The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Revelation (Page 4 of 8)

Saved in Christ

April 30, 2015 / / 0 Comments

I need to acknowledge the disturbing link that has recently popped up next to the tagline at the top of this website. It says “prescription frr Cialis.” Before that, for maybe a week or so, it said, “Pokémon buy gold Viagra.” Nice. I was first alerted to it early last week. It doesn’t show up on my computer because I’m the administrator, but everybody else sees it. Sneaky. It’s a hack. The links are dead so it’s not hurting anybody. But it’s not what I want at the top of my website. A couple of you have asked if I’ve tapped into a revenue stream. No. But, it’s not a bad idea. If that’s going to be at the top of my blog, I ought to at least be getting paid for it!

We have our very best people working on this, but it’s apparently very complicated. Don’t worry — I’ve been assured it can’t hurt anybody’s computers. It’s just a nuisance. But, yeah, I’m aware of it now.

The jokes I’ve been told about it and some of your one-liners (thank you) are certainly hilarious. Just not publishable.

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Blue BellI need to also address the Blue Bell recall — I haven’t mentioned it yet on this site. I understand the widespread concern and want to assure you that, yes, I am just as concerned. Some friends and I are in the process right now of going back through Revelation to see if there is some cosmic connection between the end of times and what’s happening out of Brenham. This is heavy stuff and we all need to be paying close attention.

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“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” ~Romans 8:1

Saved in Christ!We’re considering this week why so many Christians feel like God is disappointed in them. In their honest moments, research indicates that most Christians feel more condemned by God’s judgment of them and less convinced of his great love for them. Of course, we don’t get that idea at all from Scripture. It comes from outside sources.

If you are in Christ, you are not condemned and cannot be condemned. You are saved. You cannot lose your salvation. You can throw it away, yes, but you cannot lose it. We don’t believe in once saved, always saved; but we certainly don’t believe in once saved, barely saved. There is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ.

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ~Romans 8:31-32

There’s not enough eternity to fathom that point. As the old hymn says, “When I think that God, his Son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in.” He did that. God did that for you. How will he not also graciously give you all things? Good question.

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” ~Romans 5:8-10

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. You were justified by the sin-forgiving, life-bestowing blood of Jesus while you were a sinner. While you were an enemy of God, he saved you. You were not declared righteous for anything you’ve done, so you won’t be declared unrighteous for anything you’ve done. You can’t let God down because you’re not holding God up. This is not related to anything you’ve done or haven’t done. You are saved because of what God has done through Christ Jesus on the cross.

Is God just going to forget about the cross? When it comes to you, is he just going to un-do the cross?

For some reason we get it in our minds that since Christians know better, since we know more, since we’ve been blessed by this saving blood of Christ, we’re going to be held more accountable than others. We’re going to be judged more strictly, more harshly. We know more, so we’re in more danger.

No! Hear the good news, Christian!

Since we’ve been justified, HOW MUCH MORE shall we be saved! Since we’ve been reconciled, HOW MUCH MORE shall we be saved! Why would we assume there is less grace for God’s children? There is more!

More grace. More salvation. No condemnation.

Peace,

Allan

Getting Out a Leaf

April 9, 2015 / / 0 Comments

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.” ~John 15:16

J. R. R. Tolkien, who had one too many middle names, wrote a short story about an artist named Niggle. He was a painter. And Niggle wants to paint a tree, a perfect tree, “a beautiful tree,” he says, “and behind it, snow-capped mountains and a forest marching off.” And so Niggle began painting the first leaf. Painstakingly. With excruciating attention to detail. He painted slowly. Every line had to be perfect. Every color and shade had to be just right. Every single leaf on this beautiful tree would be exquisite.

And Niggle would get interrupted and distracted. He’d grumble from time to time and lose his temper and maybe even cuss, mostly to himself. But he kept at it. Working and painting and laboring over this beautiful tree. And when Niggle dies, he’s only painted one leaf.

