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Category: Ministry (Page 10 of 35)

Godly Fasting

March 1, 2017 / / 3 Comments

Fasting is not the purely personal thing you might think it is. Fasting is never between just you and God.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the traditional kickoff of forty days of prayer and fasting leading to Easter Sunday. This is the day to confess, the day to throw off the sins that hinder, the day to begin fasting in order to tune yourself to God. A lot of people give up red meat for the Lent season, some sacrifice their iPhones or their TVs, others fast from caffeine or cursing or Little Debbie snack cakes.

That’s good. Fasting and praying to pay better attention to the voice of our Father during this holy season is commendable. I highly recommend it.

But while you’re giving up these physical and tasty delights, why not consider giving up what our Lord gave up.

Instead of just thinking about it, why not begin living it?

Christ Jesus gave up the glory he shared with the Father to redeem us. He gave up all power, all dominion, all wealth, to come to earth to rescue us. Jesus gave up all his rights, he gave up his own honor, he sacrificed his own security and health, to restore us. He gave up his very life.

How about while refraining from chocolate over the next few weeks, you also give up your right to be offended? Since you’re giving up red meat for a season, how about you also try to keep from saying anything bad about anybody else? No caffeine? Sure! How about no asserting your own way for a while? How about sacrificing your demand for fairness for yourself and seek justice for somebody else? How about considering the needs of others more important than your own?

How about making your Ash Wednesday / Lent fast about something more than just you and your self-improvement? It’s not just about you and it’s not just about you and God. Fasting and praying should always result in Christian ministry to others. It should always lead toward meeting the needs of other people.

“Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter,
when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”
~Isaiah 58:5-9

Fasting doesn’t do anybody any good unless it leads to doing somebody some real, physical, tangible good in the name of our Lord Jesus who gave up everything to do lasting, eternal, salvation good for us all.

Peace,

Allan

Our Tools Are Weak

February 23, 2017 / / 0 Comments

At Central, we’re doing whatever it takes to join God’s pursuit of the people in Amarillo. “Ignite” is funding the vision and sparking the mission. The pledge cards keep trickling in and the total is up to $7.93-million and growing. Last Sunday’s “Launch” witnessed our Lord provide more than $1.53-million in checks and cash. The momentum is building. The church is focused. This is exciting stuff! We’re committed to it because our understanding is that when we do participate in God’s pursuit, God will increase the harvest.

When Jesus sends his disciples out to proclaim the Good News, he gives them a parting prayer request: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2).

This is Jesus’ prayer request: ask God for more workers. We need more workers for the harvest. Not for plowing or sowing, not for preparing soil or weeding or watering or waiting. Workers are needed for the harvest. The time is right now and, apparently, the harvest is huge. Who’s going to get in on it? We are! We’re determined to.

And our tools are weak.

The tools we use are not very impressive by the world’s standards. We’re not using power or politics or threat or force. Our tools for the harvest are love and mercy, compassion and forgiveness. God’s heroes in the Bible used terribly weak weapons: a torch and a jar, a sling and a rock, a morning walk and a trumpet.

We’ve got a church building and some small groups. We’ve got a sack of groceries and a paint brush. A bag of diapers and a prayer.

Remember, Jesus healed ten lepers, not a hundred. He fed five thousand hungry people, not every starving person in the world. Our Lord mostly ministered to the people in the tiny villages around his home town. And that’s what we’re trying to do at Central.

Peace,

Allan

 

The Least of These

September 23, 2016 / / 0 Comments

From this week at ACU Summit:

“The homeless and addicted do not primarily need what the Church can bring them (although they may); rather, the Church needs what the homeless and addicted bring her. They bring the brokenness of their humanity, crushed by the structures of society, as the very sacrament of God’s presence.” ~Andrew Root

elvisandrus1Peace,

Allan

Jesus’ Judgment Will Be Fair

August 3, 2016 / / 0 Comments

JudgmentDay

“A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself, I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” ~John 5:28-30

The first Christians believed that what you do matters. The writers of Scripture all confirm that a fair and impartial judgment day is consistent with the character of God who doesn’t play favorites.

“God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.” ~Romans 2:6-11

2 Corinthians 5 tells us that all men and women are someday going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of all their thoughts and words and deeds. Everything. And each of us is going to receive what’s right according to whether we’ve done good or evil.

JudgeSheep&GoatsJesus gives us a compelling picture of this in Matthew 25 with the separation of the sheep and the goats.  To the sheep on the right, Jesus says, “Come!” Come on in. Come close. You belong. You’re in. Come. How cool would it be to hear the Lord say that to you?

Notice the righteous in this story don’t say, “Boom! Nailed it! Yeah! That’s right! We’re feeding the hungry and clothing the naked! Yes! The Kingdom has been prepared for me! That’s what I’m talking about!” No, it’s more like, “What?!? We did what?!? You mean we got it right?” The sheep on the right are surprised.

