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Category: Ministry (Page 18 of 35)

Living the Righteousness of God

May 15, 2013 / / 1 Comment

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” ~2 Corinthians 5:21

If 2 Corinthians 5 is about Christian ministry and if the focus of Christian ministry is on the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus, then our message and our ministry are both aimed at reconciliation. Paul claims that God initiates this reconciliation. He is the author of reconciliation. He has made us righteous and brought us into holy relationship with him through his risen Son. And — here’s the really exciting part — he has given us both the message and the ministry of reconciliation. We are his ambassadors, Paul says. We are commissioned by this God of reconciliation to represent him and his Kingdom in reconciling the world back to himself.

It’s not just a message that we’re supposed to preach and teach; it’s not just a truth we’re supposed to believe and affirm; it’s not just an inspiring email we forward to all our church friends; it’s not just a fish or a cross on the back of our truck. “That in him we might become the righteousness of God” means we must embody this reconciliation. We’ve experienced it. By God’s grace we’re experiencing it every hour. And our Savior is calling us to live it, to actually become the “righteousness of God.”

That’s a whole lot different from merely accepting the righteousness as a gift.

My main problem here is that for so long I assumed that head knowledge, mere doctrinal assent, was what was required. Understanding the reason and logic behind the atonement is not the same as actually receiving the gospel and having your life radically transformed by it.

Robert W. Yarbrough calls for Christians to have a clear and active sense of what it means to be a “new creation,” living under and in the power of the righteousness of God:

“They have contented themselves with a weak doctrine of faith, a pale facsimile of Paul’s robust ‘righteousness of God’ unleashed in believers’ lives. If the word that proclaims righteousness is believed, that which arises is love and action. Where that action is lacking, there is good reason to suppose the heart still languishes in unbelief. There may be assent, there may be emotional affirmation, there may be selective obedience to gospel imperatives. There may even be impressive displays of religious activity. But when Jesus called for taking up the cross and following him, he probably had something more radical in mind than motoring to an air-conditioned sanctuary, amen-ing the show, and returning to the real life of Sunday TV and family fun after sumptuous repast at the crowded new restaurant that everyone is dying to try.”

The righteousness of God is comprehensive, all-embracing, and life-transforming. We are called to embody it. Yes, as his ambassadors, we are commissioned by God to proclaim his peace to his enemies through the death and resurrection of the Christ. But, as his ambassadors, we are called to represent our risen King and his everlasting Kingdom in our very lives. We make the first moves in reconciling with others. We take the initiative in bringing about reconciliation in our churches, in our families, and in our neighborhoods. We announce the peace, the righteousness, and then we partner with God in the difficult work of living it for the sake of others.

Peace,

Allan

Bold and Stouthearted

April 8, 2013 / / 0 Comments

“When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.” ~Psalm 138:3

The Word we preach and teach, the Gospel we proclaim and practice, the Kingdom of God we live in to and out of is mind-blowing, history-changing, earth-altering Truth. We declare the unmerited love and favor of the Almighty Creator of the Universe. We proclaim a righteous relationship with this Holy God through the selfless sacrifice of his perfect Son. We preach the unsurpassed power and authority extravagantly given to us by his Holy Spirit. It is the greatest news this world has ever heard. It impacts all who hear it. It transforms all who respond to it. And preaching and teaching it, practicing it and living it comes with a price.

Allow me to tell you: Hang in there. Don’t stop.

“I will praise your name for your love and faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your Word.” ~Psalm 138:2

The name and the Word of our Lord are highest above all other things. Exalted. In Truth, in power, in beauty, in holiness, in everlasting glory, the name and the Word of our God are above all else. Yes, we know it. Yes, we believe it. But it’s not easy. In fact, proclaiming it and living it are very difficult. Marva Dawn has much to say about this in A Royal Waste of Time:

“If we are truly passionate about the texts and the Lord of the texts when we preach, it will cost us. We are painting a vision of the Kingdom of God in opposition to the reign in this world of other powers, so it is a spiritual battle we are fighting, which will also physically exhaust us. We have to allow ourselves plenty of time to recover, a Sabbath of rest. We might also have to fight the darkness of doubts, the fiends of seeming failure in society’s terms, the monsters of personal hang-ups, the demons of misunderstanding on the part of those who hear or refuse to hear.”