Tony Morrow made it his mission to move to Eastern Ukraine to house and feed and train and minister to orphaned kids who have aged out of the government programs. The Central church has partnered with Tony. We bought him a van last year. Some in our church have made Tony’s mission their mission. They’re sending him money and cards and emails, they’re planning to visit Ukraine and minister alongside him themselves. The truth is, there are still thousands of street kids in Ukraine. Tony’s not even making a dent.

For four years Central has been providing weekend meals for Bivins Elementary with the Snack Pak program. 84 children a week. They’d go hungry without it. A lot of our folks work in that important mission: picking up the food, sorting and stuffing the backpacks, delivering it to the school. Yet, more than 32-thousand children in the Panhandle still go hungry every week.

Some of our church family have gone on a Let’s Start Talking trip. Some are planning to go this summer. That’s their mission: teaching people the English language through the Bible. And we believe in it. We train them, we plan the trips, we schedule the whole thing, we help them pay for it. But I’m not sure any of them have witnessed one single baptism.

Loaves & Fishes. Martha’s Home. Another Chance House. We’ve partnered with them for a dozen years and there are just as many homeless men and abused women in Amarillo today as there were when we started.

For nine years, maybe, you’ve poured your life into your next-door neighbor, trying to form a holy relationship that’ll lead her to Christ. So far, nothing.

You’ve spent seven years, maybe, trying to keep a Bible study going at your workplace. It’s sporadic at best. Nobody seems that interested.

For three years, maybe, you’ve given money and brought groceries and bought Christmas presents for the single mother who happens to be your cashier at Toot ‘N’ Totem. She never came to church. Last week she moved to Colorado.

We’ve been doing “4 Amarillo” for more than two years now. But lots of churches still have nothing to do with each other in this city. Division among Churches of Christ is still a huge problem.

Central has been on a mission in downtown Amarillo for 107 years. Good ministry. Gospel ministry. Powerful ministry. And there are still many, many dark and godless places in this city.

Sometimes it feels like we’re only getting a leaf out. We have a beautiful picture in our hearts. And we’re painting that perfect tree with everything we’ve got. And when we die, maybe we’ve only painted one leaf.

In Tolkien’s story, when Niggle dies, he’s going into the afterlife and he sees something way off in the distance. He jumps off the train and runs to the top of the platform and there’s his tree! His tree! His beautifully perfect tree, the one he had felt, the one he had worked on his whole life. In the afterlife, Niggle’s work has become an eternal reality. In heaven, his life’s mission has been made complete, not on canvas, but in the everlasting stuff of new creation.

We spend our lives working on the painting, but it’s only going to be completed on that day in glory. We know that eventually all our work is going to be made perfect because our Christ is returning and he’s bringing heaven with him. Scripture says on that day our work will be shown for what it is. That Day will bring it to light and it will survive. Revelation 14 promises us that the dead who die in the Lord will be blessed and they will rest “for their deeds will follow them.”

Sometimes mission seems like a losing battle. For those who are serious about justice and mercy and peace and love; for those working to bring God’s will to earth just as it is in heaven; it seems like we’re only getting out a couple of leaves. But in the end, the masterpiece that God has placed in your soul, the picture you have in your heart, becomes an eternal reality, far more beautiful and perfect and everlasting than you could ever ask or imagine.

Peace,

Allan

Knowledge is Yummy

March 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

If knowledge is understanding what God is doing, then one of the primary ways we receive this knowledge is through the written Word, the Scriptures. And, according to the Bible itself, that kind of knowledge is delicious.

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” ~Psalm 119:103

I think the Message translates this, “The Word of the Lord is better than the hot sauce at Abuelo’s!”

So, what do the words of God taste like? Have you ever eaten the Word?

“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight.” ~Jeremiah 15:16

What happens when you eat something? It becomes a part of you. You assimilate it. “You are what you eat” is exactly right. And we know this. If a nursing mother eats fajitas for lunch with jalapenos and pico de gallo and onions and hot sauce, she’s going to be up all night — not because she’s sick, but because her baby is sick! The fajitas have become a part of the mom and so impact what she is delivering to others. You are what you eat. I look in the mirror and I can see the Whataburgers and the cheese tots and potato chips. They’ve become a part of me. The biggest part! Jeremiah says, “When your words came, I ate them. I digested them. I assimilated them. I made them a part of me.”

