The Kingdom, The Kids, & the Cowboys

“Be careful what you ask for…”

You’ve heard that before, right? Maybe you’ve even said it before. “Be careful what you ask for…”

Why?

“…because you just might get it.”

If my understanding of salvation is correct, God’s Holy Spirit is transforming us, changing us into the image of Christ. “Christ in us” is our hope of glory. We are being transformed “into the image of Christ with ever increasing glory.” Paul calls this “being saved.” It’s a process. It’s a journey. It’s a gradual becoming.

And it involves suffering.

Jesus made it plain: “All men will hate you because of me” (Matthew 10:22).

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18).

Paul knew it, too: “Every one who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

See, we don’t normally think this way. We preach and teach, we believe and confess that if the whole world acted more like Jesus everybody would love everybody. If we thought and behaved more like our Lord, people would love us and be attracted to us. The Scriptural truth and the ultimate reality is that if we become more like Jesus, people will actually hate us. It’s unavoidable. If you want a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, then stay away from Jesus! The danger and risk and exposure to suffering increases in proportion to the depth of our relationship with the Christ.

Maybe this is why we sit back and settle for a casual relationship with Christ and just routine religion in the church. It’s safe at most churches. And, the way most of us do it, it’s actually pretty popular to be a Christian and go to church. As long as we’re pursuing the same goals and values and uphold the same ideals as everybody else in the world, even if we put a Christian label on it, the world’s cool with us. As long as our Christianity looks like the American Dream, we’re not going to have many problems.

But Jesus says, “Everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).

Our Teacher was mocked and beaten and ridiculed and persecuted and betrayed and murdered. He suffered and sacrificed and bled and died. Do we really want to be like him?

“It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29).

Peter says we shouldn’t be surprised when it happens. Paul says we should consider it a joy. Scripture upholds that suffering is a gift. Christ gives us a gift — suffering. It’s a blessing. It’s a grace. It’s transformational. It’s life; eternal life. It’s discipleship; being like Jesus. Sanctification; being changed. Salvation; being saved.

Make me a servant; Lord, make me like you.

Be careful what you ask for.

Peace,

Allan

“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” ~Philippians 1:27

The apostle Paul intentionally uses political language, the very Greek words from which we get our English words “politics” and “politicians,” to drive home a very important point to the little church in Philippi: “Our citizenship is in heaven.” (Phil. 3:20)

To confess that Jesus is Lord is to say Caesar is not. To claim citizenship in heaven is to declare our allegiance, first and foremost, to God’s Kingdom, not the Empire. To conduct ourselves politically or to behave as a citizen of that Kingdom and as subjects of our crucified and resurrected King is to first understand that none of it is of this world. The Kingdom to which we belong transcends all national borders. The Kingdom respects no geographical boundaries or distinctions of powers. And as colonists living under the rule of our Christ, we rise above any national thought, national pride, or national agenda. The Gospel of Jesus levels all of us into an eternal and international community of those who follow the Savior. And it’s his Kingdom that deserves — no, demands! — our undying allegiance.

If citizens of heaven do choose to engage in the politics of America or any other earthly country, we approach it, above all, from the standpoint of our relationship with God through his Son, our only King. Scripture tells us that disciples of Jesus survive in a hostile environment not by legal proceedings against persecutors but by endurance; not by imposing a lifestyle on others through law but by living holy lives that compel others to watch us; not by destroying others with emails and sound bites but by respecting them even as we witness to the eternal truths of the Gospel; not by hating and killing but by loving and serving. And praying.

With that in mind, I want to offer a few things this weekend for your reflection as you and I remember and respond to what happened ten years ago.

Christianity Today has devoted the entirety of its current issue to Christian reflection and response to the terrorist attacks of 9-11. It’s all very good reading. Varied and provocative. There’s an especially interesting section entitled How Evangelical Leaders Have Changed Since 9/11 which contains the thoughts of preachers and pastors and authors and worship ministers and other church leaders. It’s good. The best in that section comes from William Willimon, an outstanding Christian author and theologian:

On 9/11 I thought, ‘For the most powerful, militarized nation in the world also to think of itself as an innocent victim is deadly.’ It was a rare prophetic moment for me, considering Presidents Bush and Obama have spent billions asking the military to rectify the crime of a small band of lawless individuals, destroying a couple of nations who had little to do with it, in the costliest, longest series of wars in the history of the United States.