Dawn is addressing preachers in that passage. But all of us — yeah, you, too! — need to pay attention to it. Most of the time, our words don’t come close to matching what’s in our hearts. Most of the time, our sermons and lessons don’t live up to the power of the Truth. Most of the time, our best efforts to live the Kingdom of God fall woefully short of the splendor of our King and the beauty of his love and majesty and reign.

Hang in there. Don’t stop.

God is doing something wonderful with you.

For all of you who teach and preach; all of you who cook and clean, plan and pray, sacrifice and serve; all of you who give of yourselves day in and day out for the glory of our God and his holy Kingdom:

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for you; your love, O Lord, endures forever — do not abandon the works of your hands.” ~Psalm 138:8

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room was packed, the energy was electric, and the anticipation was high. The Sharks concert in our worship center Saturday night had been sold out for weeks (most free concerts are) and the thousand or so in attendance (preacher’s count) were not disappointed. Johnny Weems belted out the crowd favorites while Kelly Utsinger maintained the tone of the evening with the harmonica and the corny jokes and the rest of the Sharks — a little wider and a little grayer than when they were tearing it up back in the ’80s — performed each of their musical and entertainment roles beautifully. It was a great trip down memory lane for the Sharks and their die-hard fans. But it was a wonderfully powerful night for thousands of folks in Kenya who’ve never even heard of Elvis or Buddy Holley, or the Coasters.

The Sharks were attempting to raise $10,000 at Saturday’s show to benefit Christian Relief Fund’s efforts to dig a single water well in the drought-stricken and famine-plagued area of Turkana, Kenya. The numbers are in today and the total has been announced as $19,500! With money still trickling in!

Thanks to Kelly and the Sharks, thanks to the generous hearts and open wallets of the Christ-followers at Central and all over Amarillo, thanks to our gracious God in heaven and his faithfulness to the cries of his children, CRF is going to be drilling two wells now in Turkana, not just one! Doppler Dave made the plea on behalf of CRF Saturday night. But our God is the one who moved his people to respond to his call to bring his love and goodness to those in need.

Except for the awful fish jokes, praise God for everything that happened here Saturday night and for everything he will do for the starving people in Kenya tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart goes out to Beth Bobo. She and her husband, Elvin, were great encouragers of mine during our time at Legacy. Whether praying together in my office, sharing laughs over funny stories and pictures, kidding each other about sermon length and yet another story about yet another cruise, Elvin and Beth cared for me. They cared for the young people of our church, faithfully teaching and volunteering in our children’s programs. They cared about the older people in our church, tirelessly planning and coordinating more events and functions than you could imagine. They cared about the needy and the marginalized of our community, setting up and serving and tearing down and cleaning at every single Give Away Day. They cared about the lost of the world, giving and giving and giving to our local and foreign missions efforts. Elvin and Beth cared about God’s Church. And they cared about God’s Gospel preachers. And they went way out of their way to care for me.

Elvin died early this morning. And my heart goes out to his sweet wife, Beth.

There is in store today a crown of righteousness for my brother, Elvin, awarded to him by our Lord, the righteous Judge. Elvin has finished his race. And he ran it well. He ran it very well.

Grace & Peace,

Allan

The Second Tablet

December 4, 2012 / / 0 Comments

When God is reminding his people of the covenant promises in Deuteronomy, he vows that if they worship idols they will lose their land. If they commit idolatry/adultery with the foreign gods, if they worship these other dieties, God will send them into exile. He made those promises over and over again in Deuteronomy.

And the people worshiped idols.

Almost immediately upon entering the Promised Land, God’s people began worshiping the foreign gods. They built high places and shrines, they offered sacrifices and song, they worshiped idols. Off and on for more than 700 years, God’s people worshiped these false gods. For over seven centuries, our Lord showed tremendous patience with his people. He exhibited great restraint in not following through on his promises to strip them of their land for these atrocious acts of rebellion. They turned their backs on YHWH. They disrespected his name. They ignored him and sometimes cursed him. But our Father was long suffering with his chosen people.

In Amos, we see for the very first time in Scripture a distinction among God’s holy people between the rich and the poor. Our God speaks through the prophet and points out that the rich were getting richer at the expense of the poor. The orphan, the widow, and the stranger in the gate were not just being ignored, they were being exploited by the wealthy, for the benefit of the elite. 

