The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Promise (Page 1 of 10)

His Glorious Riches

April 9, 2025 / / 0 Comments

The Stars lost a heart-breaker last night in a way no team has ever lost before. Dallas was leading the Canucks 3-0 heading into the third period and, after Vancouver scored two quick goals to pull to within one, the Stars scored two more, including an empty-netter with 2:20 to play, to go back up by three. With one minute left in the game, Dallas led 5-2. One minute later it was tied and headed to overtime. For the very first time in NHL history, a team trailed by three in the final minute and scored three goals to force overtime. It’s never happened before. It was stunning. I’ve never seen anything like it. And it hurt bad.

Dallas has lost three straight now for the first time all season and they had a third period lead in all three games. They’ve left a lot of points in the standings on the table the past week or so. Instead of being one or two points behind Winnipeg and tomorrow’s game against the Jets being for first place in the division and the number one seed in the Western Conference, it’s only for how far behind Winnipeg they’re going to finish. Whitney and I bought tickets for tomorrow’s game, hoping it would be for the division title and the top seed. But the Stars are four points down and reeling. Whit and I will see in person tomorrow how the team responds to the historically impossible meltdown. It all but guarantees a first round matchup with the Avalanche in a week-and-a-half, and nobody wanted that.

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The prayer at the end of Ephesians 3 is loaded with hefty theology. It’s packed with soaring adjectives and lofty descriptions of God’s eternal promises and our unshakable confidence. I’d like to focus today on one simple phrase at the beginning of the prayer that sometimes goes overlooked.

“Out of his glorious riches…”

The prayer asks God to strengthen us with power out of his glorious riches. The literal Greek words in the original text are “his wealth of glory.” It could be translated “glorious wealth” or “the riches of God’s glory.” One translation says, “God’s unlimited resources.” Either way, what it means is that God is never going to run out.

God is never going to run out of what he has for you. Do you think God’s going to run out?

He is never going to run out of love for you. It’s part of his glory, his nature. God is not going to run out of mercy or goodness or comfort or peace for you. Knowing that should give you strength. Having direct access to all of who God is and his glorious riches for you gives you power.

But he won’t keep forgiving me for the same thing over and over, not for this long.

Yes. He will. He won’t run out of forgiveness for you.

But God won’t take me back again. He won’t let me come back after what I’ve done.

Yes. He will. You can’t use up God’s goodness toward you, his desire to be in relationship with you. His love for you is without limit. Out of our God’s glorious riches, he strengthens you with power.

Peace,

Allan

An Unending Love

March 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I came across this poem about three weeks ago and have read it out loud and talked to the Lord about it several times since then. It’s written by Rabbi Rami Shapiro and has been a source of deep blessing for me lately. I hope it will be for you, too.

We are loved by an unending love.

We are embraced by arms that find us even when we are hidden from ourselves.
We are touched by fingers that soothe us even when we are too proud for soothing.
We are counseled by voices that guide us even when we are too embittered to hear.

We are loved by an unending love.

We are supported by hands that uplift us even in the midst of a fall.
We are urged on by eyes that meet us even when we are too weak for meeting.

We are loved by an unending love.

Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled,
ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices;
ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles.

We are loved by an unending love.

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March Madness begins today and that means keeping up with the seven brackets in our annual family contest. Seven. Not eight. Carley entered a bracket for their dog that selected every school with a canine/wolf mascot, but I’m not keeping up with it. I’ve got Houston, Baylor, Creighton, and UConn in the Final Four with Cougar High beating the Huskies for the national title. I’m fine with losing to Collin or David. I could even get over it if Whitney scores better than me. But if I lose to the dog, I’ll never fill out another bracket again.

Peace,

Allan

The Triumph of Faith

August 22, 2023 / / 0 Comments

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior!”

~ Habakkuk 3:17-18

Pay Attention to the Present

April 20, 2021 / / 0 Comments

The main thing with the pandemic has been, and still is, the uncertainty. We don’t know anything. For more than a year now we have collectively felt like we’re on the brink of… what? We don’t know! Something significant, we think. We feel like it’s big and it’s going to leave a mark. But there’s still so much – even today – uncertainty.

Should I get the shot? How long will my immunity last? What is my city going to look like on the other side of this? What kind of church are we going to have? What about the variants? What about the economy? How much longer do we need to wear masks? Are we going to go through this every winter? Was the whole thing blown out of proportion? Or should we have done even more? We don’t know! And the stress of the uncertainty is unsettling.

“This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God.” ~2 Corinthians 1:9

Many times I’ve asked people who are going through a major life thing, “What is God doing with this right now?” You’re putting your mom in a nursing home, you’re pregnant with twins, you’ve been diagnosed with cancer – your life as you know it is changing. What do you think God is doing?

This is what I hear: “I haven’t thought about it.”

You haven’t thought about it? Well, for pity’s sake, you need to start thinking about it!

God has not abandoned you. He’s not on vacation somewhere and can’t see you right now. The Lord is near. He’s in this with you. Pay attention to what he’s doing. Don’t go through a major thing in your life and not be transformed by him. Be aware. Be on the lookout.

When something really great happens to you, think about how God is shaping you in that. You know that every good and perfect gift comes from him. You know the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it belongs to him. So you’re just the manager of this gift from God. How is he wanting you to manage it? Pay attention.

