Author: Allan (Page 399 of 492)

God Wins!

December 8, 2009 / Allan / 3 Comments

We just finished up our “Anchors” series this past Sunday morning with the climactic foundational truth that God wins! This is the one that gives us the most assurance in times of trouble. Our confidence in the face of suffering and trials comes in this final anchor. This is the strong characteristic of our God’s eternal nature that we hang on to as we walk through the dark valleys of this life.

We know that God wins.

At the end of the last book of the Bible we’re given a clear picture of the culmination of God’s eternal plans for his people. Revelation 21 tells us of the new heaven and new earth. The sea that separates heaven and earth has disappeared. We behold the “new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God” to unite with this world and purify it of all its brokenness and imperfection. God and man now dwell with one another forever. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Someday the whole world will be healed as it is drawn into the fullness of God’s glory. Evil will be destroyed and all the potential of creation will explode in eternal beauty. Heaven and earth become brand new. And one. Again.

And the pains of this life will be wiped away forever. Totally forgotten. “The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)

God created us for eternal life. Eternal communion. Eternal fellowship. Sin and death are alien invaders. Evil and suffering don’t belong. And they will not win.

God wins. God always wins. And it’s always a blow-out. When he brought his people out of Egypt the final score was: God – two million to nothing. God uses a woman with a glass of warm milk and a tent peg to crush the head of Sisera. God uses a scrawny little kid with a lunch basket and a sling shot to crush the head of Goliath. He brings down the walls of the oldest and biggest city in Canaan with a few trumpets. We see it in all the Old Testament stories of salvation and deliverance. We see it in Jesus’ great miracles and in his Resurrection. And we see it in our Lord’s revelation to John. God wins. And — praise God! — by your relationship with him through his Son, so do you!

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I’m a bigger TCU fan right now than I’ve ever been. In the face of this BCS travesty, Gary Patterson is showing tremendous restraint and honor in taking the high road with college football. He’s not saying anything. But what happened to his Horned Frogs Sunday is nothing short of a shame for everybody involved. By pairing up TCU and Boise in a rematch from last year, the big BCS powers have guaranteed that neither school will make any noise during the postseason. Outside Tarrant County and Idaho, who really wants to watch the Frogs and Boise State?

The undeniable truth is that TCU could completely wreck the collusion and totally destroy the backroom BCS buddy-system by losing to Florida or Ohio State by single digits (very likely). Heaven forbid they should actually beat the Gators or Buckeyes (possible). But even if they demolish Boise’s Broncos by 75 (bet on it), it won’t even cause a ripple.

“Who cares? They beat Boise! Big deal!”

The uglier truth is that if Colt McCoy had waited just one more second before launching that ball out of bounds or if that ball off the Longhorns’ kicker had not straightened out and nudged through the left upright, TCU still wouldn’t have been slotted against Alabama in Pasadena. The BCS would have given us a back-to-back Tide vs. Florida rematch first. Without even blinking.

It’s not fair. TCU is as high as they can possibly go in college football under this current system. Duke and Connecticut can win basketball titles. Fresno State and Rice can win baseball championships. Because every other sport at every other level in the history of the world has a real playoff to determine its best team. A good team with a good coach that really comes together to do something good by out-playing and out-coaching the others has a fair postseason shot at everybody else in every other sport. But not college football. It doesn’t matter what TCU does or how badly they beat everybody who will play them, they are as high as they can go. Because they won’t be given the opportunity to beat anybody else.

The entire rest of the world, every football fan and TV executive in the country, would much rather watch TCU and Florida or TCU and Ohio State. Everybody except Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel. And the commissioners of the Big XII, SEC, Pac-10, Big 10, and Big East Conferences.

It’s not right.

Go Frogs.

Allan

Chasing Glory

December 3, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

We look up “glory” in the dictionary of Jesus and here’s the definition:

Glory – obscurity, rejection, sacrifice, service, ridicule, obedience, death.

These are all the things the world ignores. These are things the world runs from and even despises. The world says “glory” is all about fame. Indiana Jones is forever chasing his “fortune and glory.”