“They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name.
They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.”
~Amos 2:6-8

“You hate the one who reproves in court and despise him who tells the truth.
You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain…
You oppress the righteous and take bribes
and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
~Amos 5:10-12

God points out the injustice against the poor, the systemic oppression against those most defenseless in society, the exploitation of those who are unable to help themselves, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and he condemns it. This is completely contrary to God’s eternal plan for his people, this is exactly the opposite of what he’s wanting to do through his children for the sake of the rest of the world. So he condemns them and he takes away their land.

In less than 25 years.

It’s almost immediate. In less than one generation, God sends the Assyrians into his chosen nation and, in a divine act of punishment, demolishes them for their sins against the poor.

That’s astonishing, isn’t it?

It appears in Amos that repeated breaking of the “first tablet” of the Law — the commandments dealing with love and God and respect for his holy name — isn’t nearly as offensive to God as the breaking of the “second tablet” which deals with love of neighbor and respect for our own brothers and sisters. Jesus and all the rabbis before him taught that love of God was the most important command and love of neighbor the second. I believe that is still true. But it seems that God shows much more patience when we sin directly against him than when we sin against the poor and the weak. It looks like God’s wrath is quickly aroused when we sin against the marginalized and the defenseless. He won’t tolerate us abusing or ignoring the “least of these.”

There are at least two lessons here: One, we must pay careful attention to our attitudes and our actions regarding the weak and the poor. The comments we make, the jokes we tell, the thoughts we think, the deeds we do or don’t do, the decisions we make — so many of these things impact the defenseless people around us. We should be careful to honor them. We should be diligent to help them. And, two, in the manner of our Lord, we should be much more offended when someone treats another harshly and much less offended when we ourselves are treated harshly. We should show more patience and more understanding when we are neglected or harmed. We should be quick to speak up and act out when the least among us are similarly neglected or harmed.

Amos teaches us that God takes our behavior seriously. Our worship is meaningless to us and to our world, and an offense to our Lord, if it doesn’t compel us to serve others in his name and in his manner every day.

Peace,

Allan

 

Net Gains

November 9, 2012 / / 0 Comments

During a staff meeting this week we found ourselves hashing and re-hashing the results of Tuesday’s presidential election. We were cussing and discussing United States politics and election laws, health care and tax cuts, states’ rights and federal freedoms. Less than ten minutes into our conversation we were mercifully interrupted by a 54-second video, emailed to the church office by Silvance Okoth, the principal at the Alara School in Kenya.

He sent the video in order to thank the Central church for the 135 mosquito nets we purchased for them three weeks ago. He wanted to let us know that the young children and the school staff were now safe from the malaria-carrying mosquitoes that are infecting that whole region with disease and death. The $400 we sent them last month, he wanted us to know, were saving lives in that church and school community.

Most of the Pre-K through 4th grade students in the Alara School have lost loved ones and friends over the past year because of the malaria outbreak. Some of them have lost parents and grandparents; some of them have lost neighbors and playmates. Today they are receiving comfort and protection. They are no longer afraid, because we bought some mosquito nets. Tonight they are sleeping in peace, because we sent them $400.

What a powerful reminder of our focus as children of God. What an awakening to our mission as disciples of our Christ. Our Father is changing the world through self-giving love and sacrificial service. He’s showing mercy and grace to the widow, the orphan, and the stranger in the gate. What a blessing to participate in that holy work. How marvelous to partner with the Creator to redeem and restore in the manner of our Lord. What a shame when we allow anything — ANYTHING! — to distract us or get in our way.

Peace,

Allan

Greater Things Than These

October 23, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.” ~John 14:12

Around the dinner table on that last night, Jesus tells his closest disciples that, by the power of his Holy Spirit, they will do greater things than even he had done. “I’m leaving,” Jesus says. “But I’m sending my Spirit to you and you’re going to not only continue doing what I have done, you’re going to do even better.”

???????

I have a difficult time with this verse. I know my own life. I know my sins and my failures. They are many. I’m a dedicated follower of our Lord, yes, but I can’t begin to do what he did, much less more than he did. Or greater things than he did. Greater things? Greater things than Christ Jesus? Even with the almighty power of God’s Holy Spirit living in me, I can’t imagine anything I could ever do for God’s Kingdom as being classified by Jesus as greater than what he had done.