When something really awful happens to you, think about how God is forming you in that. You that God is working in all things for your good. You know his strength is made perfect in your weakness. So this is an opportunity for growth and witness. How is God wanting you to mature? How is he wanting you to testify? Pay attention.

During a crisis or a major transition, we can get locked in on the wrong things. We can ask the wrong questions. That’s what Jesus is addressing in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. What will I eat and drink? What will I wear? What if I get sick? How do we make up the money we’ve lost? What are we never going to get back? All of that is legitimate. Those are fair questions and real things we’re all dealing with. But Jesus brings our attention to a godly focus when he says:

“Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” ~Matthew 6:33

No matter your present circumstances, you’ve got to be awake to God’s Kingdom and God’s will and his work in those circumstances because if you’re not, you’re going to be eaten up with anxiety. If you’re not viewing your present situation in light of God’s love for you and his power and will to work all things together for your good and the good of his everlasting Kingdom, you’re going to be paralyzed with worry and fear.

If we care about what kind of people we’re going to be on the other side of this pandemic, we have to care deeply about the kind of people we’re becoming every single day DURING the pandemic. We’re not going to be faithful Kingdom-seekers on this side of it if we’re not paying attention to what God is doing in our lives right now.

The question is not “What?” What if this happens? What if that happens?

The question is not “How?” How am I going to do this? How is this going to work out?

The question is “Who?” Who’s making it happen? Who’s working it out?

Your Father. The Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth who loves you and who is right there with you in the middle of your situation.

When life happens – when a pandemic changes everything – you can wring your hands and say, “I don’t know!” Or you can lift your hands and say, “God knows! I’m not going to rely on myself in this, I’m relying on God!”

Peace,

Allan

Gain Perspective from the Past

April 19, 2021 / / 0 Comments

It feels like we’re coming out of the pandemic. Slowly. Thankfully. In fits and starts. And I know your life has been impacted over the past twelve months. Some of us lost money and jobs, some of us lost senior years and graduations, some of us lost loved ones and buried them without funerals. Vacations were postponed, holidays were canceled. What was going well for you before the pandemic was probably disrupted and stressed. What wasn’t so great before the coronavirus probably got worse. We’ve all been affected differently by this thing, but we have ALL been affected.

As we begin the slow transition to whatever the future holds, we need to reflect on where we’ve been and where we are. We can’t really turn the page on something new, something post-pandemic, until we’ve taken a hard, honest look at what’s happened DURING the pandemic.

I would suggest using 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 as a backdrop for your prayers and reflections.

“This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he is delivering us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.”

Scripture gives us the proper perspective on difficulties and tough times. The Apostle Paul says these kinds of trials are to teach us not to rely on ourselves but on God. Placing you in a desert like this is how God shapes you. When you’re in a desert, you can’t survive without God’s intervention. If God doesn’t provide water, you die. If he doesn’t give you bread, you die. If God doesn’t provide shade or rescue, it’s over. You rely completely on God when you’re putting one foot in front of the other in a barren desert.

And that’s exactly where God shapes you. God trains you in the desert. He draws you closer and causes you to depend on him more.

Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they spent 40 years in the desert. God gave them manna and quail from heaven and water from a rock. And it changed them into the people he wanted them to be.

David spent time in the desert running for his life, hiding in caves, barely staying half-a-step ahead of the enemies who wanted him dead. God protected him and provided for him in the oasis at En Gedi. And it changed him into the greatest king Israel’s ever known.

Elijah complained while he was in the desert. He spent his time griping to God. He couldn’t understand why the Lord would allow bad things to happen to him when he had been so good. But God sent an angel with food to Elijah and the Lord spoke to Elijah in a still, quiet voice. And it shaped him into God’s greatest prophet.

Our Lord Jesus was baptized and preparing to launch his salvation mission to the world when God’s Holy Spirit drove him into the desert. No food, no water; tempted and tortured by the devil for 40 days. Protected and provided for by God. That’s where the Father equipped him to do what God needed him to do.

I know this has been your experience, too. When your dad died. When you lost your job. God formed you during that time. You started reading the Bible more during the tough time and God spoke to you.

When you moved to a new town or when your last kid moved out of the house, God put the exact right people into your life and he changed you.

After the funeral, you immersed yourself in that service project, you started doing more for others. And God shaped you.

When you were in that horrible financial mess, when your marriage was threatened, when your child was diagnosed, you started spending more time in prayer, just you and God, and he convinced you of some things you never would have heard otherwise.

Gain perspective from the past. God has delivered you, he is delivering you, and he will continue to deliver you.

Peace,

Allan

Everything New!

January 1, 2021 / / 0 Comments

These are the five most exciting words in all of Scripture:

“I am making everything new!” ~Revelation 21:5

This is the divine promise. This is the holy guarantee. This is the dramatic climax to the Gospel story we’re living right now in Jesus Christ. Not new like an existing breakfast cereal that adds additional marshmallow moons, not new like a laundry detergent that features a unique cleaning agent. It’s not a different label, a brighter color, or a longer lasting battery.

This is new heaven and new earth new. This is no more tears, no more suffering, no more pain, no more death new. This is mourning being turned into dancing new. Emptiness to fullness new. Bitterness to joy new. Death to life new. Our Lord is making everything new!

May our Lord move you into his “new” as he moves you and yours into 2021.

“The old order of things has passed away! I am making everything new! Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true!” ~Revelation 21:4-5

Peace!

Allan

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