Category: 2 Corinthians (Page 12 of 13)

Living For Eternity Right Now

September 3, 2008 / Allan / 0 Comments

“Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.” ~Philippians 3:19-20

We live in the “already / not yet.” We live in the overlapping period of the arrival of the Kingdom of God and the ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. Yes, God’s Kingdom has broken into this present evil age. But it’s not here yet in all of its fullness. So our enjoyment of the totality of God’s presence and blessings are still a future reality. Our experience today of God’s power and glory, as great as it is, is still just a down payment of the glories to come. And that, in no way, discounts or disqualifies that future as anything less than an absolute reality.

Once we realize that, once we truly grasp the fact that our hope is in the future and final consummation of the Kingdom to come, we live our lives in ways that relate to that ultimate reality. Whatever we long for and hope for in the future inevitably determines how we live in the present. Hope and its desires are the engines that drive us. The pursuit of the greater good in the future is enough to bring about a willing and persevering self-denial in the present. Our hopes determine our habits. We are a future-determined people. The world to come, not this one, must captivate our minds and our hearts.

“Modern and postmodern culture revolves around a this-world orientation; the only long-term future our culture conceives to be important enough to plan for consistently is retirement. This pervasive preoccupation with living as long as possible, as healthy as possible, and as wealthy as possible has dramatically impacted the church in the West. Our knowledge and experience of God are so weak, and our desire for the pleasures of the present so strong, that we find it almost impossible to imagine that life with God in the world to come could be incomparably better than what we hope to experience in this world.” ~Dr. Scott J. Hafemann, Wheaton College

The apostle Paul writes about this extensively in 2 Corinthians. Paul fixes his gaze and sets the course for his life on what can’t be seen (4:18); on his inner glory instead of his outer suffering (4:17); on his inward renewal, not his outward decay (4:16); on the new age instead of the old (4:18); resurrection life, not dying (4:10-11); the weighty, not the insignificant (4:17); the eternal, not the temporary (4:18); and on the heavenly, not the earthly (5:1-2).

Our courage comes from having the right desires for the future. That leads to having the right ambitions in the present. Those who live in the present desire what this world has to offer. Their ambition is to please themselves with the temporary pleasures of this life. But those who live for their future with God desire the life promised by God. Their ambition is to please him here and now, since he is their true joy and hope.

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What a terrific weekend we enjoyed in Arkansas with Keith and Amanda and their kids and Jimmy & Elizabeth and theirs. My little brother took us on a tour of Harding where he’s in his third year as a Bible professor. I’m not sure our children were supposed to take their shoes off and splash around in the fountains, but they did. We also ran into a couple of our Legacy kids out there pledging clubs. Jarron and Jacob weren’t quite sure how to react to seeing us on their campus on a Saturday afternoon. Paul taught Valerie how to scale interior door frames like Spiderman. Isaac lost a tooth. And Rachel was way too stinkin’ cute the whole time. Keith and Amanda also graced us with Dr Pepper products from Holland.

After 24 hours with Keith and Amanda it was back down to Benton to see Jimmy and Elizabeth. Jimmy was the youth minister at Marble Falls when we were there a couple of years ago. And we miss them tremendously. The Northside Church of Christ, where he serves now, graciously invited me to preach for them Sunday. And it was fantastic. Jimmy was leading singing and I was preaching. We prayed it up together an hour before Bible class. Just like the good ol’ days. We focused our Bible class time and our assembly time on the grace of God as a free gift. We enjoyed a huge fellowship meal together. And we now count the wonderful people at Northside among our dearest friends. Brown’s Buffet for dinner. A Benton tradition, I think. Not quite like the Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls. More like a Cracker Barrel on steroids.

The only criticism I have of our weekend in Arkansas concerns an eating establishment we visited in Searcy and noticed again in Benton. Colton’s fancies itself a Texas-themed restaurant. Peanut shells on the floor, cowboy pictures on the walls, Texas icons on the menu, and a huge Texas flag on the roof of the building. But they don’t serve Dr Pepper. It’s Mr. Pibb. And the wait staff use the names of the two soft drinks interchangeably. Like synonyms. When the waitress brought Carley her Mr. Pibb refill (Carley has no integrity) she said, “Here’s your Dr Pepper.” Blasphemy! They should remove the flag and not put it up there again until they can deliver the most basic and fundamental of Texas beverages to their patrons.

Thank you.

