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Suppose One Of You…

March 14, 2008 / / 3 Comments

It’s shocking to find Jesus in Luke 15 having to defend to the religious leaders of God’s people his actions of welcoming and eating with “sinners.” The contrast in attitudes between the Pharisees and teachers of the Law with that of Jesus is obvious. But understanding that contrast and the manifestations of it is paramount to Christ’s Church accomplishing its God-ordained mission.

Jesus attracted sinners while the Pharisees repelled them.

Lost sinners came to Jesus, not because he catered to them or compromised his message, but because he cared for them. He understood their needs and tried to help them, while the Pharisees criticized them and kept their distance.

Jesus’ implicit rebuke of that approach to sinners by the Pharisess is timeless. His every word and deed challenges that self-centered mindset. Jesus invested his time and energy in sinners. He associated freely with them. He ate with them. He became personally and intimately involved in their lives and in their struggles. And then in order to restore them to a right relationship with God, he died for them.

Jesus pursued sinners with such enthusiasm and commitment that the religious community questioned his character and his motives. And the parables in Luke 15 explain why that pursuit of sinners meant so much to him. He knew that rescue was possible. And love compelled him to go after them with everything he had.

If Jesus’ worldview and perspective is informed by this powerful theology of the lost, so should ours.

To hear the Luke 15 parables today is to be unavoidably challenged by them. It’s a direct challenge from our Savior to his Church as he says, “Suppose one of you…”

 Peace,

Allan

Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

March 13, 2008 / / 0 Comments

“This evil generation hath labored to take away from God the sword of his justice; they have endeavored to prove to themselves that God will clear the guilty and will by no means punish iniquity, transgression, and sin.”  ~from “Turn or Burn,” a sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon in 1883

I suppose things really haven’t changed that much in 125 years. While we (I) gravitate quickly and fiercely to Christ’s love, we (I) tend to overlook or ignore the righteousness of our God that demands justice and judgment. But the truth is there is no need for salvation through Christ Jesus if there’s no coming judgment. God’s grace is entirely unnecessary if there’s no coming punishment. We can’t begin to comprehend the magnitude of God’s love in Christ and the enormity of our deliverance through his death, burial, and resurrection until we set it against the reality of God’s holy judgment.

In studying for last night’s “Oasis” lesson on 2 Corinthians 5, I came across a couple of very, very old sermons: the Spurgeon homily on Psalm 7:11-12 quoted above and a classic preached by Jonathon Edwards during the Great Awakening in 1741. The title of Edwards’ sermon was “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It’s probably the most famous sermon ever preached in America.

“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. (He’s just getting warmed up here) You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet, it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment.

It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell last night; that you were suffered to awake in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose this morning, but that God’s hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in this house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else to be given as a reason why you do not at this very moment drop down into hell. (At this point, if one of us were attempting to preach this sermon today, an emergency session of the elders would already be gathering and a couple of deacons would have already dialed 9-1-1)

O Sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in; it is a great furnace of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against any of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you have ever done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.”

Wow. And that’s just a part of the introduction.

Ever heard a sermon like that? I never have. I doubt I ever will.

Maybe we’re too sophisticated now. Maybe it’s too blunt for our sensitivities. It’s not loving enough or tolerant enough for us today.

Or, maybe in this country in this age, we’re caught in a deadly and eternally damning cycle. As our sense of self grows larger and larger and our sense of God becomes smaller and smaller, maybe we fear God so little that we don’t understand the seriousness of our sin. And we sense the seriousness of our sin so little that we seldom fear God.

The words of the old hellfire and brimstone preachers are true. And that’s what makes the love and the mercy and the grace and the forgiveness of our holy and righteous God through Christ Jesus all the more wonderful and amazing. That’s what makes the words of the old apostle John so powerful:

“And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” ~1 John 2:28

Peace,

Allan

Christ As Savior & Judge

March 12, 2008 / / 2 Comments

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” ~2 Corinthians 5:10

Christ’s love compels us. It overrules us. It dominates us. It completely controls us. The apostle Paul makes it clear in most of his letters that the love of Jesus drives every bit of what he’s all about. Christ’s love grabs him and shakes him and won’t let him go.

And I’d like to just end it there. In fact, that is where I normally end it. Christ’s love compels me. Christ loves us and he’s good to us, so let’s go love others and be good to others. Ready, break!

Paul is motivated by Christ as Savior. Paul does what he does for the Kingdom because Jesus sacrificially died for Paul’s sins. But Paul is also just as clearly motivated by Christ as Judge.