Jesus explains that the way you regard the poor and the sick and the abused and the hungry shows your high regard for him and his mission. Our King associates himself with the lowly, with people who don’t have any resources. So when you show compassion for the poor, when you extend mercy to the sick, when you show love to the marginalized, that’s proof that you belong to God. These aren’t good works to earn favor from God. You don’t give a cup of water so you can go to heaven. That’s not why these people did these good deeds. They were surprised their kindness to prisoners and aliens had anything to do with it. The way they treated the poor and the minorities proved that they had submitted to the Lordship of Jesus and that his Holy Spirit was shaping their minds and lives. Clothing the naked is not a qualification to get in — it’s an evidence of a saving faith.

To the ones on the left, Jesus says, “Depart!” Go away. Get out of my presence. You don’t belong to me.” How awful and terrible to hear the Lord say that to you.

Notice the unrighteous goats who are eternally condemned are just as surprised as the righteous sheep. “What? When did these things happen? I don’t remember not taking care of you, Jesus, when you needed help.?

I don’t think they were deliberately rejecting Jesus when they turned their backs on the poor and the weak. It’s just evidence that they had not submitted to Jesus as Lord and to his mission to seek and save and make things right. They didn’t see Jesus in the poor and hurting.

Maybe they saw Jesus in their church, so they had perfect attendance. Maybe they saw Jesus in their political candidates, so they voted regularly. Maybe they saw Jesus in their Christian jewelry and T-shirts, so they went shopping. But they never saw Jesus in the poor. They never experienced his character in his mission to the lost. This was proof they had not allowed the Holy Spirit to shape them and transform them into the image of Christ.

JudgeMosaic2

Being faithful, being righteous, doesn’t mean being burned at the stake or becoming a missionary to Yugoslavia. The righteous are just paying attention to the people around them and taking care of real, practical, every day needs. A cup of water. A sandwich. A visit. A coat. Just be faithful with what God puts right in front of you every day. What you do matters. It’s evidence.

The righteous will always produce evidence. You’ll always be able to notice the transformed speech and thoughts and actions and character of disciples of Christ. On that last day, Jesus will distribute rewards and penalties according to the clear evidence. And he’s always fair.

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RangersLogoYesterday, while basking in the glorious glow of another exciting round of last minute deals for the Rangers at the trade deadline, I wrote in this space that, with the additions of Beltran and Lucroy, this Texas team will score an average of more than five runs a game from here on out. Last night, Beltran and Lucroy went a combined 0-6 with three Ks in a 5-1 loss at Baltimore.

I’m sticking with it. Hold me to it. This Rangers lineup will average more than five runs per game the rest of the way. Starting……
Now!

Peace,

Allan

Full Time Work

May 12, 2016 / / 0 Comments

HardWork

Today I’m speaking downstairs at our weekly Loaves and Fishes gathering, I’m finishing up the sermon for this Sunday, re-reading the passage in Mark I’m teaching in our Bible class, writing questions for the small groups discussions, and visiting a dear church member who was moved into hospice care last night. While you’re slaving away at the office or the construction site or the airport or the school, I’m at the church building doing God’s work. Right?

WRONG!

We are all doing God’s work, together, every day, seven days a week.

Sometimes we speak in ways that make what I do as a preacher “full-time Christian work” and what you do as a member of the Body of Christ “part-time Christian work” or “weekend Christian work.” You must know that you are a full-time Christian banker or plumber or homemaker. You are a full-time Christian truck driver or repair man, administrator or salesperson. When we are at our work, we are at the same time at God’s work. Just like our Lord Jesus.

You realize that most of what Jesus did he did in a secular workplace: in a farmer’s field, in a fishing boat, at a wedding feast, in a cemetery, at a public well, on a country hillside, in a court room, at dinner with friends and family, while walking along a road, in the marketplace. Sometimes in the Gospels Jesus shows up in a synagogue or the temple. But he mostly spends his time in the workplace.

The Fourth Gospel identifies Jesus as a “worker” 27-times. It quotes our Lord as saying, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”

Your work does not take you away from God, it continues the work of God. Our God is always in his workplace, your workplace, working. And once we recognize that, we can more easily see ourselves — all of us — working in our workplaces in the name and manner of Jesus to his eternal glory and praise.

Peace,

Allan

A Promise From the Future

April 13, 2016 / / 0 Comments

HardWorkAnt

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.'” ~Revelation 14:13

It’s a promise from the future that impacts our every moment in the present: Your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Not at all.

You know, salvation is not a private thing. God saves us in order to work through us to save others. And everything we contribute to the cause — everything! — is used by God toward that great and ultimate end. Just like the parable of the talents, what we use to his glory, whatever it is, will be multiplied and used. Like the cup of cold water given in his name, it will be rewarded. Our deeds will follow us into eternity. Our efforts for the Lord are going to last forever.

We are building for the Kingdom. All of our work matters. Every minute of your day is packed with heavenly potential. Every action is loaded with eternal consequences.

To his enduring praise and glory!

Peace,

Allan

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