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People Are Not Seeking God

April 11, 2018 / / 0 Comments

We know what we believe about God’s salvation work in Jesus. We ask for an increased faith to believe even more what we know is right and true about our Lord’s mission to save the world. But some of us have stopped talking about it. We haven’t stopped believing, we’ve just stopped talking. and in the Bible, believing is talking!

I wonder if there are things we need to stop believing. Are there things we hear every day and believe and pass on to others as truth that really are not true at all? And can those things we believe act in our heads and our hearts to shut down our Christian witness?

There are at least five things that a lot of Christians take for true these days that simply aren’t. We’ve already looked this week at The Church Is In Decline and The Church Is Irrelevant. Today, let’s consider the statement “People in our culture are not seeking God.”

It’s not true.

Yes, we do live in a pluralistic, post-modern, post-Christian society now and there’s no going back. Denominational loyalties are dissolving, Christianity is no longer viewed as the exclusive way to God, and truth is no longer an eternal reality as much as it is something each person determines for himself. There are more skeptics and agnostics and atheists in this country than there ever have been before. But that doesn’t mean they’re not searching. They’re all searching! Everybody’s seeking! And there’s tremendous potential here for God’s Church.

The research is beginning to show that we’re on the front edge of a backlash against all the pluralism and individualism in the U.S. We’re discovering, as a people, that living in a world without universal truth is a terrible way to live. We’re learning that addiction to our screens and ear buds isn’t healthy — it’s doing real damage to our relationships and communities. And people are looking for something else.

They’re searching for a meaning outside themselves. They’re seeking a purpose higher than their own careers and entertainment, they’re looking for something more important and longer lasting than their own posts and tweets. People today are starting to recognize the noise and the clutter for what it is and they’re looking for something real. They’re seeing the failures of our politicians and institutions and they’re looking for something genuine. Something they can trust. People are open to it. People are seeking. And that gives the Church an exciting opportunity.

What if we’re not on the wrong path? What if we’re just a little bit tired? What if we’re on the right track, we’re just a bit weary? What if the message of the Gospel — I’m stretching out on a limb here — and even the heart of our restoration ideals are actually gaining steam in this country?

Simple worship instead of a concert. Lots of local ministry in our own community. More frequent Lord’s Supper. Baptism by immersion. A return to the Bible. A depth of discipleship. You know, all of that is actually appealing now to folks who are burned out by all the pluralism and technology. An emphasis on the weightier matters of mercy and love, justice and forgiveness and grace — these are the very things that can inspire the world!

We must believe that people in our culture today are certainly seeking God. And, even if they weren’t, we know for a fact that our God is seeking them.

Peace,

Allan

The Church is Irrelevant

April 10, 2018 / / 0 Comments

This week I’m posting a list of five things we Christians need to stop believing in order to be more effective Gospel proclaimers in our communities. These are things we hear all the time from seemingly endless sources and pass them along as truth among ourselves. I’m of the conviction that believing these falsehoods is damaging to our Christian witness. Believing these things that just aren’t true has the potential to shut us down.

Yesterday we looked at The Church is in Decline.

We also need to stop believing The Church is Irrelevant.

We hear that the Church doesn’t know what’s going on in the world, that the Church doesn’t have an impact on anything that’s happening outside its own walls. Wrong answer! Don’t believe it!

The churches right now today are rebuilding Houston. God’s Church is rebuilding all the areas of South Texas that were devastated by Hurricane Harvey. Not the government, not the Red Cross, not the insurance companies — they all left a long time ago! The churches are rebuilding the homes and restoring hope to those families God’s Church was first on the scene and God’s people will be the last ones to leave.

Disciples of Jesus provide free health care to the poor. God’s Church provides shelter for the homeless. Followers of Christ feed the hungry kids and furnish the transitional houses and train the unwed mothers. God’s Church builds the schools in Kenya and operates the clinics in Guatemala.

Christians understand the physical, incarnational aspects of salvation and they always have. In the early days of the Church, the apostles healed the blind and the crippled and fed the poor. In the first 150 years of American history, God’s Church established 90-percent of the colleges and built 100-percent of the hospitals.