“‘Eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’ So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.” ~Ezekiel 3:3

Ezekiel is being called into God’s service. Speak for me to Israel, God says. Tell them my plans. Tell them what I’m doing. Teach my people. Be an example to my people. Here, eat this scroll. My holy will, eat it. Make it a part of you. Be one with it. Fill your belly. Take it all in.

“I took the scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.” ~Revelation 10:10

The apostle John is on the island of Patmos on the Lord’s Day when he sees the giant angel. As the angel begins to speak, John begins taking notes. It’s just like something we would do, right? He wants to get it all down. Information. Content. I want to get this right. And the angel says, “No, don’t write it down. Eat it!”

The words of Scripture are written by the Holy Spirit in a way to get inside us. They’re intended to become a part of us. We don’t learn Scripture. We don’t use the Bible. We eat it. We ingest it. We take it into our lives in such a way that it metabolizes into acts of love, cups of cold water, hospital and prison visits, casseroles and cakes, groceries delivered, comfort and encouragement and evangelism and justice all done in the knowledge of God.

Isaiah says when the Kingdom is finally perfected, when God’s holy will has all been finally fulfilled, there will be righteousness and justice and peace because “the whole world will be full of the knowledge of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:9). The knowledge of God changes us. It changes the world. It changes everything.

When’s the last time you opened up to Deuteronomy or Joshua or Mark or Philippians and your mouth started to water? Do you ever eat the Word? Not for information, but for transformation!

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It’s a business, that’s all it is. I’ve been convinced for more than 20 years now, the NFL and all its teams are only entities in a vast entertainment enterprise. And I’m as fine with that as I am with the reality of gravity: I know it and I don’t argue about it. Watching a Cowboys game is the same thing as watching a movie. Yes, it’s thousands of times better in a million different ways, but it’s much more like watching a great movie than it is like watching a regional group with all of your same passions and loyalties, your interests and values, compete against another group from somewhere else that represents that region’s people and culture. Yeah, you have a desire for one particular team to defeat the other, but you don’t root so hard as to be ridiculous, right? It’s a TV show! Grown men and women who are affected much more during and after a Cowboys game than they are during and after McFarland USA or Shark Tank seem a bit out of touch to me.

I’m not sure what I would do if I were DeMarco Murray. The NFL’s leading rusher and total yards from scrimmage leader last year is officially now this afternoon signing a free agent contract with the Eagles. I totally understand more money. I get Murray wanting the league-wide respect that apparently comes with the long-term lucrative deal.

But, he’s going from running the ball 25 times per game behind arguably the best and youngest offensive line in the NFL to a place where LeSean McCoy carried only 19 times per game behind a mostly shaky offensive front. Murray will wind up with 90 fewer carries next year behind an inferior line. He won’t get nearly as many opportunities in Chip Kelly’s spread offense — those guys are throwing the ball as soon as they step off the bus. And, besides all that, Murray’s going to have to pay a state income tax up there. Plus, it’s cold in Philadelphia. And the people aren’t nearly as nice as they are down here (mainly because they’re so cold). Is all of that really going to be worth it or is this a really short-sighted move?

Of course, I have no way to know what Jerry Wayne is offering to pay Murray. It may be insulting.

But the first plot line has been written today in the story of the Cowboys 2015 season in the NFC East. We’re off to an entertaining start.

Peace,

Allan

Among You

February 23, 2015 / / 1 Comment

“The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of God is among you.” ~Luke 17:21

The Kingdom of God is not just about Christ’s power on earth. The Kingdom of God is about God’s empowerment of ordinary men and women to be agents of his eternal reign. Not everybody can see it because it’s carried out by a weak little band of disciples. It’s expressed in a single act of forgiveness by a wounded man. It’s realized in a single act of kindness by a little old lady. It’s accomplished in the worship and service rendered by a church in Amarillo.