“Greater” could mean broader or wider. Yes, it could mean that the Spirit is working through the Church now to spread the good news of salvation from God in Christ around the whole planet. In that sense, the Church today has a “greater” reach than Jesus and his faithful disciples in and around Galilee.

But I can’t ignore the fact that Jesus uses the singular pronoun “anyone” when he talks about these greater things. He’s speaking about individuals.

Could it be that the really amazing things Jesus did on this earth weren’t really the healings and the exorcisms and the feedings of the multitudes? Is it possible that, in God’s eyes, Jesus’ acts of humility and service were really the “greater things?” While he walked in our shoes, the Son of God displayed amazing obedience and sacrifice. Our Lord humbled himself and put his very life at risk in order to save others. He submitted. He not only submitted to the Father, he submitted to the world. For the sake of the world. It is amazing what Jesus did while he was here.

Is it more amazing, again, in the eyes of God, that sinful human beings also sacrifice and submit and obey? The very fact that fallen and finite men and women, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can display incredible acts of humility and service might just blow the angels in heaven out of the water. God’s Spirit enables even us to serve like Jesus, to obey, to be submissive, to be generous to others as Christ was and is. It is great! It’s almost unbelievable! Greater than what Jesus did, maybe, in that we’re sinful humans! It’s mind-blowing! I think it might be a tremendous wonder in heaven when the angels consider that the Spirit of God actually does so much good through us weak and sinful human beings. They may applaud our measly acts of service and humility as the most amazing things in the universe!

Only by the grace of God and power of his Spirit are we able to truly obey, to really submit, to actually sacrifice and risk in order to serve others. His Spirit changes us. He transforms us. He enables us to act like and look like his Holy Son. A holy and righteous and eternal Creator living inside unholy and sinful and finite human beings in order to save the world. It’s not a different ministry from what Christ did on this earth. It’s the same ministry; it’s a continuation of God’s plan to redeem all of creation back to himself. So you are empowered to do these great things. You are enabled to sacrifice and serve. You are used by God to submit and obey. You are empowered to put others’ needs ahead of your own. You are a co-worker with God, partnering with him in this great salvation work. Believe it or not, in this blessed age of the Spirit, what’s happening right now through you, Christ’s disciple, is the greatest and most amazing yet.

Peace,

Allan

Mourning With Those Who Mourn

October 22, 2012 / / 0 Comments

We were so honored yesterday at Central to host the 30th annual Rose Memorial Service for BSA Home Care and Hospice. The worship service and ceremony intends to remember loved ones who have died in the past year and to remind those who are grieving that we still remember, too, and mourn with them even today.

Yesterday was only the second time for our church familly to host this powerfully moving event — the only other time was in October 1996. And I’m proud to say that our volunteers here mobilized and organized to give everyone in attendance a marvelous experience. Kevin Schaffer led the congregational singing and performed a majestic solo rendition of The Lord’s Prayer. Our women’s ministry set up the tables and chairs and cooked and served all the food. Our decorators and ushers and sound booth guys made certain that everything was in the right place at the right time. And I think I probably stayed within five or six minutes of Davlyn’s mandated seven minute limit on the homily.

The service and ceremony were absolutely beautiful. Candles were lit for the family members and friends who have passed away. Their memories were celebrated and  preserved. God was praised. Tears were shed and hugs were shared as families reconnected with the nurses who had provided such tender care during such trying times. Encouraging words from our Savior were read and affirmed. Pricilla Miller blessed everybody in the room as she “sang” in sign language the compelling “I Will Rise.”

What a wonderful opportunity for all of us here at Central to join our community in grieving. What a chance for us to be truly incarnational, to really reflect the glory of our Lord in mourning with others, in being one with others in their distress. As we provided voice for the songs and shoulders to cry on, the Spirit of God used our church family yesterday to support and encourage the people of Amarillo. To inspire.

One woman told me the service was beautiful, and then added, “And that’s coming from a Presbyterian!” Another woman said, “The Church of Christ came through for us today!” I say we should give God the glory. Our people are to be thanked for jumping at the chance to serve. But our God is to be eternally praised for the glorious blessings we all shared together.

Peace,

Allan

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