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I have become the Church’s servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the Word of God in its fullness — the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Peace,
Allan
“All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” ~Romans 6:3-5
Dear Valerie,
It was my great and special honor to baptize you yesterday into the sin-forgiving and salvation-bestowing blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Your baptism, your open heart, and your confessing spirit were an inspiration to all of us who participated in your new birth. It was an especially proud moment for your mom and me.
You have been tremendously blessed by our God. He has favored you, Valerie, with a gentle and generous disposition that considers the needs of others and openly shares kindness and compassion. You are a beautiful and brilliant young lady with an endless amount of potential. The possibilities you possess within you to do good are staggering. You’re so talented, so hilarious, so full of life.
Your mom and I have worked very hard to pass along to you and your sisters our faith in our risen Christ. We have tried to live every day as models of what it looks like to practice what we preach. We’ve tried to be consistent in living out the Gospel in our every interactions within our family and within the world God has given us. Your decision to give yourself wholly to Jesus as the ultimate and eternal Lord of your life is a moment of great satisfaction for us; I won’t lie. It means everything.
“You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” ~Galatians 3:26-29
Be reminded, Valerie, that when you were baptized you put to death that old girl of sin. You buried that girl. You killed her. And when you came up out of the water you were a brand new creature. God has created in you a brand new person, full of his Holy Spirit, to experience everything in a brand new way. You now share in the Resurrection of Jesus. Death has nothing on you now. And neither does sin.
You have renounced the ways of the devil. You have rejected the patterns of this world. You have said ‘no’ to temptation and evil desires that would pull you away from your God. You have now personally and publically embraced salvation from God in Christ. You have put your trust, not in horses and chariots, not in your own talents and abilities, not in your own works and good deeds, but in the Father who promises to save you. Your faith is in him. You have placed yourself in his gracious and loving arms. And he will deliver. Our God is faithful, Valerie. And very, very good.
“Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God… For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” ~Colossians 3:1-4
God has incredibly huge things in store for you, girl. He is going to work in you to transform you more and more into the perfect image of his holy Son. And he’s going to work through you to bless the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people to his eternal glory and praise. And I’m going to be right there in a front row seat, waving your flags and cheering you on the whole way.
You are my daughter in whom I am well pleased.
May you look back often on your baptism, Val, and remember what God has created in you. And may you walk with him always, faithful to the end.
I love you,
Dad
We don’t ever come to the cross of Christ to worship his death or to remember the grisly details of that day. We come to the cross — we’re actually drawn to the cross — to see what it looks like for me to die. What is the meaning of my daily dying to myself and dying for Christ? And dying with Christ? What does it look like? How do I do it? And what does it really mean?
People say Jesus died so I don’t have to. No, that’s not right. Jesus died to show us how to.
As holy children of God and disciples of his Christ, we die every day. We participate every day in the eternal dimensions of Jesus’ death.
“I have been crucified with Christ…” ~Galatians 2:20
“I die every day — I mean that, brothers! ~1 Corinthians 15:31
“You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ.” ~Colossians 3:3
Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” We are called to participate in the death of Jesus. We don’t just stand around and ask questions about the death of Christ. We don’t just talk about it and marvel about it. We live it. The death of Jesus shapes everything about the way we live, how we believe and love, why we do what we do.
If we’re going to follow Jesus as his subjects — and we are! — then we’re going to follow him into the pain and darkness of Calvary where he faithfully and fully submitted to our Father’s will and gave his very life for the sake of the world.
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Tomorrow is Warrior Dash. And I’m not quite ready. 
Warrior Dash is a 5K obstacle course highlighted by runs through waist-deep muddy water, climbs over cargo nets and 20-foot hay bales, crawls under barbed wire and through dirty ditches, and jumps over junk cars and pits of fire.
There are runs like this all over the place. Some of them are called Mud Runs. Some are called Jail Breaks. This Warrior Dash is held every year in Roanoke, just down the street from the Texas Motor Speedway. I’d never heard of this, or any other organized obstacle event, until last year when Greg Hardman and his daughter, Emily, ran it together with some of her college friends. His stories and his pictures were truly inspiring. I even used their experience to illustrate a sermon here last spring.
