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Category: 1 John (Page 7 of 7)

You Are God and I Am Not

July 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!Peter looks at the miraculous catch of fish and falls down at Jesus’ feet and says, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!”

Peter finds himself in the presence of the holy Almighty God and he’s astonished. He and his companions are seized with amazement as they recognize clearly their place next to the Creator of the universe. Because of his sin, Peter doesn’t deserve the blessings of Christ. Because of his unworthiness, Peter doesn’t belong in the same boat with Jesus.

You see, the closer you get to God the more clear your own sinfulness becomes. Your own unworthiness before the Lord comes into sharp focus.

The same light that knocks the apostle Paul down the ground on the way to Damascus. The same Lord who caused Job to say, “I despise myself.” The same God who caused Isaiah to exclaim, “Woe to me, I am ruined!” The same Almighty who prompted Abraham to declare, “I am nothing but dust and ashes!” The same Son of Man who caused John to fall at his feet as though he were dead. Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel, calls us to acknowledge our own sinfulness and our own unworthiness.

And until we do, I don’t think we get it.

Until we see ourselves as sinners in the presence of a holy and righteous God, I think we probably cheapen or devalue his amazing grace. Our tendency is to think, “Yes, of course God loves me; that’s his job!”

No, ma’am, that’s not his job. It is an unimaginable, unexpected, unfathomable, unnecessary wonder of the universe! It’s mind-blowing and earth-altering and history-changing. And, to the eternal praise of God, it’s not impossible! God has found a way — amazing as it is — to satisfy both his holiness and his love.

My Father reminds me all the time that he is God and I most certainly am not. And that continually fills me with a deep sense of gratitude. And awe.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are!”

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Red Ribbon ReviewThere are 67 days left until the Dallas Cowboys open up their 50th football season. And the Red Ribbon Review is counting down the days with a look at the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. #67 turns up some very interesting characters and stories.

Pat Toomay wore the number 67 in Dallas. A backup defensive end from Vandy, Toomay barely tolerated Tom Landry and the Flex Defense for five seasons before bouncing from Tampa Bay to Oakland then to retirement as an acclaimed author. Toomay has written two novels about football classified as non-fiction. The Crunch got him in trouble with the Cowboys. On Any Given Sunday got him a movie deal.

Irvin & McIverEverett McIver was also a #67. He’s the guy who was unfortunate enough to be in the chair and in the middle of a haircut at Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls when Michael Irvin decided it was his turn. During the ensuing argument, Irvin stabbed McIver in the neck with a pair of scissors, coming within an inch or so of killing him. There were reports in the Dallas Morning News later that summer that Jerry Wayne had brokered a deal for Irvin to pay McIver a six-figure sum to keep quiet. All parties denied it. Charges were never filed.

PatDonovanAs for on the field football stuff, though, the second-best Dallas Cowboy to ever wear #67 is offensive lineman Pat Donovan. Donovan was part of that Dirty Dozen draft class of 1975 that helped lead the Cowboys to Super Bowl X. He took over for the retiring Ralph Neely at left tackle and played nine years in Dallas, never missing a game. Donovan played in 20 playoff games for the Cowboys, including six NFC Pat Donovan CardChampionship Games and three Super Bowls, earning a title ring in Super Bowl XII against Denver. He made the Pro Bowl in four straight seasons from ’79-’82, one of only four tackles in team history to make at least that many trips to Hawaii. Following the ’83 season, Donovan required surgery on both shoulders and decided to retire. Donovan was certainly not as colorful as Toomay or John Gesek, another Cowboys #67, but he is clearly the second-best #67 in team history.

Peace,

Allan

The Jesus Way

June 5, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” ~1 John 2:6

The Jesus WayI’m concerned about us doing things the way Jesus did them. I’m worried about the way Jesus went about his business and fulfilled the Father’s mission and I wonder about the ways we go about our business and fulfill our Father’s mission. I find myself thinking about this a lot.

I’m afraid that we call ourselves followers of Jesus, but, without hesitation and, a lot of the time, seemingly without thinking, we embrace the ways and means of the world. We live our lives in the name of Jesus. But the way we do things and plan things and think about things is, instead, very worldly. The Jesus Way is the alternative to the world’s way — not a supplement. The Jesus Way is not just a little bit opposite of the world’s way or sometimes opposed to the culture’s way. It’s all the way opposite and it’s completely opposed to the way of the world.

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it” (Mark 8:34-35).