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“Just as a television commercial will use an athlete, an actor, a musician, a novelist, a scientist or a countess to speak for the virtues of a product in no way within their domain of expertise, television also frees politicians from the limited field of their own expertise. Political figures may show up anywhere, at any time, doing anything, without being thought odd, presumptuous, or in any way out of place. Which is to say, they have become assimilated into the general television culture as celebrities.

Being a celebrity is quite different from being well known. Harry Truman was well known but he was not a celebrity. Whenever the public saw him or heard him, Truman was talking politics. It takes a very rich imagination to envision Harry Truman or, for that matter, his wife, making a guest appearance on ‘The Goldbergs’ or ‘I Remember Mama.’ Politics and politicians had nothing to do with these shows, which people watched for amusement, not to familiarize themselves with political candidates and issues.

Television does not reveal who the best man is. In fact, television makes impossible the determination of who is better than whom, if we mean by ‘better’ such things as more capable in negotiation, more imaginative in executive skill, more knowledgeable about international affairs, more understanding of the interrelations of economic systems, and so on. The reason has, almost entirely, to do with ‘image.’

Men always make their gods in their own image. But to this, television politics has added a new wrinkle: Those who would be gods refashion themselves into images the viewers would have them be. It is a sobering thought to recall that there are no photographs of Abraham Lincoln smiling, that his wife was in all likelihood a psychopath, and that he was subject to lengthy fits of depression. He would hardly have been well suited for image politics. We do not want our mirrors to be so dark and so far from amusing. What I am saying is that just as the television commercial empties itself of authentic product information so that it can do its psychological work, image politics empties itself of authentic political substance for the same reason.” ~Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, 1985.

Peace,

Allan

Strength From The Lord

June 12, 2008 / Allan / 5 Comments

“It is always upon human weakness and humiliation, not human strength and confidence, that God chooses to build his Kingdom; and that he can use us not merely in spite of our ordinariness and helplessness and disqualifying infirmities, but precisely because of them.”
~James Stewart, the Scottish preacher, not the actor

If we were to meet the apostle Paul today in a church building or at the post office or grocery store, I think we’d notice him. And I think we’d stare. Not just because he’d be wearing a robe and sandals and speaking Greek. I think we’d not be able to help staring at all his scars. All his bruises. Some of his many wounds would be red and swollen. I imagine he’d be limping. I see Paul as a crooked man, bent over and almost deformed in some places due to many broken bones that healed improperly. And I think we’d notice all those things right off the bat.

But I think we’d also immediately recognize his fire. His passion. His determination. Even his cheer. I think we’d be looking at a man broken in body, but not in spirit.

And the deal with Paul is that he rarely talks about his scars and bruises and broken bones. When he does discuss everything he’s been through, it’s because he’s being forced. And it’s never in an effort to gain sympathy. It’s never to brag on himself and his own abilities to persevere and overcome. It’s always to brag on God. We admire Paul, not because of his suffering, but because of his response to the suffering.

Paul sees his trials from the divine perspective of his God. Paul tells the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 1:8-11) that his sufferings and persecutions aren’t unpleasant interruptions. They’re not distractions that mess up his life. They’re not unfair intrusions. Paul sees the pressure and the crises as gifts from God to show us, to teach us, to rely on the Father and not on ourselves. Through his pains Paul sees clearly that God has delivered us, God is delivering us, and God will deliver us (v.10).

In 1 Samuel 30, David finds himself in the middle of a horrible crisis. He and his men have returned to thier village in Ziklag only to find that all of their homes have been burned to the ground and all the wives and children of the town have been stolen away. David has no wife, no children, no home, no village, no land, no possessions, no wealth, no security, and no friends. In fact his friends, his own loyal men, are blaming him for the situation and are talking about killing him. In a matter of just a couple of days David’s world was turned completely upside down in a horrible way.

And in the middle of all this, Scripture says “but David found strength in the Lord his God” (30:6).

That’s where Paul finds strength, too. In the Lord his God.

And if we saw Paul today we’d admire him for his great strength in trials. We’d applaud his fierce determination through persecution. We’d praise his perseverance in suffering. And Paul would say, “No! No! No! You don’t get it! I’m not strong! I don’t have any strength! All I have are weaknesses and flaws and shortcomings! I’m not strong!”

“The one who pours his strength into me,” Paul would say, “he is strong. The one who overcomes my weaknesses, he is strong. The one who delivers me through my crises and uses the pressure to make me into the person he wants me to be, he is strong. I find my strength in the Lord my God.”

Don’t hide your weaknesses. Boast in them because that’s where God displays his strength.