And several of us caught the fever.
Valerie and I made plans to start training in October. I was going to start eating right. I was going to start running more. (By more, I mean just start running. Period.) I was going to lose 15-pounds. I was going to lift weights and really be ready for this thing in April.
I’m not ready.
None of those things happened. Valerie and I have run together at the Northridge Middle School track a total of five 
times since the middle of February. We did two-and-a-half miles last night. We’re going to do three miles this evening.
We’re not ready. But we’re very much looking forward to it. Valerie has always been my little adventurer. She’s excited to be doing something so outrageous with her dad. And this will be something I’ll treasure with her forever.
There are at least a dozen of us from Legacy running the Warrior Dash in the morning: John & Suzanne, Bruce & Cathy, Mike & Lisa, Keith & Beth, Josh (who promises to stay right with me), Jason, Margaret, David and, from what I understand, a whole slew of our younger marrieds.
My goal is to finish in one hour or less. And to not have to be carried out in a stretcher.
Peace,
Allan
I feel sorry for those more than 400 people (even the Steelers fans) who spent thousands of dollars, paid for their Super Bowl seats, traveled hundreds of miles, booked hotel rooms, and otherwise rearranged their lives only to be denied access to the game. I hurt for those folks who lived and died with their teams every week — some of them putting in hard time for years and years — who were anticipating the thrills of cheering that team on in person at the ultimate game, and who did everything in their knowledge and power to insure it would happen only to be told, “We’re sorry. Your seats are not ready. You can’t go inside the stadium.”
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God… For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” ~Colossians 3:1-4
Praise God we are not dependent on ourselves or Jerry Jones or the NFL to hold our reservations. Praise God we are guaranteed to be clothed in the glory of our Lord on that blessed day. Thank God that the risen Son is holding our tickets, he’s keeping them in a safe place, right there at the right hand of the Father. And when it’s time, our seats will be waiting for us.
When Christ comes, when the renewal of all things is at last accomplished, when all of creation is finally restored, when heaven joins earth on that last day, when God’s will is ultimately fulfilled, we’ll be there. And we won’t just be in the front row on the 50-yard line. We’ll be on the field. Celebrating with our Lord. Making snow angels in the confetti. The trophy will be ours.
And that’s a holy promise that can never be taken away.
Peace,
Allan
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” ~Colossians 1:27
“To him be glory in the Church.” ~Ephesians 3:21
“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” ~1 Corinthians 10:31
God reveals his glory to us in the soul-stirring words of Exodus 34. God tells us very clearly that his glory has nothing to do with the way he looks. It’s not about his power or his rule. It’s about his character. It’s who God is. God’s self-revealing statements in Exodus 34 are the “I AM” defined.
Compassionate. Gracious. Slow to anger. Abounding in love. Faithful. Forgiving.
If the world really understood these things about our God they would beat down our doors to get to know him better. They’d be lined up around the block. We couldn’t keep them out. But how will they comprehend our God’s eternal qualities if they don’t see those characteristics reflected in God’s redeemed people? How will they know the character of our God, how will they see his glory, unless his Church shows it?
Why do people think God is grumpy and always on the hunt to judge and punish somebody? Do they see that in us? Have they seen that in you? Why do they think our God is distant, out of reach, untouchable, and unable to meet their deepest needs? What would make them think that? Have they experienced that in you? Why do some people believe God can’t forgive them, that he remembers their past sins? Have they noticed that in me or in my church?
As God’s children, we are called to reflect his glory. To live it. To reveal it. Embody it.
A lot of people say we are the hands and feet of Jesus. A real understanding of what it means for us to reflect his glory tells us the Church is actually the very heart of God. The glory of God.
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I just completed all my registration forms for the 29th annual Sermon Seminar at Austin Graduate School of Theology late next month. It’s always an intense 48-hours of exegesis and outlines and sermon prep at the feet of the best scholars/preachers practicing today. I’ve been blessed in the past to work under Ben Witherington, Tony Ash, Rick Marrs, Eddie Sharp, Glenn Pemberton, Tom Olbricht, James Thompson, and Harold Shank, to name just a brief few. I’ve been inspired and encouraged and convicted during these serious sessions.