That’s The Jesus Way. Any other way is less than and actually opposed to The Jesus Way. And that seems easy enough to understand. And we say we get it. But I see us sometimes uncritically embracing the ways and means practiced by large corporations and important causes and high-profile congregations and rich people who know how to win wars and make money and manage people and sell products. And, more often than not, those ways violate the Way of Jesus. We are so quick, I’m afraid, to go along with whatever the culture decides is successful or influential or important, whatever gets things done, whatever gathers a crowd, whatever keeps a crowd, whatever’s new and improved. And we don’t stop and think long enough to notice that those ways are at odds with the clear way Jesus walked and calls us to follow.

We’re interested in the Way Jesus leads because this is absolutely and necessarily the Way we have to follow. We can’t follow Jesus any way we’d like. Our following must be consistent with his leading. The Jesus Way is not a vague generality pointing in some upward direction. Jesus lived his life prayerfully and scripturally attentive. Jesus deliberately chose the Way he would live. And, if we choose to follow him, we have to be just as prayerful, just as attentive to Scripture, just as deliberate.

The Jesus Way is always personal. It’s always lived in deep, personal, loving, and giving relationship. It’s never imposed. Never forced. Never manipulative. It’s never from a distance. It’s always up-close. It’s always sacrificial. Look at The Way Jesus acted and thought and felt and talked and gestured and prayed and healed and taught and forgave and died. That’s The Jesus Way. Everything Jesus did was based on relationship: close, intimate, sacrificial, serving, self-denying relationship.

May our Father bless us as we diligently practice with each other and for each other the Way of Jesus.

Peace,

Allan

Only God

January 26, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.” ~1 Corinthians 3:7

I had prayed the prayer of Terry Rush all week long.

“God, just please do that thing you do.”

Every day this past week as we geared up for our first bi-lingual Sunday assembly here at Legacy I asked God to overcome our (my) inefficiencies and our (my) shortcomings and our (my) mistakes to make something really spectacular happen to his people here. I was confident he was going to do something. He always does. But I really wanted God to do something big this Sunday. Something huge. Something powerful. Something so unmistakably beyond our (my) capacity that we would be left with no choice but to give him all the credit.

“God, just please do that thing you do.”

I knew he would. So we planned and planned and planned. A dual welcome and call to worship with Manuel and me. Seek Ye First in Spanish. Both languages on the screens for Scripture readings. A completely bi-lingual communion time with Spanish and English readings and prayers. A double-barreled sermon, me setting up Manuel to knock ’em dead! And, finally, we’d bring the house down with my all-time favorite song, It Is Well. Estoy Bien!

It was all lining up perfectly during the week. There was going to be a baptism, maybe two! A baby blessing! Maybe two! This was going to be a watershed assembly for us, maybe for all of NorthEast Tarrant County! What a great day for God’s Kingdom!

And then the service began. Six minutes late. I froze while trying to welcome the crowd with a Spanish rendition of 1 John 3:1 I had practiced all week. I actually had to pull out my cheat sheet and read it. How embarrassing.

There were other miscues and mistakes. But overall everything was great. The singing was great. The prayers were great. The Bible passages were great. Manuel was great. Gordon was great. I was great. The babies weren’t crying. The teenagers weren’t texting. Nobody looked at his watch. It was perfect!

And then God said, “OK, Stanglin, you finished now?”

“Check this out.”

And Antonia Moscada came down the aisle. Back in November she had read on our guady flashing sign out on Mid-Cities Boulevard that we offered Spanish language services. She’d been worshiping and studying with our church family for three months. And she wanted to put on our Savior in baptism.

Then Ana Loneli came down the aisle. Back in October she had shown up at Legacy for Give Away Day. Homeless. Sleeping in her car. Manuel and Yvina and Mike and Judy St.Clair had prayed with her that day. They helped her. They got her an apartment and a job. She’s been worshiping and studying with us for four months now. And she wanted to put on Christ in baptism.

Antonia was driving down the road and saw our sign and now her sins are being forgiven by the Creator of the Universe! Ana came for free clothes and groceries and now she’s being given eternal life by Almighty God! Are you kidding me? The sign? Give Away Day?

Tracy, a visitor, comes down the aisle. A baptized believer. A child of God. A subject in the Kingdom. Tears streaming down her face. She wants to start over. She wants to confess her sins and ask God for forgiveness and for a fresh start.

Nobody could have planned this. It was too wonderful. Only God.

Our God is still so very powerful. Our God is still so very, very active in this world. He still saves people. He still reaches out and rescues people. He still forgives. He still loves. He still moves. He still creates. He still changes people.

Our God uses flashing signs on the road and benevolence programs and mediocre preaching (mine, Manuel, not yours). But let us always remember, it is our God who does it. Nobody and nothing else. Our God has been working on Antonia and Ana and Tracy for a long, long time. We are only privileged to be able to witness it up close and jump into his work as his partners by his grace.

Hallelujah. God saves.

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

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