In a way, I’m afraid — if we’re honest — we’re all chasing glory.

How do I get on TV? How do I retire at age 50? How do I get the lakehouse and the third car? How do I get the promotion and the big office? How do I get noticed? How do I get mentioned? How do I get a parade? How do I get my picture in the paper?

See, that’s the world’s definition of glory. And we can get caught up in all that. Whole churches can get caught up in that.

How can we grow to two-thousand members and go to three services? How can we attract wealthier people? How can we appeal to the right demographic? How can we get on TV? How can we get in the paper? How can we get noticed?

Preachers can get caught up in this chase for glory. How can I get invited to speak at ACU? How can I write an important book? How can I “wow” the audience? How do I get noticed? How do I get mentioned?

Glory. How do I get glory?

Jesus says if you want glory, you suffer. If you want life, you die. If you want victory, you surrender.

Jesus says, brother, forget the lakehouse and the new car and give that money to the single mom struggling in that apartment across town. Forget the promotion or the second job and spend your time and energy ministering to the teenager in your neighborhood who doesn’t have a dad. Churches, forget about growing big and concentrate on growing out. Forget about appealing to the right people and get enthusiastic about appealing to people who don’t have anything. Preacher, let go of wanting to “wow” the church and work more on submitting to the church and quietly and faithfully serving its people.

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?” ~John 12:27

Jesus is bothered, he’s distressed, not because he’s questioning his Father’s will or because he doesn’t understand. He’s troubled because he knows how hard it’s going to be. He understands perfectly everything the cross is going to mean. He sees the suffering and the pain and the death and the burial. And he trembles.

And at this moment, Jesus can pray one of two prayers.

“Father, save me from this hour.”

“Father, glorify your name.”

It’s the difference between losing your life and saving it. It’s the difference between rejecting the cross and picking it up, between serving yourself or serving others. It’s the choice between seeking glory the way the world defines glory — the way Indiana Jones sees it — or the way God defines it.

“Father, glorify your name.”

Our God’s great name is glorified every time we, individually and as a church, go against the world’s definition of glory and pursue God’s. Every time we sacrifice. Every time we serve. Every time we consider others better than ourselves. Every time we put somebody else first. Every time we submit to rejection and ridicule, every time we face suffering, every time we die in the manner of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, and for his glorious cause, we bring glory to God.

And that’s our God-created purpose. To participate personally in that eternal glory of God.

Peace,

Allan

Freedom or the Ghetto?

December 1, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Our Tuesday morning men’s Bible study group is right in the middle of 1 Corinthians. Today it was chapter eight: Now, about food sacrificed to idols. The conversation in Scripture and in the church library this morning was all about strong brothers and weak brothers, disputable matters and matters of salvation, knowledge and love, freedom and stumbling blocks. Of course, the apostle Paul makes the whole thing rather clear in the first couple of sentences:

“We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.”

Christian love is always the key. Always. No exceptions. Christ-like love. Considering others better than yourselves. Putting the needs of others ahead of your own. Love is more important than knowledge, even correct knowledge. Love is more important than right or wrong. Love, Paul says elsewhere in this letter, supercedes even hope and faith. Love is everything. And love, not knowledge, has to form the foundation of our Christian behavior.

Regarding our contemporary church issues, it’s much easier and requires much less thought and work to just issue blanket prohibitions of certain practices or to indiscriminately accept anything. The hard thing — the correct thing — is to maintain a proper perspective through Christian love. This way, Paul’s way, rings true. It makes much more sense in reality and according to God’s revelation in Christ.

Jerome Murphy-O’Connor writes about 1 Corinthians 8 in an article from 1978 entitled “Freedom or the Ghetto.”

“Through fear the Weak would have forced the community into a self-imposed ghetto. Through a destructive use of freedom the Strong would have committed the church to a pattern of behavior indistinguishable from that of its environment. If either group had prevailed, the identity and mission of the church would have been gravely compromised. Paul’s response was to focus the vision of the Corinthians on their roots in Christ and on their responsibility to each other and to a wider world. His passionate prudence is a perfect illustration of ‘love builds up.'”