The silence of most Christians and the giddy enthusiasm of a few, as well as the ubiquity of flags and patriotic extravaganzas in allegedly evangelical churches, says to me that American Christians may look back upon our reponse to 9/11 as our greatest Christological defeat. It was shattering to admit that we had lost the theological means to distinguish between the United States and the Kingdom of God. The criminals who perpetrated 9/11 and the flag-waving boosters of our almost exclusively martial response were of one mind: that the nonviolent way of Jesus is stupid. All of us preachers share the shame; when our people felt very vulnerable, they reached for the flag, not the cross.

September 11 has changed me. I’m going to preach as never before about Christ crucified as the answer to the question of what’s wrong with the world. I have also resolved to relentlessly reiterate from the pulpit that the worst day in history was not a Tuesday in New York, but a Friday in Jerusalem when a consortium of clergy and politicians colluded to run the world on our own terms by crucifying God’s own Son.

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My great friend Jim Martin has used his blog, A Place For the God-Hungry, to ask preachers this week what they’re going to preach this Sunday. Again, the nearly 50 comments are worth reading. They are varied and provocative. Very helpful in guiding us to reflect and respond in a manner worthy of our Lord’s Gospel.

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Our Messiah has commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. As disciples of the Prince of Peace, we are also to pray and anticipate and work toward the ultimate shalom that will be realized when God’s Kingdom comes in all its glory, when our Father’s will is truly and finally done on earth just as it is in heaven. A good resource for meditation and reflection in these areas is the Book of Common Prayer. I would especially recommend the section on Prayers for Peace and Justice.

For Peace: Eternal God, in whose perfect Kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength but the strength of love; so mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and forever. Amen.

For Peace: Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

For Our Enemies: O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies, lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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A few months ago, Jim Gardner turned me on to Kurt Willems at The Pangea Blog. Kurt is a former classmate of Jim’s at the Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. You might check out his angle on how Jesus washing Judas’ feet on the night he was betrayed serves as our model for dealing with our enemies. The article is “9/11 and Jesus’ Approach to Enemies of the State.”

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My great hope is that when we gather in the name and manner of our Lord Jesus this Sunday morning we will think and speak and behave and worship in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. While we’re naming the evil, may we also point to the sovereignty of our Father who “reigns over the nations” and “is seated on his heavenly throne.” While we’re praying for soldiers of the United States military and their families, may we also lift up the soldiers and families of the Iraq and Afghanistan armies to our God “who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” And while we teach and preach on the repentance and restoration of America and America’s churches, may we also teach and preach on the redemption and the reconciliation of all of creation according to the holy will of our eternal Father.

Lord, come quickly.

Allan

“My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” ~ Philippians 4:19-20

We are still riding the incredible wave of Spirit energy and enthusiasm generated by our God’s kind and gracious actions with his people at Legacy on Sunday. It was our annual Missions Sunday. We had prayerfully set a pretty lofty goal of collecting $250,702 to fund our entire local and foreign missions budget for 2011. And on Sunday, our Lord blew that number right out of the water. And he blew us all away with many powerful reminders of his great love and faithfulness.

Our God came through big time on Sunday: $273,327!! And the money is still coming in!! Give him all the glory and praise!!

But that doesn’t even begin to tell half the story of our Sunday with God and his people at Legacy.

Our assembly time began with our kids. All our precious kids, from two-years-old through sixth grade, inspired us with their dramatic offerings and bold proclamations of what God is doing through them. The congregation burst out with audible gasps as each class announced their total offerings. $64! $298! $101. The second grade brought in more than $900! And they gave with such joy. God showed us through our children what cheerful giving looks like.

David and Olivia Nelson shared the Word with us from the middle of their evening assembly in Kharkov, Ukraine. As we listened to the words from Acts 2:42-47, the camera panned around the Nelsons’ living room to show us that they were packed to the gills. Standing room only. In fact, the Father’s provision is forcing them to begin planning for a second congregation due to the sheer numbers of people who are coming to study the Bible. God showed us through David and Olivia what faithfulness to his mission call looks like.

Then, my great friend Manuel Calderon captivated us with stories about what our God is doing in the Hispanic communities of the Rosemont area of South Fort Worth. Melissa brought tears to the eyes of everyone who heard her stirring testimony to God’s transforming power that has changed her from a lost and lonely lesbian to a saved sister in the Lord’s Kingdom. Then, Irvin moved us with his undeniable witness to the Spirit’s work that has rescued him from a life of alcohol and drug abuse and gang violence to one of eternal salvation and peace in Christ Jesus. God showed us through these two disciples what “new creation” really looks like.