Living in the middle of a world, in the middle of a culture, that resists Christ and his Church, living in a society that rejects salvation from God in Jesus, we need to believe the Good News. We have to believe that God lives in us and his Son is our Lord. And we must believe that God is powerfully at work through his people to heal the sick, to restore the broken, to feed the hungry, to clothe the poor, the comfort the hurting. We must believe that, like he always has, God continues to work today in and through his Church to take care of the most basic and fundamental needs of a broken world.

Remember, the Romans during the second and third century plagues and pandemics marveled at how the Christians took care of, not only their own, but all of their community’s sick and dying. Roman historians wrote about it — at great personal risk, disciples of Christ ministered to the sickest and poorest among them. That hasn’t changed.

God’s Church is irrelevant? I don’t think so.

Peace,

Allan

Stop Believing!

April 9, 2018 / / 0 Comments

We know what we believe about God’s salvation work in Jesus. We believe our Lord Jesus is raised from the dead and is reigning today at the right hand of the Father in heaven. We believe that God’s salvation comes to us by no other name. We’re very clear on the things we believe. We ask for an increased faith to believe even more what we know is right and true about our Lord’s mission to save the world. But some of us have stopped talking.

We haven’t stopped believing, we’ve just stopped talking.

I wonder if there are things we need to stop believing in order to start talking again.

Are there things in our heads and our hearts that we believe to be true that really aren’t? And do those false things we believe contribute to a church culture where we don’t talk about Jesus with others the way we used to? The things we hear and the things we pass on that aren’t true — we start to believe those things the more we hear them — have the potential to compromise or completely shut down our witness. What are the things we need to stop believing so we can be more effective proclaimers in our communities?

I’ve come up with five things I believe faithful Christians need to stop believing. We’ll take one every day this week.

The first non-truth we have a tendency to believe is that God’s Church is in decline and it’s getting smaller and weaker.

We hear it, we read about it,  and we repeat it. But it’s simply not true. Yes, the church in America is declining in membership and attendance. The Churches of Christ in this country are losing numbers at an alarming rate. It’s undeniable. But I wouldn’t call it smaller and weaker; I’d call it smarter and stronger.

Think about this. The culture in this country has changed. Fifty years ago you had to be a regular church-going Christian to be viewed as a good citizen. Being a Christian and being an active member of a church helped you in business, it helped you develop contacts, it raised your statue in the community and improved your reputation. Church is where you met people and built relationships that were beneficial to you. The American society propped up the church. Gas stations and retail stores were all closed on Sundays. Teachers never assigned homework on Wednesday nights. And there weren’t any school functions or practices or games on the first day of the week. The culture encouraged church. If you didn’t go to church fifty years ago it was weird, it raised questions: Why doesn’t he go to church? So most everybody did.

Maybe you’ve noticed. That has changed.

Our culture today doesn’t care if anybody goes to church or not. It doesn’t matter anymore in our society. It doesn’t hurt your business, it doesn’t impact your social standing, it doesn’t bother anybody if you don’t go to church. In fact, we’ve moved so far the other way, it’s kinda weird if you do regularly go to church: I think that guy’s kind of a fanatic.

The result of this is, yes, fewer people are going to church. But here’s the way I see it: The nominal Christians, the barely Christians, the ones who were only in church because the society pushed it — they’ve left. But the truly committed Christians, the all-in followers of Jesus, are more committed to Christ and his cause than ever before. As the numbers go down, the dedicated disciples of Jesus are gearing up. They’re giving more, they’re volunteering and serving more. The church is not getting smaller and weaker, the church is getting leaner and meaner, smarter and stronger, better equipped and prepared to what we are ordained by our God to do.

Look at our situation here at Central in Amarillo. This is a 110-year-old church and our weekly attendance is smaller right now than it’s been in 60-70 years. We’re half the size we were just 40 years ago. And we notice it. We walk into our worship center on Sunday mornings and we feel it. We wring our hands and exchange worried looks with other members: What’s happening? What’s wrong? What’s going on?

Well, here’s what’s going on at Central: This church is regularly today giving more money to the causes of Christ than it’s ever given before in its history; by God’s grace we’re doing more Gospel ministry in the city of Amarillo and more Christian mission all around the world than we’ve ever done in Central’s history. Ever! How is this happening? The culture has shifted. The take-it-or-leave-it Christians are leaving it and the truly dedicated disciples are doubling down. That’s the only way to explain it. And I think it’s actually pretty exciting.