Love is always at the center of Paul’s ethics. Without love, Paul maintains that all our spiritual blessings from God are worthless. And this love grows as Christians mature in the faith. The more we mature, the more we understand how little we measure up to God’s standards and how much depends on him and not us. That kind of humility naturally leads to the kind of love Paul’s writing about. Without it…

…the Christian who still thinks he knows something, doesn’t really know anything.

Peace,

Allan

Thanksgiving for Roadblocks

November 30, 2009 / Allan / 1 Comment

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…” ~Matthew 11:25

John the Baptist is the one who knows more about the coming Messiah than anyone else in the world. He’s been ordained by God, commissioned to prepare the way for the Holy One of Israel. And in Matthew 11, with John in jail and Herod acting more arrogantly and ruling more aggressively than ever, the desert proclaimer begins to doubt. He questions. From his prison cell, through his disciples, he asks Jesus, “So are you the one, or what?”

The people who know Jesus the best, his own family and friends, are ignoring him. The very ones he worshiped with and grew up with and played with and worked with in the villages of Capernaum and Bethsaida and Korazin are not accepting Jesus as Lord. They’re not repenting. They’re not turning to God as a result of Jesus’ teachings and miracles.

The situation in Jesus’ Kingdom life is not good. His mission. His calling from God. His whole purpose for coming to earth. Everything Jesus stood for and sacrificed for and was working for. None of it was going very well. He was running into dead ends and roadblocks. Barriers and hard hearts. Misunderstanding and indifference.

And this from the people who all should have known better.

If I’m Jesus — and, yes, I know I’m not; I’m reminded every day —I’m looking at John and these neighbors of mine and I’m maybe beginning to question all of it, too. Maybe I’d better do something different. Maybe they’re right. No crowds. Nobody’s lives are changing. I need to try something else. I need to be bigger and louder and brighter. We need bigger screens. More video. Maybe I should lose the tie. Tell more jokes. Be funnier. We should maybe set up a coffee shop or a book store. I should probably stop saying words like “sin” and “salvation” and “Zion.”

If I were Jesus, I’d look at the misunderstandings and indifference and say, “Why isn’t God helping me here? Why isn’t God doing anything? What’s the deal?”

Instead, Jesus prays thanksgiving to God.

“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”

Jesus knows that God’s way is to work his gracious will, to fulfill his marvelous plans for the universe through the childlike. The simple. The humble. Those who don’t think they are themselves some kind of gods. God works through people who understand very plainly their deep need for him.

The point is this: none of this throws Jesus off. The fact that John misunderstands what’s happening with Jesus doesn’t derail him. Jesus doesn’t slam on the brakes when the villagers reject him. None of this slows our Savior down.

Not so with us. We can get caught up in junk like this. I know I can. I know whole churches that can.

There are so many conditions in God’s Church and in this country and in this world that cause us to wring our hands and gnash our teeth. Oh, the Church is in trouble! Oh, people aren’t captivated by the Bible anymore! Postmoderns won’t ever believe the absolute truth of salvation in God through Christ! And we worry and get anxious and write articles and teach classes and rail against systems and complain about programs. And we get so worked up because God’s not working anymore.

But this prayer from Jesus puts everything in perspective. It brings us back to base.

The powerful and unstoppable energies of the Kingdom of God are always moving, always growing, always surging just beneath the surface. All around us. Huge rivers of prayer and faith and hope and praise and forgiveness and salvation and rescue and holiness flow right by us every day. In every single nook and cranny, hidden in the shadows, overlooked in the crowds, drowned out by the noise, are these humble infants. These little children.

So—thanksgiving.

Not just for the day and the weather and the beauty of nature. Not just for family and friends and food and clothes and shelter. Not just for good things in good circumstances. But, thanksgiving in — yes! — less than ideal situations. Thanksgiving offered in faith that our God is very much alive and active and working in mighty ways that we don’t always see.