He spends a lot of ink in Romans telling us that “God will give to each person according to what he has done” and that “each of us will give an account of himself to God.” He lets us know in a couple of other letters that God doesn’t show favoritism, he’s no respecter of persons. “We know what it is to fear the Lord,” he says in 2 Corinthians 5:11. And that’s why we “try to persuade men.” We “make it our goal to please him,” Paul writes, BECAUSE “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”

The love of God is real. Salvation from our Lord in Christ Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is real. But there is no salvation if there’s no judgment. There’s no grace without punishment. And we must be aware that Paul’s fear of the Lord drove his ministry and message even as Christ’s love compelled it. In our churches today we gravitate quickly and fiercely to Christ’s love. Yet the magnitude of Christ’s love in the 2 Corinthians 5 passage only comes out against the realities of God’s judgment.

It is both responsible to the Scriptures and relevant to the message of the Church to frame the Gospel within BOTH the fear of God as holy and righteous Judge AND the love of Christ as gracious and blessed Redeemer.

 Peace,

Allan

More Than I Could Ask Or Imagine

March 11, 2008 / / 4 Comments

I spent most of last Tuesday down in Waco with seven other preachers / ministers in a classroom at the Crestview Church of Christ talking with each other about Christian ministry. We told our stories, we read and prayed through a few of the Psalms, we visited about pressure points in our ministries and the temptations that naturally come during those times. We shared with each other the things that give us stress. It seems I’m not the only preacher who doesn’t have enough time during the week to do what he knows he ought to be doing. There’s the fear or the stress of feeling like I’m just spinning my wheels and nobody’s really paying attention or applying the things I’m preaching; the worry that we’re not changing into the image of Christ—we’re all staying the same. And there’s also the stress of everyone expecting the preacher to know everything and do everything and be in charge of everything—just as long as he doesn’t act like it.

One of the nicest parts of the day for me was when Jim asked us what specifically was encouraging to us in our ministries. I quickly ran through several things in my mind: a fantastic office staff, a supportive group of elders, an encouraging wife, wonderful friends who push me and challenge me, my Sunday morning prayer time with a couple of brothers here at Legacy, our Tuesday morning group, and our Small Groups Churches.

And then I spent 20 minutes talking about how amazed I am by our Small Groups Churches.

I never expected our Small Groups Churches to be acting in the ways they’re acting so quickly. I imagined it would take several months for our groups to bond and study and pray and minister to each other before they began to realize the ultimate goals of reaching out and ministering to others. But, praise God! His vision and his plans are so much bigger and more wonderful than mine.

It seems that every week another of our Small Groups is doing something else in a sacrificial way to take the love of Christ to others. I’ve told you before that several of our groups began writing letters and cards to misssionaries the day we kicked off our Missions Sunday push last month. A couple of our groups are planning huge garage sales and will donate all of the money to our Missions Sunday. Two groups have collected money for gift cards and donated other items to at least two local families who have suffered through house fires. One of our groups is taking a mission trip to Honduras together in June. One group has begun an open Prayer Meeting at one of their houses twice a month. And these are just the things I’ve heard about in the past couple of weeks.

Our elders looked at Small Groups Church as a more effective way to shepherd this rapidly-growing flock. And I can’t describe to you how wonderful it is to overhear elders talking to each other about something that happened at Tom & Mary’s house or something that was said at Dave & Linda’s house or something that the people at George & Sue’s house are doing or thinking about. Our elders are regularly in our people’s houses now. And it’s fostering a beautiful sense of mutual trust and love, absolutely paramount when it comes to healthy relationships and a healthy congregation.

Most of our groups are wanting to do more, not less. Most of our groups are inviting visitors and new members every week. Of the ten meetings we’ve had so far, our group has had somebody brand new at seven of them. And I know a lot of other groups enjoy the same kind of energy. I’m encouraged by Aaron and Jennifer Green’s group’s eagerness to multiply and infiltrate the rest of our congregation and community. I’m thrilled with Richard and Joanna Ashlock’s group’s vision for inviting new people in. (You can read Jennifer’s blog-post about their “multiply” here and Joanna’s blog-post about their vision here.)

Of course, these things are all a part of the long-term goals of all our Small Groups. These things are presented at each of our training classes and are talked about all the time in a variety of ways here at Legacy. I just assumed it would be a while before we actually started seeing some of these things happen. But it’s happening all the time.

And it’s our Small Groups Churches that lift me up and encourage me through the pressure points of my ministry here. The people at Legacy are listening. The brothers and sisters at Legacy are applying the Word into their everyday lives. The Christians at Legacy are making a difference. Lives are being changed. Lives are being impacted by the love and grace of our God through Christ Jesus. And our Father receives all the power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise forever and ever. He always delivers more than I can ask or imagine.

Peace,

Allan

Whitney's Bouncing Back

March 10, 2008 / / 1 Comment

Thursday and Friday were awful beyond description with Whit. But she’s on track now and doing wonderfully.