It’s especially thrilling when we remember that this is historically God’s preferred method.

Gideon brought 32-thousand men into the presence of God and said, “We’re ready to fight the Midianites!” Our God wouldn’t even give Gideon the battle plans until he had whittled that number down to 300.

It was young shepherd boy David, not super tall King Saul who took down Goliath.

God told his kings not to count the numbers of people, not to measure the size of the armies. When the kings counted heads, they got in trouble with God.

God’s preferred method is to use five little rolls and a couple of fish to feed five thousand. He likes to use a tiny mustard seed to provide shelter for all the birds of the air. When God’s Church is exploding onto the scene in Acts, the leaders of the faith are described as “unschooled and ordinary men.”

The Church is not in decline. God is weeding us, he’s sifting us, he’s pruning us, he’s getting us ready for something truly spectacular in his Kingdom. We’re not getting smaller, we’re getting leaner and meaner for the mission.

Peace,

Allan

First Importance

April 5, 2018 / / 0 Comments

“What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.” ~1 Corinthians 15:3-5

The resurrection of Jesus from the grave is the very foundation of our faith; it’s the energy behind our hope; it’s the source and the sustenance of our life; it’s everything.

First importance, Paul says. This is the whole enchilada. Apart from this, nothing else matters. Jesus died, he was buried, he was raised. And we know it’s a fact because he appeared to all these witnesses. Ask them yourselves. They saw him. They talked with him. They ate with him. Most of them are still alive, ask them!

Everything hinges on the resurrection. I hear people argue that it doesn’t matter if the resurrection really happened or if it’s just a metaphor or a spiritual concept — what matters is that we take the stories to mean we’re all going to heaven someday.

No! The resurrection means everything!

The resurrection totally eliminates any possibility that Jesus was just a good moral teacher or that Christianity is just a nice way to live a good moral life.

“If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” ~1 Corinthians 15:14

Paul says clearly and unapologetically if the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus has not happened, then Christianity is worthless. Jesus isn’t a good teacher, he’s a liar, he’s a fraud. Christianity is not a nice way to live, it’s a scam, it’s evil. If Christ is not raised, then death is not conquered. If Jesus is not alive, then I have no hope. None. And we are to be pitied more than anybody else on earth.

But Jesus was raised. Jesus is risen. He is reigning right now at the right hand of the heavenly Father and he is interceding for us. Right now. And because of that we have faith and hope and life. We have forgiveness and salvation and confidence and immortality and peace.

Peace,

Allan

Against All Odds

April 1, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I don’t know how Easter Sunday is for you. Maybe you go to church on Easter and you’re great. You’re excited. The good news of the resurrection of Jesus is a part of who you are every day — the power and the life — and celebrating it with God’s people on Easter Sunday is a true highlight for you. Maybe you go to church wanting to be excited, but once you arrive, it all seems like empty ritual. You feel like an outsider, not an insider. Like a spectator.

Or maybe it’s bad. You feel like the odds are totally stacked against you. You’ve had faith that the world is basically a good place but you can’t find proof of it anymore. Disease and hunger and violence are not going to be solved by arrogant dictators and power-hungry politicians.

You’ve had hope in our culture, that the advances of science and technology would heal us and bring us closer together. But we are sicker and more lonely as a people than we’ve ever been.

You looked for life in your family and friends, the people you trust, the people who love you. But they’ve let you down. They’ve disappointed you. They’ve hurt you.

Maybe you can’t even believe in yourself. You can’t sleep at night because of the things you’ve done in the past. You can’t look at yourself in the mirror because of the things you’re caught up in now. The obstacles to faith and hope and life have boxed you in. The odds are stacked against you. You feel like you only exist. On a dead-end street. Maybe.

Maybe the bad news in the world drives you to despair. Maybe the bad news at work or at the doctor’s office is overwhelming. Maybe the bad news in your marriage or with your kids or the bad news between you and your parents is too much. Maybe the bad news of your past and current sins — the odds are stacked against you. It doesn’t look good. It doesn’t feel good.