All of this is further proof to our church family that our God is alive and working with his people. It’s further testimony to our God’s faithfulness to his children. It’s lasting evidence that his Holy Spirit is convicting and transforming the world.

We are at our best on Missions Sunday. We are thinking about others instead of ourselves. We are sacrificing and giving of ourselves and our resources for the higher causes of Christ. We arrive at the building with great expectations and we are unified in our communion and worship. And blessings just seem to pile on top of blessings.

Our Father is keeping his covenant promises to Legacy and to all of his creation. May he be glorified and may his Son be exalted for ever and ever. Amen.

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Allright, all you facebook fanatics who keep telling me to get an account, watch this video. It’s an Onion parody that presents facebook as a CIA enterprise meant to collect and compile information on everybody in the world. One of the funniest lines in the video is about the government’s disappointment with Twitter, another of their attempts at spying on the public: “400 billion tweets, and not one useful bit of data has ever been transmitted.”

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Finally, March Gladness of a different strain. I have reclaimed my crown as the college basketball king at Stanglin Manor. It wasn’t pretty. Nobody in the house picked a single Final Four team. So, the final results are in and, for the first time in four years, I’m back on top. I finished with 58 points by correctly selecting five of the Elite Eight, barely edging Carley who finished with 57. Whitney came in third place with 53 points, followed by Carrie-Anne’s 52 and Valerie’s 31. This means I get to pick where we dine when we break our Missions Month fast from eating out. I can smell and taste those buffalo chicken strips at Cheddar’s right now.

Go VCU. Whatever.

Peace,

Allan

As you can imagine, I have a stack of articles and papers in my study here that I intend to write about in this space. As you also know, that stack tends to pile up and grow as other things press in on me and immediate concerns crowd into my blog posts. Near the bottom of this pile is something from the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of ACU Today. It’s a list of bullet points from a 1993 speech made by then university president Dr. Royse Money.

At the beginning of the speech, Money declares, “I come to you tonight with a heavy burden on my heart for the Church. As we seek to be the Church that belongs to Jesus Christ, I see hindrances along our way that impede our progress. I want to be honest with you tonight and discuss some issues and problems and challenges we face in our fellowship (Church of Christ) that are not easy or pleasant to discuss. But we must.”

This month at Legacy we’re talking about what’s NEXT. What’s NEXT in your walk with Jesus? What’s NEXT for our congregation? What is God calling you to NEXT? Where is Christ leading us NEXT? We’re looking at Peter’s “add to your faith…” We’re considering Paul’s call to “attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” and “straining toward what is ahead,” and “pressing on.”

Legacy’s elders and ministers are gearing up for our annual retreat together tonight and tomorrow at Camp Carter on the other side of Fort Worth. In the midst of our prayers and planning and reflections heading into this weekend, Money’s bullet points are worth considering. For Legacy. For your church. For your congregation’s leaders. For you as a child of God and a disciple of his Christ.

~We must realize that unity does not mean uniformity of belief.
~We must determine the essentials of faith apart from traditions, customs, comfort and personal preference.
~We must realize in dealing with those who differ with us, both within our fellowship and beyond, that tolerance and a certain level of fellowship is not the same as total endorsement of another’s views.
~We must learn to handle diversity in a charitable way.
~We must mark those who cause division among us.
~We must rediscover that in our allegiance to Christ, the bride wears the name of the Groom.
~We must realize that the enemy is Satan and not each other.
~We must determine what the real issues are regarding the role of women in the Church.
~We must decide on the way Scripture should be interpreted.
~We must realize the powerful dynamics of change.
~We must rededicate ourselves to search relentlessly for truth as it’s revealed in the Scriptures.

To Money’s excellent observations and clarion call for action, I would add a couple of my own:

~We must shift our focus from pastoring the saved inside our walls to saving the lost outside our walls.
~We must be motivated by Christ’s love instead of by a driving desire to be right.
~We must relax and stop taking ourselves so seriously as we realize we live under and in the grace of God.

We ignore these things at our own peril. Just talking about them and feeling like we’ve done something isn’t enough. Action must be taken. Hearts must soften. Lives must change. Leaders must lead. Pro-active instead of reactive. Just holding our own isn’t cutting it. Christ’s compelling love wasn’t given freely to us so we can huddle up and play church and avoid doing anything wrong. His sacrifice on the cross and the Holy Spirit’s powerful work at the garden tomb is a call to action. Holy action. Christian leadership. The Kingdom of God is “forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it!”