Don’t shrink from the crisis. Boast in it because that’s where God does his best work.

Don’t despair under the pressure. Boast in it because that’s where God delivers.

In all your humiliations, struggles, battles, weaknesses, inadequacies, helplessness, and sickness, realize those are the things that make you effective. The Lord your God says those are actually the things that make you great. Because it’s in those things that God gives you his strength.

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It’s official! The Legacy Church of Christ is now the sponsoring congregation for Cory & Emily Mullins, missionaries to Australia, and David and Olivia Nelson, missionaries to Eastern Europe. The Mullins and Nelsons will move to our area, place their membership with our church family, and work with us through the summer before they begin their six-year foreign missions commitments in the fall.

As their new home church, we’re providing their housing during this interim three or four month summer period. We already have the two houses. But we need furniture and other household goods. If you can donate or lend any beds, chairs, tables—any kind of furniture—we need it. Lent items will be returned in the fall while donated items will go to Legacy Give Away Day.

It’s exciting to partner with two missionary families in this way. By the time they leave for their destinations in the fall, they’ll belong to us. We’ll be sending out four of our own. I think we’ll take much more ownership and pride and feel much more responsibility and connection to the foreign missions work of our congregation when we already know and love the people we send.

Cory and Emily Mullins will be moving here in the middle of next week. David and Olivia Nelson will be here at the end of June. Please keep those two young couples in your prayers over the coming days and weeks.

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Michael Young’s team record 23-game hitting streak ended last night with an 0-5 with a walk and a run scored. But David Murphy hit a grand slam in a seven-run seventh inning for the Rangers to help Texas come from down 5-1 again to beat the Royals. This puts the Rangers over .500 for the third time this season and pulls them to within two games of Oakland for second place in the West.

But while the Rangers are first in the Majors in runs scored, at just over 5-1/2 runs per game, and team batting average (.286) they’re dead last in the most important fundamental areas of the game. Texas gives up more runs than any other team in baseball. They’ve committed more errors than any other team. And no group of starting pitchers in baseball have issued more walks or compiled a higher ERA than those in Arlington.

They can get away with some of those mistakes and shortcomings in Kansas City. But certainly not in California or New York or Boston or Detroit or Tampa Bay.

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I’ll get to those goals for 2008 and 2009 tomorrow.

Peace,

Allan

Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

March 13, 2008 / Allan / 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 / Allan / 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

Not Just New Creatures

February 25, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

Paul Dennis baptized two of his grandchildren, Luke and Mackenzie, yesterday afternoon here at the Legacy church building. It was a moving ceremony. Carefully planned. Wonderfully executed. Packed with love and emotion. A true portrait of what it means to pass on the Christian faith.

Paul spoke of the pride he has in his grandkids. An uncle led us in a couple of songs of faith and thanksgiving. Paul then talked with the kids in front of us about the things they had been studying, especially over the past few months about Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection. He talked about the promises we have in God through Christ. And he reminded them, and us, of what it means to be buried with Jesus in the waters of baptism. And then Paul confessed his belief in Jesus as the Christ, the son of God. Two of the uncles voiced the same confession. Then all of the baptized believers in the congregation made the same confession in unison. Paul talked to Luke and Mackenzie about how they are not alone in their belief and in their faith. He mentioned the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12. And then Luke and Mackenzie confessed Jesus as the Son of God and were baptized into his death, burial, and resurrection.

I was honored to read from 2 Corinthians 5 and to exhort everyone in attendance to look back often on our own baptisms and to be reminded of what it means to become, not just new creatures, but part of a new creation. All of creation is brand new to those who come up out of the waters of baptism. All the old things have become new. The way we look at each other, the way we treat each other, the way we view creation is all new. The mercy I extend my neighbor is in response to the mercy I’m shown by God. The forgiveness I show my brother is in recognition of the forgiveness I receive from my Father. The love I give others is from the overflow I get from God. Everything’s brand new.

And then Jim McDoniel took the kids through their first communion. He spoke lovingly to them about how communion means all of us together, as if we’re all sitting at a big round dining room table, sharing in the blessings we have from God in Christ. And then we all participated in the Lord’s Supper with them, eating the bread and drinking the wine, and hugging Luke and Mackenzie, congratulating them, pledging our love and support to them.

Wow.

Can we incorporate a little more of this into every single baptismal ceremony in our churches? Or how about a lot more? If we weren’t so confined by the blasted time constraints, I think our baptisms would look and feel significantly more like yesterday’s services with Paul’s family. And I think we would better communicate as the Church, to each other and to our communities, how important it is to be baptized into Christ Jesus.