To talk about conquering power and ruling the world in these tiny little terms might seem silly — as silly as a great tree growing out of a mustard seed. But we see it. You and I have been blessed to see that God in Christ uses these incredibly small things to miraculously grow his eternal Kingdom.

We know that with the coming of Jesus, the old world is losing its grip and a new world is being born. Rome’s rule is coming to an end — for people who thought too highly of the Roman Empire, that was unsettling news. The U.S.A.’s rule is coming to an end — that’s unsettling news for people who think too highly of the American Empire. But it’s true. The Kingdom of God has come and it is coming. Among us. And King Jesus says, “Give up your agenda and take up mine!” Or, to actually quote him:

“The time has come! The Kingdom of God is here! Repent and believe the good news!” ~Mark 1:15

God’s purposes have already been accomplished in Christ. What remains is the unfolding of what’s already been established. So, repent. Repent. Change your life. The realities of the Kingdom of God among us demand it. It’s not feeling differently in your heart; it’s living differently on the ground. The Kingdom of God is not a new religion or a fuzzy spiritual experience or even a plan for personal salvation. The Kingdom of God is about the whole world at last becoming what God has always intended it to be. A whole new world where mourners are always comforted and the hungry are always filled.

So, our lives have to be changed. It’s not just conversion, it’s discipleship; not just individual faith, but Christian unity; not merely forgiveness of sins, but a brand new creation! Jesus’ challenge is not, “How can I have a more meaningful life?” It’s “How can I get my life aligned with God’s will for the world?”

The way Jesus acted, the way he thought, the way he behaved is not how we get into the Kingdom. It’s not “Behave this way and perform all this really well and someday you’ll be worthy to enter the Kingdom of God.” No! Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection says that God’s Kingdom has come to us and is coming among us. Right here, right now, today! So, wake up and live in the light of these new facts of life!

Sometimes we’ll hear people say, “Forgiveness is noble, up to a point, as long as you’re realistic about its limits.” Or, “Prayer can be powerful, but sometimes you just have to face the facts.” Hey, for those of us who have been given the eyes to see the coming of God’s Kingdom, God’s promised victory is an accomplished fact! It is the true reality!

So, we must live it right now. Not like the world lives — no, just the opposite. Like Jesus lives. Unconditional love, unlimited forgiveness, sacrificial service, never violence or threat, always peace and joy. Not so that we’re doormats for the world. No, that’s living and thinking in the wrong reality, the reality that’s being conquered and taken over, fading away. We live in mercy and love actually as a way of taking charge of the world in the name and manner of our Lord, joining the revolution, living in and practicing the great turnaround toward the ultimate reality that one day will be trumpeted as:

“The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever!” ~Revelation 11:15

Confidence to live every day like Jesus in the world he rules comes from conviction. The problem is, we’re not convinced of the truth of our own good news. We’re too inattentive, too distracted. What Jesus shows us about the Kingdom of God should dramatically impact us. We must give attention to his rule. We must be defined by it. We must solve our problems by applying it.

We think the church is a place that puts on services. Please, come on! God is sovereign and Jesus is Lord and the Holy Spirit lives among us and the powers of the world are in big trouble! This is the truth! This is the reality! And we are called to re-order everything to live into it.

Peace,

Allan

Central has 750 Ministers

September 29, 2014 / / 0 Comments

We swore in almost 750 men, women, and children yesterday as ministers at the Central Church of Christ. Borrowing from the Gospel accounts of the feeding of the multitudes in which the disciples asked Jesus for a way to solve the problem and Jesus responded by telling his followers, “You give them something to eat,” we declared that everybody in our Lord’s Kingdom is a Christian minister. We are all priests, saved and sanctified by God to serve as powerful mediators between him and humanity.