But this next one is shaping up to potentially be the best I’ve ever attended.
My great friend Jim Martin is presenting 2 Corinthians. And he’s the perfect guy to do it. Jim is a compassionate comforter. He’s sensitive to people and their deepest needs. He embodies the message of 2 Corinthians with his every breath. The legendary Rubel Shelly is presenting the Sermon on the Mount. Jim Reynolds is discussing the Old Testament Story. And Paul Watson is back to show us how he preaches Ezekiel. I love Ezekiel because he is such a crazy, over-the-top prophet. Ezekiel’s prophesy illustrations were exotic and unforgettable. And Paul Watson really knows how to make the biblical text come alive. I was moved by his presentations of Jonah and Ruth and Daniel in 2006. Those sessions helped shape our Missions Month this year at Legacy. And I know he’s going to make Ezekiel pop for us this year in Austin.
Everett Ferguson, the world’s foremost authority on early church history, is presenting a special session on “Baptism in the Early Church: What I Learned and What Surprised Me” and Wendel Willis is hosting a Q&A session on “Lord’s Supper Theology and Practice.”
Are you kidding me? I can’t wait.
If you’re a preacher, you should make the Austin Grad Sermon Seminar an annual event on your calendar. You’ll be better for being there. And so will your church.
Peace,
Allan
Jesus says the Golden Rule — Do unto others as you would have them do unto you — actually sums up the Law and the Prophets. But I think there’s a much bigger idea at work throughout all of Scripture. Our foundational motivation, our guiding principle as God’s holy people is “Do unto others as God has done unto you.”
“Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” ~ Colossians 3:13
“Accept one another as Christ accepted you.” ~Romans 15:7
“Love one another as I have loved you.” ~John 15:12
The key is in my understanding that God has treated me in ways I absolutely do not deserve. That’s the most basic part of this. It all falls apart without that genuine realization. It doesn’t work.
How much has God forgiven you? Everything. Everything? Yeah, everything. Is there anything he hasn’t forgiven you of? No. Nothing? Nothing. He’s really forgiven you of everything? Yes, everything. You deserve it? No.
“Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Has Christ accepted you? Oh, yeah. Without a doubt, I belong to him. Really? You belong to Jesus? Yes, sir, he’s accepted me. And you were perfect when he accepted you? Um, no. You weren’t perfect? No. Not even close. But he still accepted you? Yeah. Well, how bad were you? Pretty bad. But you never intentionally sinned, right? Oh, no, there were plenty of intentional sins. You had hurt Jesus with your words? Oh, yeah, plenty of times. You had disappointed him with your actions? All the time. Lousy attitude? Selfish pride? Stubbornness? Yes, all those things. Sin? Yes, I’m a sinner. I was a sinner when I met Jesus. I hadn’t been following him or listening to him or obeying him. I was a sinner. But he still accepted you? Yes. Did you deserve it? No.
“Accept one another as Christ accepted you.”
Does Jesus love you? Yes. How much? A bunch. A ton. How do you know? How do you know he loves you so much? He died for me. What’s that? He died for me. He died for you? Yeah, he died for me. How did he die? Look, he left everything he had in heaven by the Father’s side; he left his glory and his power and his authority; he left his prestige and position and status; he left his home; he gave up everything to come to earth and suffer horribly and die in agony and pain like a criminal on a cross! He did that for you? Yeah. He must love you a lot. Yes, he does. You deserve that kind of love? No. Not even close.
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
See, if we think we deserve God’s forgiveness, if we believe that we have lived in such a way or have worked in such a way as to actually merit Christ’s acceptance, if we suppose we’ve earned the right to God’s love, we’ll only show that same kind of love and acceptance and forgiveness to people we think deserve it. I’ll judge people as worthy or not of my acceptance. I’ll forgive people only as I deem them forgiveable. I’ll love only those I want to love.
Do unto others as God has done unto you. It’s basic.
Why do we miss it?
Peace,
Allan
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