May our merciful Father bless us with wisdom and vision. May he graciously overcome our staggering incapabilities to lead his people forward in his eternal Kingdom.

Peace,

Allan

I’m intrigued this week by these words of Paul:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on… I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on… ~Philippians 3:12-14

Think about everything the apostle Paul had achieved at this point. He had received the best formal education available. He had studied and excelled at the feet of the very best teachers alive. He had been on the fast track, politically and religiously, to the highest positions of power and authority. He had seen the risen Lord. He had spoken with the Christ. He had witnessed and performed many miracles. He had been delivered from danger time and time again by God’s Holy Spirit. He had preached in the most important cities. He had trained the greatest teachers. He had planted the best churches.

Paul’s list of spiritual experiences and religious achievements was long.

But he presses on as if he’s accomplished nothing. He strains ahead as if he’s had no success. He keeps looking for and yearning for what’s next.

And then he writes, “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things” (Phil. 3:15)

I think Peter had the same attitude:

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective adn unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~2 Peter 1:5-8

It seems to me that the older we are, the more Christ-like we should be. It’s the oldest among us, the ones who’ve been at this longer, who display more self-control. Our older brothers and sisters show more kindness and love. The ones who’ve been disciples longer are the ones who are “more good.” More persevering. More like our God than those who are younger.

More like God?

Yeah. Peter says “in increasing measure.”

This means it’s the older among us who would be more forgiving, more patient, more gracious and compassionate, more sacrificing and giving, more tolerant of the shortcomings of others. Adding those Christ-like qualities in increasing quantities every day keeps us from getting stale. It prevents us from getting into a rut and not being any good to God’s Kingdom.

“I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.” ~2 Peter 1:12

We older Christians can be prone to crankiness and sour attitudes. We can sometimes be bossy and demanding and impatient. We can occasionally come across to others as unkind or unloving.

It’s just that we have much less of an excuse than the younger ones.

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It’s getting harder and harder to root against the Cowboys.

I have always loved Jason Garrett. Garrett is all business. He doesn’t mess around. He knows what it takes to get where they want and he won’t let anybody or anything stop him from getting there. He does it with integrity. And character. He’ll cut slackers and send loafers to the asthma field. He’ll jump up and down and celebrate at the appropriate times. And not a minute sooner.

If Jerry Wayne really is going to give Garrett as much control as he gave Jimmy Johnson, if Jerry really is going to back off on demanding his way in on-the-field matters, if Jerry is going to allow coaches to coach and players to play, then I think I’m going to take a very neutral and un-biased approach to this next season. Providing there is one.

It’s nice to occasionally see the good guys prevail. The ones who do it right, starting from scratch and making it happen with dedication and hard work. Smart guys. People who use their brains and think right. Good for Jason Garrett. And good for these young men who get to play for him.

Peace,

Allan

To Jason, Jim, Grady, Jim, Rick, Kyle, Greg, Chris, Erich, Charlie, John Mark, Jordan, David, Scott, Terry, Larry, Buddy, and Patrick:

You are not a salesman, you are a mediator of God’s Holy Spirit. You are not a motivational speaker, you are a faithful proclaimer of God’s Gospel. You are not a therapist, you are a Christian minister. Self-help tips are not the tools of your trade; it’s the inspired Scriptures. You are not a church chaplain, holding the hands of church people as you go about church business; you are a powerful spokesman for God, confronting sin and calling our Lord’s people to repentance. You are not a comedian, you are a comforter to those who dwell in dark places. Your call did not come from a family member or a spouse or a professor or a mentor, it came from the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth. Your passions are not motivated by financial gain or popularity or prestige, but by the burning desire in your bones to seek and save the lost. Your goal is not to fill pews and collection trays, it is to forcefully advance the Kingdom of Heaven in the hearts and lives of your hearers and in your community.

You guys are so cool.

You give it up every day. Every day. You live it. You breathe it. You assimilate it into every cell of your being and it radiates through every one of your words and deeds to bless with God’s grace every person you meet. It’s incredible, really, how powerful you are. Very powerful. A critical cog in God’s salvation plan for all mankind, a vital link in his eternal chain to reconcile the world to himself and redeem the heavens and earth. You reside in the company of Isaiah and Ezekiel, Amos and Hosea, John the Baptist and Peter and Paul.

It is our God who works in you. And the cool thing is that you know that without a doubt. It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purposes.

I love you guys. All of you. You inspire me to be better.

I pray God’s richest blessings for you and your great ministries in 2011.

Peace,

Allan