Peace,

Allan

Protected By His Name

November 23, 2009 / Allan / 1 Comment

We live in a world not just of disbelief and cynicism. We’re in a truly hostile environment. We’re promised all kinds of trouble as we live for Christ on earth. But we’re also guaranteed great victory by our faith in the One who conquers death. In the meantime, we need strength. We need provision. We need protection to live as Christians here. It’s dangerous. It’s spiritually dangerous to follow Jesus in Texas.

Jesus knows that. It’s why he prays for us the way he does:

“Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name.” ~John 17:11

“I protected them and kept them safe by that name.” ~John 17:12

“My prayer is…that you protect them from the evil one.” ~John 17:15

Jesus knows that representing God in this world is a call to genuine battle. It’s a war with casualties and injuries and fear and strategies and winners and losers. It’s real. And he knows it. He acknowledges the power of the enemy.

What a blessing to know that our protection and our salvation doesn’t depend on our character or our nature or our conduct. Our protection and salvation is found in the nature and character of our God. Our holiness doesn’t come from our futile attempts to comply with a long list of do’s and don’ts. Our safety doesn’t depend on our ability to not sin. Our salvation is not tied to our good behavior. It all comes from the faithful and loving and forgiving and powerful name of God.

God, by his name, hides our life; he protects it and keeps it. And he promises us that when his Son appears again in glory, we are also going to be appear with him in that same glory.

Peace,

Allan

Carley's Crutches

November 20, 2009 / Allan / 2 Comments

It’s Achilles Tendonitis. We’re not sure what’s caused it or even exactly when it happened. X-Rays show us that there’s not a tear or a fracture. But Carley’s achilles tendon is stretched out and even frayed in a couple of places where it connects to her heel. The doctor says it’s probably overuse. She’s been doing gymnastics lately in PE. And she and I have hit tennis balls three or four times over the past couple of weeks. But who would have thought this could be a result? She’s only ten-years-old!

Doctor’s orders Tuesday afternoon were for a pair of crutches. Carley is not to put any weight or pressure of any kind on her right foot for two weeks. Fourteen days. Total rest for quick healing. Every step she might take on it only slows the process down.

We got home from the imaging center at about 2:00 Tuesday afternoon. The appointment to have the crutches fitted was for 5:45. And for those three-and-a-half hours, I carried Carley all over the house. Upstairs. Downstairs. She wanted to hop. I wanted to carry her. She wanted to crawl. I wanted to get things for her. Shoes. Clothes. Snack. Books. Let me do it for you, honey. Let me help you.

She hated it.

“Dad, I’m not helpless!”

“Dad, I don’t like being needy!”

Carley is our most active child. And our most independent. These past three days have been awful for her. She’s always wanted to do everything for himself. Even today with her little foot hanging by a thread. The last thing she wants is to be needy.

Just like all of us. We hate to be needy. We never want to be helpless.

But that’s exactly what our God wants us to be. Needy. Helpless. Actually, that’s what we are in reality. Our God just wants us to recognize it. To acknowledge it. To embrace it.

Having real needs doesn’t reduce our lives. It doesn’t flatten anything. Being helpless allows us to receive from our Father every single wonderful thing he intends for us. Our needs — recognizing those needs — throws wide open the doors to God’s greatest blessings. If we try to live without needs, we’re trying to live without God.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” ~Matthew 7:7-8.

This is what it’s like to live in the real world God created. Receiving what is given. Just look at the sky and the seas. Flowers and bees. Husbands and wives. This is life. To gratefully receive. Life is a gift. God so loved the world that he…

…gave.

This is the way our God is. It’s how his world works. It’s how he operates in his world. It’s real.

And I hear my heavenly Father today telling me the same things I’m now telling Carley:

“Relax.”

“Let me get this for you. Let me give this to you. Allow me to take care of this for you. I want to give you every single thing you need. Please, just relax and receive it.”

Peace,

Allan

Author: Allan (Page 399 of 492)

God Wins!

Chasing Glory

Freedom or the Ghetto?

Thanksgiving for Roadblocks

Protected By His Name

Carley's Crutches

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