Whitney had gum reduction surgery on Thursday. She had so much gum tissue in her mouth and around her teeth that it was obstructing her bite and even preventing her braces from doing what they need to do. So this three hour surgery on Thursday was to go in and slice and peel and scrape and cut and stitch her gums—all the way around, top and bottom—to make the inside of her mouth more like everybody else’s. Of course, this three hour surgery turned into a four surgery. And Whitney’s mouth continued to bleed all through the night. After a very long night—mainly for Carrie-Anne and Whitney–her mouth was still bleeding Friday. And she didn’t look good. She was pale and groggy, maybe from the pain medication. But she was absolutely miserable because of all the blood. I’m serious, it was everywhere. And it wasn’t stopping.

I reluctantly left for Tyler at about noon for our annual Four Horsemen Advance (more on that below) and Carrie-Anne wound up taking Whitney back to the surgeon at 1:00. After four more hours in the chair, this time without anesthesia, they finally got the bleeding stopped.

When I got home at about 5:00 Saturday afternoon, Whitney looked and sounded so much better. She’s finally on track now with what they had told us would happen and how long it would take. It’s just that they did so much cutting and there was so much gum tissue there with all the attached blood vessels that it took more than they anticipated to control that aspect of the procedure. But I was able to get a good look at her mouth yesterday and I can actually see all of her teeth! They were always there. We just couldn’t see them. She’s not in pain anymore. She’s still uncomfortable. But not nearly as much as she was two days ago. She still hasn’t had anything to eat since Kipi’s meatloaf last Wednesday night. But she’s drinking tons of water and juice, strawberry milkshakes, and Dr Pepper floats.

We’re very grateful to all of you who’ve sent her cards and well wishes. Thanks to Mary Glover and Lance and Taylor, Whitney has me continually running up to Sonic to get her a Blast or a float. And you four sweet girls and your moms who came to visit yesterday afternoon, you know you’re an answer to our prayers for great friends for our oldest daughter. Thank you.

She’s going to try some soup this afternoon. Maybe mashed potatoes by Wednesday. She won’t be ready for chips and salsa or popcorn by NCAA Tournament time. But I don’t think the Sonic cards will be out of credits by then either.

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FourHorsemenThe Four Horsemen rode into Tyler Friday afternoon and nearly froze to death at Tyler State Park. The same thing happened last year in Cleburne. It seems that everytime we schedule our yearly Advance, the weather freezes up and shatters records. If we set next year’s event for June, be prepared for a catastrophic shift in the earth’s atmosphere.

I’ve written at length over the past several months about Jason and Kevin and Dan. I don’t have any closer friends. And I don’t know any men who are more dedicated to our Father and to his Kingdom than these brothers. My time with them—during our monthly lunches together and, especially, on our annual weekend camping trips—is always uplifting and encouraging. We pray together. We talk about our families and our kids. We study Scripture. We talk about God’s Church. We help each other with advice and insights. Jason and I talk about preaching. Dan talks about ministering to the margins and planting churches. Kevin keeps all of us grounded and connected by talking about the big-picture of the Kingdom. And we all four come away stronger and better and closer to God and each other.

Kevin, I’m not sure how you’re going to explain the burn marks on your hand. Dan, I hope you’ve recaptured your breath following our hike to the lake. And Jason, I don’t care what you think, we could all three take you. It would take all three of us. But we could take you.

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I’ve shared my snow and snowman pictures with you. Here are two more I have to pass on. Darryn “Everything’s A Skit” Pope built this first snowman in the middle of his street. Aaron Green stuck 20-month old Parker on the top of their snowman Thursday before it was finished. As always, click on the pic to get the full size.

    Everything’sASkit    ParkerOnTop

And then, one final note. I missed last Tuesday’s Screwtape study due to my trip to Waco (more on that tomorrow). When I returned to the office/study Tuesday evening, I found our little church office mascot, our lamb that reminds us to “think of the flock,” upside down in front of my door. I blame Byrnes and Pope who think the flock refers only to them.

ThinkOfTheFlock

Peace,

Allan

Three-And-A-Quarter Inches

March 7, 2008 / / 0 Comments

LegacyInTheSnowFriday morning following the Blizzard of ’08. I’m running late for the Annual Four Horsemen Advance with Jason, Kevin, and Dan. We’re going to Tyler this year. I’m supposed to be at Dan’s house in Forney in less than 90-minutes and I’m nowhere close to ready yet. Whitney’s mouth looks like Helter Skelter right now with all the blood and saliva and stitches and swelling. Bless her heart. It’s really horrible. But the doctors say everything went perfectly well, they were able to do everything they needed to do with her gums, and she should be just fine in about a week. Carrie-Anne’s taking her back to the doctors at 1:00 this afternoon for a checkup. Thank you so much for your prayers and your cards and your well-wishes for the Whitster this week.

 I’ll be able to get everybody caught up on everything Monday. But I did want to post a few pics this morning of our snow. I measured 3-1/4 inches in our front yard at about 4:00 yesterday afternoon. As always, click on the pics for the full size. Everybody have a great weekend.

Carley StanglinManor  Val  Steve  TwoGals

Peace,

Allan

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