Baptism is not an individual thing. It’s a family thing. It’s a Church thing. It’s a community of faith thing. Baptism involves parents and friends and preachers and cousins and elders and angels and Bible school teachers and brothers and sisters and those who have gone before and those who are coming after. It touches the past, the present, and the future. It obligates the young and the old. It’s a cause for rejoicing and remembering.

It should never be entered into lightly. And it should never be treated as a mere ritual performed in order to gain forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, a place at the communion table, Church membership, and whatever else you want to add to the list.

May we always treat baptism as the unique and God-ordained sacrament that it is. And may we always give it the special focus and attention in our churches it deserves.

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Saturday’s Inaugural Legacy Chili Cookoff was a fantastic success. Mild to super-hot. Beans and no-beans. Weight watchers and suet (is that how you spell suet?). Chili with chocolate. Chili with potatoes. We even had SPAM chili.

Congratulations to all the winners: Greg, Judy, Jackie, and Jennifer. Congratulations to Suzanne and Bonny and Kipi and everyone who organized the evening.

And congratulations to all of us who actually sampled all 17 varieties. This Pepto-Bismol’s for you!

Peace,

Allan

Christ's Love Compels Us

January 16, 2008 / Allan / 0 Comments

As Paul writes about the ministry of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5 — that God is a God of reconciliation, he gives us the ministry of reconciliation, and we are his ambassadors; God is making his appeal for reconciliation through us — he admits that some people think he’s insane or drunk. The things he does and the way he talks seem way out of the ordinary. Paul doesn’t apologize for it. He explains it.

“For Christ love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” ~2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Listen to Paul’s passion. Feel it. Be amazed by it.

Christ love COMPELS us. The love of Jesus overrules us. It dominates us. It completely controls us. We’re held by his love as if in a vice. We can’t break free. The love of the Christ doesn’t lead us as much as it totally pushes us.

And I think I’m mostly compelled by my own experiences, my own wishes and desires, my own selfish dreams and visions. What I do and say, if I’m honest, is sometimes pushed by what I want. But Paul confesses that the love of Jesus is what drives every bit of what he’s about. Christ has his way with Paul without reservation. The fact that Jesus died for us should be what moves us and motivates us. It should shake us and never let us go.

As we represent Jesus our King, we should be controlled by him. His love should be the overwhelming factor in our lives, the determining factor every hour.

Paul acts the way he does because Christ’s love pushes him. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. It doesn’t matter if they believe he’s crazy or drunk or straight and sober. It doesn’t matter. He’s driven by Jesus. It’s the only thing Paul is living for, the solitary force behind his every thought, word, and deed.

What God has done for me. What God has done for you. His love. It compels us.

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All Youth and/or Family Ministers (except for Jason Brown and Lance Parrish)!!! The Woodward Park Church of Christ in Fresno, California is looking for a Youth and Family minister. My great friend, Jim Gardner, is the preacher out there. And I can say from personal experience, it would be a tremendous opportunity for anybody who would take it to work with this wonderful man of God. I was encouraged and uplifted by the year I spent with Jim in Marble Falls. I learned so much from listening to him and working with him and discussing the Church’s mission in this world with him. Jim gets it. He has such a beautiful, big-picture view of the Kingdom. And he’s right smack-dab in the middle of it in Fresno. The Woodward Park Church is a diverse body of disciples. They’re making a tremendous difference in their community and, really, through the entire state of California. They serve as a hub of sorts in ministering to other churches in the state which really is a rich mission field compared to our state of Texas. It would be a tremendous challenge. It would be different. It would bless your life in amazing ways. They do things right at Woodward Park. And I highly recommend it to anyone who has a strong passion for serving young people and families in Christ.

Jim will be here in the DFW area next week to meet with any interested candidates. I’m picking him up at Love Field next Wednesday morning and spending as much time as I can with him before he takes off for Lubbock Thursday. If you’re interested (again, not you Jason or Lance!!!) email Jim at jim@wpcoc.com. He’s posted tons of information and a couple of links about the job on his blog at jimgardner.blogspot.com. And his church website is woodwardparkchurchofchrist.com.

If you know anyone who needs to see this info, get it to them quickly.

Peace,

Allan

Category: 2 Corinthians (Page 12 of 13)

Living For Eternity Right Now

Strength From The Lord

Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

Christ As Savior & Judge

Not Just New Creatures

Christ's Love Compels Us

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