Let’s talk about bad news.

The bad news is Pharaoh’s army is going to win at the Red Sea. Those were the odds that day. Pharaoh’s army was favored by 497 points. The over-under was four-million dead Hebrews.

The bad news is the little shepherd boy with the sling is no match for a trained warrior giant.

The bad news is Peter can’t walk on water.

The bad news is a virgin can’t have a baby.

The bad news is the authorities crucified our Savior.

The bad news is dead people stay dead.

I’m telling you right now the declaration of the angels is true: Jesus is alive! Jesus lives! That stone was rolled away from the tomb not so Jesus could get out but so we could all look in and see for ourselves, so we could see and proclaim the truth that our God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were!

He calls the things that are wrong in your life, right. He calls the things that are broken in your family, fixed. He calls things that are missing in your soul, the things that are lacking and bad, he calls them found and saved and overflowing with goodness and life!

Psalm 112 says the one who belongs to God has no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Can you hear the good news? Are you able to hear the power and the life our God so longs to give you by the resurrection of Christ Jesus? Hear the good news, believe the good news, and walk through the door into a brand new world where the ultimate reality is not dying and death, but where Jesus is the risen and reigning King and his gift is everlasting life.

Peace,

Allan

Hearing the Good News

March 30, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Bad news is killing us. It’s everywhere and it’s doing us in. Bad news dominates the headlines and it rules the airwaves. Bad news crawls across our screens and flashes through our feeds. It’s in the email from your boss, the phone call from your mother, and the text from your friend. And it’s killing us. It gets inside us. Bad news diminishes our faith. It steals our hope. It drains our lives.

Good news seems scarce. It’s hard to find. When we do happen to hear some good news, it’s only a matter of moments before some bad news replaces it. The bad news is louder. And bigger. And more urgent. Seems like there’s more of it. All the bad news in our world and in our culture, in our governments and schools and churches, in our families — it’s making us numb.

Bad news doesn’t surprise us anymore. We’re used to it, we expect it. And as it diminishes our faith and steals our hope and drains our very lives, we’re kinda stopped looking for good news. If we do stumble upon some good news, it’s harder for us to believe it. To trust it.

On that first Easter morning, the disciples of Jesus heard some really good news that broke through and obliterated all the bad news they couldn’t quite shake. The message came directly from the divine lips of angels: Jesus is risen from the grave! Jesus is alive! The good news declared decidedly that everything broken in this world is now being fixed, everything that’s wrong is now made right; our faith can be restored, our hope can be renewed, our lives can be made full and whole. And this same good news continues to reverberate down through the generations into our ears and hearts today.

Jesus is risen from the grave! Jesus is alive!

This good news of great joy for the whole world is just as mind-blowing and history-changing today as it was then. It’s no less true for us in Texas in 2018 than it was for Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem on that first Easter. This great news causes our faith to soar, it brightens our hope, and it abundantly fills our lives today and for all eternity.

But can we hear it? Can we hear this good news?

The Easter sermon is the hardest one to write. It’s nearly impossible. And it struggle with it every year. I’ve been working on what I want to say Sunday for parts of the past three months. But it just hasn’t come together like I had hoped. It’s not enough.

Reinhold Niebuhr is quoted as saying he would always attend a “high church” on Easter Sunday where there would be great music but very little preaching. In his view, “No preacher is up to the task on Easter.” I think he’s probably right.

John Updike wrote a poem called “Seven Stanzas at Easter” that perfectly and beautifully captures every preacher’s frustration leading up to Easter Sunday. One of the lines is, “Let us not mock God with metaphor / analogy, sidestepping transcendence… / let us walk through the door.”

It’s a waste of time to try to explain the resurrection. Some things can’t be reduced to an explanation and are greatly diminished in the process of trying.

The task on Easter is proclamation, not explanation. On Easter, I should only offer an invitation to walk through the door into a brand new world where the ultimate reality is not dying or death, but everlasting life in the God Almighty of love and grace who brought our Lord Jesus up out of the grave. Proclaim the resurrection, that’s what the apostles do. And that’s what all us preachers should be planning to do Sunday.

Because our people need to hear the good news.

Peace,

Allan

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