

We have a hard time with that, I think. But we’re in good company.

The apostles run to Jesus in Luke 9 and say, “We saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he is not one of us.” And Jesus says don’t do that! Just because he’s not with you doesn’t mean he’s not with me.

If we’re going to experience a revival, if we’re going to experience a spiritual awakening, we’re going to have to understand that God’s salvation work is bigger than me and what I’m doing. His work to redeem the world is bigger than us and what we’re doing. He’s using me. He’s using us. No question. Praise God. But he’s using all kinds of people in all kinds of places to reconcile creation back to himself. And when we have that joyful perspective, we don’t argue or bicker or fight with Christians who don’t do things the way we do things. We don’t talk bad about them. We don’t look down on them in any way.

But, Allan, they don’t do this! Or have you seen the way they do that?

Paul says, so what? “What does it matter? The important thing is that Christ is preached.” And we praise God that here’s another group of disciples proclaiming the life, death, and resurrection of our common Lord.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Luke (Page 22 of 24)

Reversing Fortunes

Go and Do

Legacy Morning Prayers

The Call

Where Are The Kids?

Christ Is Preached

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