As priests, we reflect the holiness of God. We are holy because God is holy. And that holiness will not be compromised or conditioned. We are set apart. We are ordained by God for his purposes and to his eternal praise.

As priests, we offer spiritual sacrifices to God. We give our bodies to God. We give our money to God. We submit our very lives to God so that everything we do and say and think is offered to him.

We intercede like priests. We grab our brothers and sisters and we take them to God in prayer. We bring them into God’s presence and intercede for their healing and forgiveness and blessings and peace.

And, as priests, we represent God before others. We bless people. We take what God has given us and we, in turn, give it to others. We graciously share his love and mercy, his comfort and forgiveness, to everyone we meet with his power and authority as his holy priests.

A lot of us, though, are paralyzed. We’re stuck. We see things that need to be done, but we wait on somebody else to do them. We know something’s wrong, but we count on somebody else to fix it. We hear that somebody’s hurting, but we wonder if it’s any of our business. We’re especially susceptible to this in a big church. We recognize a hole that needs to be plugged or a problem that needs to be solved or a brother who needs a visit, and we don’t do anything. And then we wonder why it didn’t get done.

We are all powerful priests in God’s sight. Nobody in God’s Church has more power or authority or more permission than anyone else. We’re all the same. We have different gifts, certainly. But we’re all called to serve. Nobody’s exempt. We’re all authorized to pray and teach. We’re all authorized to comfort and minister, to encourage and bless. We all have the same permission.

To drive the point home, we passed out 750 little sheriff’s badge stickers at the conclusion of our lesson, pinned them on one another, and we swore everybody in as ministers in God’s Church. We all stood and raised our right hands and recited these vows together out loud:

“I do solemnly swear as a faithful member of God’s royal priesthood to act like a priest. I promise to henceforth and forever more regard myself as a minister in God’s Church. I promise to honor and respect and love and cherish my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I promise to encourage and not tear down, to bless and not curse, to submit and to serve in compassion and kindness until Christ Jesus returns. As a minister and a priest in God’s Kingdom, this is my pledge as surely as the Lord shall live. Amen.”

With those gold stars pinned to our chests, we all looked like we belonged in a saloon scene in a corny old western movie. But when the words began coming out of our mouths, and the weight of our promises began to take hold, the worship center was transformed into a sacred place where we acknowledged the wisdom and power of our God who would dare to partner with us in his work of redeeming the world.

Peace,

Allan

 

Everything New

December 31, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Texas A&M is playing in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl tonight in Atlanta. These are the made-for-the-occasion, corporate sponsorship, special uniforms the Aggies may or may not be wearing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” ~Isaiah 43:18-19

Some of the most exciting phrases in Scripture are when our God declares with all of his power and promise, “Check it out! I’m doing something brand new!” As followers of the Christ, our faith is grounded in God’s mighty salvation acts of old. But our lives are also centered on the confidence that God is working right now to bring about something new. Our God is a God of limitless creativity, of exciting potential, of never-before-thought-of possibilities.

New life. New wine. New wineskins. New creation. New heavens and new earth. New festivals. New covenants. New hope. New songs. New heart. New spirit. New people.

“New things I declare; before they spring into being, I announce them to you!” ~Isaiah 42:9

Our God is the God who sees things that are not, calls them as if they are, and then continually shocks us by making them happen. This new year is another gracious gift from our merciful Father. It’s for making new commitments and turning ourselves more fully to our Lord, for resolving anew to live in the light of Jesus for the sake of others.

“…to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self

created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” ~Ephesians 4:23-24

The new year is a time for reflection, for confessing sin, for expressing gratitude for blessings. And it’s the time for recognizing that our God is working in us and through us to do brand new things here at home and around the world we’ve not yet begun to imagine. God is with you and shaping you during every moment of this coming year. And, chances are, he’s planning something you’ve never even dreamed.

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

Let’s anticipate and be open to God’s new things. Let’s look for our God to reveal himself to us in exciting new ways in 2014. And let’s submit ourselves to him for his holy purposes and to his eternal glory and praise.

Peace,

Allan

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